Color Logic... That's what we call the approach we've taken to develop the color lines for our product introductions. Over the past twelve to twenty-four months, we've been studying the impact that hard surface flooring (now approaching more than 50% of the market in the Western United States) is having on carpet color. Residential interior designers tell us they start the flooring selection process with hard surface first. In our primary markets, that usually means ceramic or stone. Then they look for carpet colors that work with and complement the ceramic and stone selections. As a result, we've redesigned our West Coast color palette with a broader array of mid- and dark-range neutrals, softer sages, and "tinted taupes". And we've accented the assortment with an occasional burnt sienna and a teddy bear chocolate. Our Color Logic color lines are broader, richer, warmer, and they complement and coordinate beautifully with stone, ceramic and rich wood floors. Tuftex is all about color. This year, more than ever, we think you're going to like the choices.

For schools, the Carpet and Rug Institute (CRI) has recently developed a specialized publication entitled "Floor Covering Maintenance for School Facilities". A complimentary copy is available for schools. This publication provides insight into common problems experienced by school maintenance personnel, offers solutions to common problems, details the steps in organizing an effective maintenance program, recommends specific maintenance frequencies, and provides a holistic look at maintenance within any school facility. Schools can obtain a complimentary copy of "Floor Covering Maintenence for School Facilities" by contacting CRI at (706) 278 - 0232 or by writing the CRI at P.O. Box 1231, Dalton, GA 30722.
Estimating and comparing maintenance costs for various flooring systems is always a challenge. Value judgments related to appearance are very subjective. Accepted appearance levels for facilities where maintenance costs are the primary concern may be completely unacceptable in a facility that demands a sanitized, sparkling representation. Comparing maintenance costs based on appearance between carpet and hard surfaces also can be quite unfair to hard surfaces because carpet does a commendable job of hiding soil accumulation. Any facility manager understands, when facility appearance is the primary issue, some hard surface flooring materials require a much more rigid maintenance regimen to obtain a comparable level appearance.
Another obstacle in comparing maintenance costs is rarely do maintenance staffs perform duties as they should be performed A number of studies and surveys comparing maintenance costs for various flooring systems have been completed over the past several years. In fact, a study always can be found that demonstrates a particular flooring system is cheaper to maintain that competing flooring systems. This is possible when a comparing a neglectful maintenance program to a superior program.
Two realistic studies include the 1990 BOMA Study which was a survey of facility managers throughout the country and the Carpax study which was an examination of school maintenance programs using International Sanitary Supply Association (ISSA) cleaning rates and frequencies. The CARPAX Study affords the easiest approach for facility managers to estimate maintenance costs for their facility.

Mannington Carpet has been known for years for high quality, high performance carpets. And in the past three years, our broadloom carpets have undergone a design makeover. From classic fashion to contemporary design, it’s time to start believing in broadloom again. Today’s Mannington Commercial broadloom carpets offer timeless looks that have been updated, alongside unexpected patterns and colors, to satisfy any design needs. Bringing fabulous broadloom to commercial interiors projects, hand in hand with coordinating products from our full range of hard and soft floorcoverings.

Signature Hospitality Carpets and Clayton Miller Hospitality Carpets have purchased together the new ColorPoint tufting technology developed by Card Monroe Corporation.
“The new ColorPoint machine allows for multiple colors, multiple pile heights and a variety of textures and tip-sheared effects, with no limits to size and scale of pattern. The ColorPoint machine is the first to produce patterned carpet with no buried ends and pinpoint stitch accuracy for high definition, detail and clarity.”
The companies showcased new products in Las Vegas at the Hospitality Design show earlier this month.

