02052016 Rug Companies Spread Their Wings at Surfaces

"Last year was our first Surfaces, which we thought was good but this was probably three to four times better," said Blake Dennard, senior vice president at Kaleen. "In our second year we were jam packed between new display racks and roll sales. We have already signed the contract for next year."

Kaleen, which showed an expanded broadloom line, highlighted Necker Island featuring a diamond weave pattern. The company offers broadloom in 13.2 widths and 16.4 widths, which is a big advantage because the wide goods eliminate the need for seams. "Many dealers on the carpet side really like that. And on the rug side and the furniture side, where this product is fabricated into rugs, those 16-foot wide goods allow them to make a large 16 x 25 rug in one piece."

A.J. Boyajian, co-owner, AJ Rose Carpets & Flooring, with three Massachusetts locations, took notice of the expanded line. "I really enjoyed seeing Kaleen's new broadloom line. I thought they had a lot of unique styles that I think will sell in our area," he said. 

Kaleen showed only broadloom at Surfaces. Last year, it came out with 10 styles; it now has 23 styles, with plans to bring it to 49.

Prestige Mills is another mill that received good reaction at the show. Which is good because the company had a lot to talk about, from moving more of its production to Nepal, and adding noted designer Haynes Robinson to the fold. 

John Uva, vice president, said that while goods from India may be less expensive, by sourcing from Nepal, Prestige Mills gets custom capabilities, such as color and yarn that add a higher-end look. "At one point 100% [of our line] was from India. In two seasons, 60% is Nepalese hand-knotted. Our perception is the market is going either way up or way down and the middle goes away. We are hitching our wagon to the high end."

Uva said Robinson "is the brains behind all the designs in the Tibetan arena."

At Surfaces, Nourison showed new broadloom offerings including hand-carved geometric designs from the tufted (applied pattern) Latitudes and Axminster Mediterranean collections.

Giovanni Marra, director of marketing & digital strategy, said there was particular interest in Latitudes (80 percent wool/20 percent nylon) at the booth. In addition to its broadloom push, Marra said the company is putting extra effort into its custom/cut program, called 50 to Infinity. "Our program is gaining traction as there is more of a trend of people wanting larger rugs made out of our broadloom collection." 

For Momeni, Surfaces is strictly a broadloom show. Antiquity, a cut pile with a low profile and variegated design, made of authentic natural bamboo silk, which the company emphasizes is not viscose) brings the stylish distressed look to broadloom. The line comes in an assortment of fashion    colors from sky blue grey to taupe.

Momeni also launched the Regal collection, a dense handmade velvet broadloom in Tencel Silk, and all natural fiber that combines performance with luster.  The line is recommended for residential and executive office applications.

The company showed new flat weave patterns that resonated with dealers. However the company was reticent to say too much more about the flat weaves, because the designs are proprietary.

Wools of New Zealand reported lighter traffic but a spokeswoman said it was more the typical ebb and flow of trade shows than anything else. For the first time, the organization showed a collection called Evie Rose, which was offered exclusively to its Premier Partners. "Made from the purest sustainably grown wool from Wools of New Zealand's farmers, Evie Rose carpets and rugs will offer comfort and style without compromising the planet, its creatures or its people,” said Hallie Cobb, executive director of North America for Wools of New Zealand.

The initial launch includes 12 high-performing Axminster designs, nine custom hand-tufted patterns, four level cut loop carpets with subtle tone-on-tone colors and a special felted hand-tufted design.

Cut or custom rug programs were all the rage at Surfaces. From the biggest mills (Mohawk) to the niche (Stanton), most everyone was talking up rugs. 

"Our rug business is growing because of hard surfaces," said Jonathan Cohen, CEO of Stanton, which markets "Rug Revolution," a program that allows users to create their own modular rug styles. The rugs can be cut into small pieces or combined into one large piece using Velcro strips for backing.

Consumers can create their own modular rugs with the color options in Stanton's Rug Revolution program.

"The world is a better place with wool" was the message delivered by Bridgette Kelly, interior textiles director at Campaign for Wool, which returned to Surfaces to extol the virtue this great fiber. "We are expanding the message as to why wool is better for the planet and people," she said. "At the center of that message is The Five Freedoms of Sheep: Good lifestyle, good nutrition, good environment, good handling, and good health."

Kelly said one goal in 2016 is to spread the wool message to designers. "We need people at the grassroots level to help give wool its wings," she said.

 

In addition to Wools of New Zealand, there were a few other exhibitors who reported that traffic was off from the previous year. Two differences in 2016 are that the dates of the World Market in Las Vegas did not coincide with Surfaces, and the Surfaces venue was on one floor, which some retailers found difficult to navigate.

Still, while Radici USA said overall traffic was off—it is primarily a carpet show for them—it reported some good rug orders.