By Lissa Wyman

DALTON, GA. -- This Summer, Balta US is introducing a new rug collection with a uniquely American identity , according to Dimitri Verhoye, vice president of sales and marketing and Mark Ford, director of product development for Balta US, Inc.

It's a major move for the company, which has flown "under the radar" since establishing a US distribution center here in the early 2000's. Until now,  Balta's US rugs have been selected from a catalog of over 50 rug collections made in Belgium and distributed over the world.

"Now, for the first time, we will be introducing a collection that is driven solely by the US market," said Mark Ford, director of product development for Balta US. "Our Dalton product development department is responsible for everything from the initial concept to the patterns and the color creel."  The only thing that isn't  made in the USA, in fact, are the rugs themselves, which are woven in Belgium.

In place of the quiet, "under the radar" reputation of the past few year Balta is going for the gusto. During the upcoming Atlanta International rug market, Balta will have happy hour on Monday and Tuesday from 3 to 5 p.m. with give-aways, drawings and Belgian beer. The Balta Atlanta showroom is 3-D-7.

Initially, Balta US will introduce three US-designed  collections for interior use and two all-synthetic indoor-outdoor collections, according to Ford.

The three collections for interior applications are:

Vibe is a group of vibrant contemporary designs. wilton woven of polypropylene and made in Belgium, it will retail for $198 in 5x8 size. The rugs are available in In 5x8 and 8x 11 size.

Collage covers a wide spectrum of transitional, lodge, floral and cotnemporary designs.  Wilton woven of polypropylene and made in Belgium, it will retail for $198 in 5x8 size. The rugs are available in In 5x8 and 8x 11 size.

Urban Chic designs are inspired by Safari patterns in rich, sophisticated tones of brown,  dark chocolate and beige.   Wilton woven of polypropylene and made in Belgium, it will retail for $178 in 5x8 size. The rugs are available in In 5x8 and 8 x 11 size.

In addition, Balta will build on its strength in the indoor-outdoor rugs with two American-designed flat-woven all-synthetic lines.  "Balta is one of the leading producers worldwide  in the indoor-outdoor category," Verhoye noted. "We feel there is room for a lot more growth in this category."

Flora is a group of large-scale botanicals in soft tones of terra cotta and sage. They are flat-woven in Belgium of 100% polypropylene. Suggested retail will be $89 in 5x8 size. The rugs are available in In 5x8 and 8x 11 size.  

 
Coastal  is a lively group of nautical themes in rust, sage and blue against a  khaki ground.  Flat-woven in Belgium of 100% polypropylene. Suggested retail will be $89 in 5x8 size. The rugs are available in In 5x8 and 8x 11 size. 

Balta Group with worldwide sales over $1 billion in fiscal 2006, makes broadloom carpeting, laminate flooring and rugs.

Rugs are the most important segment of Balta's US business, noted Verhoye.

Balta's  rug marketing philosophy in the US has been to go for big volume stores such as national chains and mid-tier chains of 50-150 stores. The company is also targeting the major rug web retailers.

One of the challenges of Internet rug sales is that it depends on sales based on images and consumers can not see the true colors or textures. "On the other hand, we are an Internet society and that business holds great potential for growth,"  Verhoye said.

"Our distribution is set up to service large accounts with well-made products that offer consumers outstanding value," said Verhoye.

"My parents' generation INVESTED in rugs. Today, rugs are becoming a commodity product."

The consumer's desire to have an inexpensive, fashion-oriented product puts a lot of pressure on the product development part of the business.

 "Consumers today want the rug today, wants to use it for a couple years and then get rid of it. You have to be very very sharp in development and design, because the window of opportunity is very narrow," Verhoye stressed.

"You are launching something new today, and tomorrow, you better get busy on something else."

The hottest style category world wide is the shag textures, whether it is patterned shag or classic tone-on-tone or texture-on-texture looks.

"We have worked together with the Van de Wiele machinery company to develop new looks in shags. Our share of the shag market is now in double digits, and we see continued growth in this area," said Verhoye.

Verhoye said that American consumers continue to move toward large retail chains, and he sees this trend continuing "The big keep getting bigger," he said.

While the company continues to specialize in value-oriented price points in large-scale retail channels, Balta is also eyeing  floor covering  and furniture specialists.

"We have developed a super-heavy textured shag that is aimed directly at that market," said Verhoye. "We call it Luxury Shag, but at $399 in 5x8 size, it offers outstanding value. It will be also be introduced at the Atlanta market."

Heavy-weight Luxury Shag collection features earthtones and grays. It will retail at $399 in 5x8.

Being a Belgian manufacturer in the American market has its unique challenges considering the weakness of the dollar against the euro, Verhoyes admitted. The fact that Balta buys raw materials using US currency has some mitigating, effect. "However, I think that everyone in the financial world agrees that the dollar is too weak. I believe that the dollar will strengthen again in the near future."

06.28.08