In order to make the best carpet choice for your facility’s specific needs, you need to arm yourself with the right information.
Facility profile: The first step is to clearly define the type of facility for which you will be specifying carpet and outline the specific requirements of that facility. Some things to consider include the following:
Type of facility and specific area receiving new carpet
How long the carpet will be used (life cycle)
Types of dirt that may be tracked into the facility
Whether the area is a remodeled or a new installation
Whether access to subfloor is required
Whether there is modular furniture in the space
Location profile: To maximize performance, building owners and facility managers must first decide where the carpet will go to determine what type of carpet is most appropriate.
When should carpet be the floor covering of choice? Carpet is the norm in healthcare, education, offices, hotels and retail locations. Carpet is being used in all common public areas of facilities — corridors (for sound absorption and slip and fall safety), waiting rooms, lobbies and offices (for beauty and versatility). It is also being used more and more in patient rooms and nurseries in healthcare facilities (for the warmth and comfort) and almost exclusively in elementary and preschool classrooms in educational facilities.
Below are some location-specific questions to ask:
On a typical day, will there be spills and stains or dirt tracked into the building? If so, what type of spills? Food stains? Coffee or chemical spills?
What will the frequency of spills be? Excessive? Occasional?
Do you need moisture impermeability?
Is there exposure to harsh chemicals, intense sunlight or atmospheric contaminants (such as nitrous oxides or ozone)?
Will there be lots of foot traffic? Wheelchairs? Supply carts?
When identifying the location where carpet will be specified, it is also important to define the level of traffic expected.

In the years past, the commercial carpet market amounted to less than one-third of the total carpet market share. Residential carpet and the residential contract carpet market easily outdistanced commercial carpet in market share and sales growth. However, with recent residential design trends changing to wood floors and laminate flooring, the commercial carpet market has become the steady growth area for the U.S. Carpet Industry.
Commercial carpet sales have averaged a 10% average annual growth over the past several years, while the flooring market has grown at a rate of about 4%. The commercial carpet market, which is also called the contract carpet market by carpet industry officials, continues to grow at a surprising rate despite setbacks in some areas such as schools and healthcare. With growth of commercial carpet use in China, the carpet industry expects robust growth for a number of years to come.

The Challenge:
Select unexpected, breakout flooring visuals to match the theater’s unique aspects
Choose a floor with the best combination of aesthetics and performance at a reasonable cost
Install floors that maintain easily, and that can be replaced/repaired easily
The Armstrong Solution:
PERSPECTIVES flooring has abstract designs and cutting edge colors with the cost and performance advantages of resilient flooring
Protective urethane finish improves maintenance characteristics and resists scuff marks
Tile format is easy to install

Today’s carpet offers you a wide variety of choices in style, fiber composition and color whether you are specifying broadloom or title for a corporate office, school and public space or purchasing an area rug for a boutique hotel. Gone are the days of having to select only conventional loop pile. New technology can produce multilevel loop and cut-loop patterns allowing diamond, bow, pin dot or fleur-de-lis designs that “pop out” in sculptured effects.
Besides style, carpet also plays an important functional role in indoor settings. Carpet can give personality to a workplace, ranging from formal to bold. In hospitality settings, it can provide directional clues to move people to the registration areas or elevators. In healthcare settings, carpet can be soothing and emotionally healing. It can quiet a computer lab in schools. And in retail, carpet is a welcoming addition but understated because the goal is to display merchandise.
Another versatile aspect of carpet is its size. Carpet tile or modular tile is popular because of design flexibility and ease of transportation, replacement and access to underfoot electronic cabling for corporate buildings.

We have been writing alot of articles about different manufacturers, qualities, types & styles of commercial carpets. We want to think all customers for the past month that purchased there commercial carpets from us. Thank you and we always look forward to talking to you.

InterfaceFLOR opens the Aware House, a customer center and office space that allows visitors to experience InterfaceFLOR products in an exciting new way. The exposed ceiling of the open, two-story warehouse provides an industrial feel that works well with the clean lines of the hand-crafted (and locally created) office furniture and the contemporary modern furniture in the general seating areas. Sizable vignettes showcasing InterfaceFLOR carpet tile run the length of the interior walls while geothermal HVAC technology heats and cools the space with the expectation of saving an average of 30-33% more energy than standard units the same size.
InterfaceFLOR is the first in our industry to receive an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) for our Convert™ design platform styles made with post-consumer content type 6,6 nylon and our GlasBac®RE non-virgin PVC backing.
InterfaceFLOR named to the prestigious Companies That Care 2009 Honor Roll. Each of the recognized organizations sustain a work environment founded on dignity and respect for all employees, cultivate the full potential of all employees, and actively support the community.

