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Tuesday, February 02, 1999
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
Floor-covering industry puts best foot forward
By Joan Patterson
Review-Journal
By Joan Patterson
Review-Journal
Kid-proof carpet, wool plucked from sheep just for the millennium, wallpaper for windows and hardwood flooring that "floats": These were among the latest offerings at the Surfaces '99 convention held last week at the Sands Expo and Convention Center.
More than 25,000 attended the show, the industry's largest gathering of carpet, hardwood, tile and vinyl floor-covering exhibits. It is sponsored each year by the World Floor Covering Association.
Conventioneers wound their way through about 700 displays this year, with some exhibitors throwing in extra spit and polish to attract the wandering throng of retailers, interior designers and buyers. In one corner, Irish dancers demonstrated the durability of Award hardwood flooring by tap dancing to the recorded sounds of high-spirited harmonicas and bouncing fiddles. There were actors with microphones wrapped around their chins demonstrating the correct way to lay flooring, much like on home-improvement shows.
Among the 16,000 square feet of space devoted just to the wool carpet industry, a collection of flooring called First Light seemed to capture both the sophistication of a growing industry and the millennium marketing ploys that are taking hold this year. The First Light carpets are made from the wool of sheep living on the Chatham Islands in New Zealand, according to Malcolm Sims, development manager for Wools of New Zealand, a major wool producer and partner with several manufacturing mills. The islands and their inhabitants will be the first to see sunlight during the new millennium, so the carpets are both practical floor covering and a chance to give nostalgic customers a woolly piece of history, Sims said.
A press release handed out at the Wools of New Zealand booth summed it up this way: "As the sun rises over the horizon, not only will it touch down on the exquisite landscape of these unique islands, but also on the 70,000 sheep that roam its fields. ... Woolshire and Louis de Poortere will use the wool shorn from these sheep to create six ranges of innovative carpets and rugs that portray the spirit of the new millennium."
More advanced manufacturing techniques are giving durable wool carpet a lot more character than in the past, Sims added. "It used to be synthetic manufacturers had the exciting new styles and now we're seeing this with wools. Machinery and equipment have more control, and allow the control of texture."
Even the blending of colors in wool carpets has become more sophisticated. "I think what you're starting to see is more color coming into the palette ... to make statements for the millennium."
Carpet, he added, is becoming a fashion item rather than an afterthought when it comes to home design. Interior designers are looking for carpets with complicated weaves and patterns that can be integrated into the overall theme of the home.
This was particularly evident at the Couristan booth just a few feet away. It included several carpet samples with colorful patterns. The Vintage and Prism line, for example, is a series of floorings with either diamond-shaped patterns or old-fashioned floral designs that can be mixed and matched. Since today's consumers are spending so much money on hard surface coverings such as stone, wood and tile, they want to take that extra step with carpet as well, noted Doug Baten, a Couristan manufacturers representative.
"Because there's so much more hard surfacing being used in the average house these days, carpet is becoming more of an accent piece with designers," Baten said.
The more practical end of the carpet spectrum included a line of stain-resistent flooring just for children called Kid Proof Carpet by Mohawk Industries. With names such as Boy Blue, Simon Says and Tiddlywinks, the line of carpet is supposed to resist the staining powers of foods such as mustard, ketchup and chocolate. The root of this wonder carpet is a synthetic yarn called Olefin, according to Mohawk territory manager Robert Flannagan. The flooring comes with a 20-year stain warranty and its selection of colors includes bright teals, peaches, pinks and slate blues.
Robbins Hardwood Flooring showed off its new line of "floating floors" this year. The new collection, called East Winds, does not have to be glued, stapled or nailed down, which means it can be installed over surfaces such as concrete, existing wood floors, ceramic and vinyl tiles, according to exhibitors Tony Nigro and Jason Mielnikowski.
"It's good for any construction, especially remodeling, if you want something easy to put down," Mielnikowski said. "You can even pick the floor up and take it with you."
Through the Exotic Winds collection, Robbins is introducing a line of rare woods from Asia such as balua, merbau, kempas, melia and bangkirai. Their collection also includes domestic red oak, white oak, maple, beech and cherry.
The company has a new line of low-gloss flooring in response to the demand for a less formal, more natural look in the home, Nigro said. "There's less sheen, which means lower maintenance and it doesn't show scuffing or floor traffic as much."
The satin finish floors have a no-wax polyurethane finish and come in colors with rustic names such as Bridle, Chaps, Saddle, Sage, Stirrup, Rawhide and Tumbleweed.
In keeping with the demand for natural-looking floors, a company called Florida Tile Industries Inc. showed off its Discover the Treasures of the Earth line of ceramic tiles.
The tiles are stamped by machines to create the beveled appearance of real stone and layered with subtle colors through a silk-screening process "so that no two pieces are alike," said Ron Lynch, director of design center sales.
The Treasures of the Earth includes the Biscayne line, which is supposed to reflect the beiges, coral and light greens of the ocean and its environs; and Nottingham, based on the English countryside, forests and highlands.
Finally, flooring was not the only element featured in Surfaces '99. Window treatments and wall coverings also were displayed at the annual trade show.
A company called EtchArt Inc. presented its Wallpaper for Windows line -- sheets of vinyl designed to look like etched glass. The vinyl is simply cut to fit the shape of a window or glass door, and applied with soap and water.
Not only decorative, the literature touts the product as a filter of UV rays and protector against energy loss in the home.
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