Vol. 61 No. 17 A Hearst Business Publication September 3/10, 2012 $4
FLOOR COVERING WEEKLY
Retail groups
gear up for fall
By Janet Herlihy
Labor Day marks the end of summer and the
start of fall — the time of year when homeowners
begin to think about Th anksgiving and the
holidays. It’s a prime time for fl oor covering
retailers to hold special events to pull in home
improvement-minded shoppers and many
of the buying groups are ready with ideas,
support and materials to help their members
make the most of the fall selling season.
Abbey’s National Gold Tag Flooring Sale
— priceless
Abbey Carpet & Floor gives its members
information and ideas for promotions for
every month of the year, but chooses to focus
on fall and spring for its National Gold Tag
Flooring Sales, according to Steve Silverman,
Abbey’s president and COO.
“Shoppers can go into our member stores
in October, purchase fl ooring and have no
Periodical
fear about having it installed by the holidays,”
stressed Silverman.
“Th e package Abbey off ers its members has
TV and radio spots, ads for newspapers, fl yers
and new POP materials including banners,”
Silverman said. “In addition, we have special
pricing from more than 25 suppliers of all different
surfaces. Our members can then lower
their prices across the board. We’ve been running
these sales for four years and when we
talk to those suppliers, they report an uptick in
orders in both sale months.”
Abbey sends its members a promo guide
about 45 days before the sale. Abbey will also
help members update their store websites for
the National Gold Tag Flooring Sale and has
fi nance off ers for its members at a discounted
rate for the sale.
Abbey runs a national ad campaign that
promotes the National Gold Tag Flooring
Sale in about a half dozen shelter magazines
Continued on page 14
For breaking news updated each business day, visit us online at www.fcw1.com
Macco’s expands to Fla.
By Amy Joyce Rush
Macco’s Floor Covering Center, based in
Green Bay, Wisc., is on the move. Th e NFA
retailer fi nalized the purchase of Hadinger
Flooring in Fort Myers, Fla. just last week.
And CEO Jeff rey Macco said that there will
be more acquisitions to come.
“We knew that as soon as we saw an uptick,
we would get back in the expansion mode and
we are in full-blown expansion mode,” Macco
told FCW. “We are pleased that our banking
partners are on board with us. Having the
money wasn’t the problem. Having the plan
and executing was the issue.”
But Macco said they have a solid plan in
place and have already begun implementation.
Th e biggest challenge, he said, though,
will be bringing the Macco’s culture to the
Fort Myers’ store. Tom Hadinger remains the
owner of the Naples’ Hadinger Flooring store.
Th e Fort Myers location, said Macco, is
IVC US: One year in
New president, new facility, new markets
[Dalton] Paul Murfi n, who
signed on as IVC US president
Sept. 6, 2011, has spent
the past year leveraging the
organization’s new $75 million
fi berglass-backed sheet vinyl
manufacturing facility to enter
new markets, strengthen its
distribution network and attract
high-level American talent.
Th e heart of IVC US suc- Paul Murfi n
cess is its 500,000 square
foot state-of-the-art manufacturing facility,
based here, which began operating around
the clock, fi ve days a week on Feb. 1, 2012.
While exact capacity fi gures are a closely held
secret, Murfi n said the facility’s production
line — the longest in the world and longer
than the Empire State Building is tall, he
said — generates more than 6,000 miles of
product annually.
“Th e oven in our facility alone gives us
a huge advantage,” said Murfi n. “Because
it’s so large we can keep the line moving at
a faster pace. We don’t have to slow it down
not running to standard because of a previous
ownership. Th e store did not have the Hadinger
culture in place. But that is about to change.
“We need to support them. Th ey need
to know management has their back and
will give them the tools they need. Th at’s
the biggest challenge — to get staff to have
faith in me. Once they have that, I’m certain
this going to be a big endeavor for us.” Th e
Fort Myers’ market, he noted, is some three
times larger than the typical market served by
Macco’s in Wisconsin.
Macco and his business partner Jim
Walters will each spend a week per month
at the store. Th e fi rst order of business is to
fi nd a store manager. Macco is looking at
both inside staff and outside the current staff .
“Short term, I’m coming down once a month
to transition staff to the Macco philosophy
and Jim is coming down a week a month
to get the culture installed.” He said that he
Continued on page 12
to cure the vinyl. We’re very
confi dent in our position
as the most cost eff ective
provider. And we’re equally
confi dent in our color and
design. We spent the past year
learning to get this Formula
1 facility from fi rst gear into
fourth gear.”
Under the leadership of
Murfi n, IVC US has been able
to take the cost advantages
associated with the modern fi berglass plant
and open doors to new markets previously
closed off to the category. For example, its
new Next Level series has become an instant
hit with property managers while its Blue
Print Main St. commercial line, launched in
July, is being well received at both distribution
and specialty retail.
“Th ese new markets illustrate what our
U.S. production capabilities bring to IVC,”
said Murfi n. “Our new products hit a price
point we couldn’t hit while shipping in prod-
Continued on page 12
Page 4
To view a Ceros magazine you need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser and have the flash player 8 or higher installed. To install the latest flash player, click the icon above, install the flash plugin and then click here to refresh this page.