The main components of a Home theater or movie room are of course the electronics including Audio and Video for optimum sound and picture. However the décor is very important as well. The obvious décor items are seating and lighting, but it doesn't stop there. Quite often the right flooring can really set the tone for the room and make your friends and family say "WOW." The right flooring is a specialty themed carpet designed for Home Theaters, Movie and Media rooms.
There are several ways to cover your Home Theater or movie room with carpeted flooring. The least expensive option is to buy a movie or theater themed area rug to use in a spot where you enter the room or in front of the Video area. The second option is to go all out and use wall to wall themed carpeting.

BOLYU Contract and Cambridge Commercial Carpets have launched ecoScorecard from Viridity, Inc., a web based tool that catalogs all of their green products and evaluates each product based on their environmental characteristics for five key rating systems. Included are the United States Green Building Councils (USGBC) LEED system, GGHC (Green Guide for Healthcare) LABS 21® (Laboratories for the 21st Century) CHPS (Collaborative for High Performance Schools), and NAHB (National Association of Home Builders). ecoScorecard also checks compliance for third party certifications.
According to James Lesslie, president, Beaulieu Commercial, “ecoScorecard corresponds with our overall company environmental initiatives. We are committed to finding innovative solutions in technologies that will enhance our customers’ business experience with our selling brands. ecoScorecard is a valuable tool necessary for architects and designers to have a simplified method in selecting the best environmental carpets for their projects.”
“ecoScorecard provides accurate product documentation for inclusion in the certification submittal process and offers our customers access to the data anytime, anywhere, providing the information they need when they need it and at no charge,” adds Cathy Mansour, director of marketing.

With the economy in the doldrums for the length of time it has been, it was only a matter of time before the commercial carpet sector would be affected similarly to what the residential broadloom segment has experienced. With carpet sales as a whole down anywhere from 20% to 30% in 2008, numbers for the commercial sector are now reflecting this trend, and are down so far this year in similar fashion, while modular tile sales continue to gain market share, offering commercial producers a beacon of hope.
While opinions differ as to when exactly things will turn around, the one certainty among commercial carpet producers is, they are preparing for a longer time until signs of recovery are seen rather than sooner.
Glen Hussman, president and CEO of Tandus, said, "From the information that we are able to gather from public company, supplier and industry reports, the commercial segment appears to be down 25% to 30% year over year.
'the commercial market didn't really start to contract until the second half of 2008," he explained, 'so the first quarter 2009 numbers compared to the first quarter of 2008 are significantly lower, in the range described above."
According to James Lesslie, president of Beaulieu Commercial, "Our customers have had significant cutbacks and layoffs, therefore commercial specifications are more challenging [now] than this time last year."
Tim Baucom, Shaw's vice president of commercial marketing and sales, stated that in 2008, the commercial industry re-mained flat compared to 2007. "In the first quarter of this year, the industry is down 5% to 10%."
So far, in 2009, "orders are down 15% to 25%," he explained, "compared to 2008. Shipments are off 5% to 10%. Within that, we are seeing flat to slight growth in the education, healthcare and government markets. Retail, hospitality and corporate markets are experiencing deep reductions."
Mark Clayton, vice president of J&J Invision, agreed with Baucom, saying the economy "has obviously had an impact on the commercial segment, just as it has the residential segment. Sales began to soften in the third quarter of 2008 and have remained challenging since.
'the first half of 2009 has proved to be more challenging in certain segments," he added, "but there are other areas where business opportunities seem to be flourishing. For example, corporate and retail have obviously taken a hit over the past several months, but education, government and healthcare remain bright spots."
Al Kabus, president of The Mohawk Group, said, "We believe commercial is down anywhere from 20% to 25%.

