Duraclean Journal of Marketing, Management and Technical Topics

The booth area was spread over two floors of the convention center covering more than 217,000 square feet. Obviously, with the World Floor Covering Association as the sponsor the emphasis was on what will be covering the floors later this year but attendees could also view the latest in counter tops, wall coverings, window treatments, and service equipment for all of the surfaces. In addition to the booth displays the show had educational seminars and practical demonstrations.

Shift in Floor Covering Emphasis

From our industry's point of view there were some important changes that should be mentioned. Since we have been attending this show the amount of floor space dedicated to carpet and loose rugs, either domestic, designer, Persian or oriental rugs have continued to decline. Twenty years ago upward of 85% of the floor space was dedicated to soft floor coverings or booths displaying support goods for carpet and rugs.

The only exhibit area showcasing anything new for the soft surface market was in the Stainmaster booth. Their new "Lotus FX", (click on the January 2009 Journal archives on the left hand side of this page and then click on “Stainmaster Treatment” for more information), is a major effort to shore up a declining market.

This year only 38% of the floor space had anything to do with the soft side of our industry. To further emphasize this point hardwood has pushed hard surface tile to the background and hardwood dominated the show.

With hardwood, engineered wood, and wood laminates the growing choice of the market place the first thing that should come to our minds is how do we make a dollar caring for these products? Those of us that refuse to give up totally on our roots that run deep in residential service should take heed. The soft sided products that embraced the floors of our customers for many years were first replaced with carpeting that hid the soil better and released it more freely to expand the time we serviced these homes.

Next, a portion of the square footage we normally serviced was replaced with quarry tile or some similar product and our invoice was reduced. Now, whole rooms many previously covered with carpeting may be gone revealing the new look of hardwood. This is the trend the manufacturers at "Surfaces" believe will continue for the foreseeable future.

With that in mind Duraclean will introduce its new "Wood Floor Service" at its "Annual Meeting" this July in Boston. One thing was certain as we viewed the many displays and spoke with the manufacturers at "Surfaces", new opportunities are available and it is important for each of us to continue to investigate and learn how to capitalize on our ever changing marketplace.