With the economy in the doldrums for the length of time it has been, it was only a matter of time before the commercial carpet sector would be affected similarly to what the residential broadloom segment has experienced. With carpet sales as a whole down anywhere from 20% to 30% in 2008, numbers for the commercial sector are now reflecting this trend, and are down so far this year in similar fashion, while modular tile sales continue to gain market share, offering commercial producers a beacon of hope.
While opinions differ as to when exactly things will turn around, the one certainty among commercial carpet producers is, they are preparing for a longer time until signs of recovery are seen rather than sooner.
Glen Hussman, president and CEO of Tandus, said, "From the information that we are able to gather from public company, supplier and industry reports, the commercial segment appears to be down 25% to 30% year over year.
'the commercial market didn't really start to contract until the second half of 2008," he explained, 'so the first quarter 2009 numbers compared to the first quarter of 2008 are significantly lower, in the range described above."
According to James Lesslie, president of Beaulieu Commercial, "Our customers have had significant cutbacks and layoffs, therefore commercial specifications are more challenging [now] than this time last year."
Tim Baucom, Shaw's vice president of commercial marketing and sales, stated that in 2008, the commercial industry re-mained flat compared to 2007. "In the first quarter of this year, the industry is down 5% to 10%."
So far, in 2009, "orders are down 15% to 25%," he explained, "compared to 2008. Shipments are off 5% to 10%. Within that, we are seeing flat to slight growth in the education, healthcare and government markets. Retail, hospitality and corporate markets are experiencing deep reductions."
Mark Clayton, vice president of J&J Invision, agreed with Baucom, saying the economy "has obviously had an impact on the commercial segment, just as it has the residential segment. Sales began to soften in the third quarter of 2008 and have remained challenging since.
'the first half of 2009 has proved to be more challenging in certain segments," he added, "but there are other areas where business opportunities seem to be flourishing. For example, corporate and retail have obviously taken a hit over the past several months, but education, government and healthcare remain bright spots."
Al Kabus, president of The Mohawk Group, said, "We believe commercial is down anywhere from 20% to 25%.

In the rolling foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, the Ellijay River merges with the Cartecay to form the Coosawattee in the small town of Ellijay, Georgia - a place the Cherokee tribe labeled "land of many waters." In many respects, the area escaped many of the trappings of modern life. The town square contains antique merchants, a barber shop, a gallery of local art, a pool room, a coffee house, and a few surprises. Ellijay is known as the "Apple Capital of the South," and family orchards produce over a dozen varieties each year. The growing season culminates in an apple harvest festival each fall. We are a proud community of honest, hard-working men and women who still know the basic difference between right and wrong. Most days in Ellijay seem a little Norman Rockwell. Throw in some Twin Peaks eccentricity for good measure, and there you have it. It is in this context that we live and work. This is the place where we make Blue Ridge Commercial Carpet.

Estimating and comparing maintenance costs for various flooring systems is always a challenge. Value judgments related to appearance are very subjective. Accepted appearance levels for facilities where maintenance costs are the primary concern may be completely unacceptable in a facility that demands a sanitized, sparkling representation. Comparing maintenance costs based on appearance between carpet and hard surfaces also can be quite unfair to hard surfaces because carpet does a commendable job of hiding soil accumulation. Any facility manager understands, when facility appearance is the primary issue, some hard surface flooring materials require a much more rigid maintenance regimen to obtain a comparable level appearance.
Another obstacle in comparing maintenance costs is rarely do maintenance staffs perform duties as they should be performed A number of studies and surveys comparing maintenance costs for various flooring systems have been completed over the past several years. In fact, a study always can be found that demonstrates a particular flooring system is cheaper to maintain that competing flooring systems. This is possible when a comparing a neglectful maintenance program to a superior program.
Two realistic studies include the 1990 BOMA Study which was a survey of facility managers throughout the country and the Carpax study which was an examination of school maintenance programs using International Sanitary Supply Association (ISSA) cleaning rates and frequencies. The CARPAX Study affords the easiest approach for facility managers to estimate maintenance costs for their facility.

Printed carpet allows tufted carpet to take on some of the design potential of woven styles. Printed carpet manufacturers have elevated carpet printing to an art form and printing provides even more design potential than woven styles. Printed carpet can actually become a work of art and the size of the printed pattern can be as large as ballroom size. Printed carpet can be custom printed based on your design or a special design can be created for you.