Can’t believe the Super Bowl is less than a week away as I write this. Not THE Super Bowl, but OUR Super Bowl, a.k.a. Surfaces 2023. Here’s what’s percolating in my brain right now as I think about what to pack…
Someone thought Design and Construction week was a good idea, putting TISE (actually three shows in one), the Builder show (IBS), the Kitchen and Bath show (KBIS) and the Rug Market on top of each other, not to mention some non-industry conferences. The result: airfare prices that are sending us through Seattle on the way out and back to New York via LAX on the way home. Yay… Expecting Surfaces attendance to be comparable to pre-COVID-19 numbers. Just about everyone is exhibiting… Excited about our new booth location at the front of the exhibit hall by the main entrance. Stop by booth #2907 for a free massage…
I don’t believe for a second that this won’t be a good year for this industry, provided we set realistic expectations. Flat is good. Think about where you were in 2019 and where you are today… I thought the Anderson Tuftex carpet intros I saw in Dallas and Orlando were impressive… Watching to see what AHF does with the venerable Armstrong Flooring brand… If they try to bring back masks on planes I might get arrested…
Drew Hash to Southwind is like Verlander to the Mets, minus Kate Upton… Very quietly, Belknap White’s Ray Mancini is becoming more important than anyone realizes in this industry… Eagles-Bengals in the big game. 49ers schedule was horrendously weak and 7th round rookie QBs don’t take you to the Super Bowl. Chiefs will struggle with Mahomes’ bad ankle… Hoping Bob Shaw decides to make the trip to Vegas, even for one day…
Mohawk’s Signature Technology and WetProtect are game changers… The laminate surge continues. Who would have predicted this five years ago… I will still never buy an electric car. And thanks for all your emails saying I would have been the guy who stuck with the horse… I feel like Jason Surratt is the best leader Tarkett has had on the residential side in a very long time…
Not buying any of this recession talk, and if we go into recession it’s by definition only. People still have money and it’s still a tight labor market… Really impressed with what Doug Jackson and his team are doing at Cali. He’s assembled a bunch of all-stars and are really building a unique brand proposition… Still haven’t gotten that eye lift yet… Attended Russell Grizzle’s retirement dinner the other night in Atlanta. Seems like yesterday when Mannington hired him to replace Tom Davis. How time flies…
The Southwest Flooring market is headed in the right direction… Here’s something interesting: Former New York Giants Hall of Fame linebacker Lawrence Taylor and O.J. Anderson recently started a company, First Team Marketing Group, that personally consults with exhibitors to give them custom trade show exhibit designs. LT will be walking around Surfaces… Eye Candy is beginning to scare my liver… Looking forward to the opening of Engineered Floors’ digital printing SPC facility this spring…
I know builders have pulled back, and elevated interest rates negatively impact resales, but history shows that when people aren’t relocating they are remodeling… The more I think about it, Jimmy Poulos from Flooring 101 is one of the smartest retailers I know… Pet peeve: people who go dark on you, then give you big hugs when they see you at a show like you’re their long lost cousin. I hate fake… FCA Network is celebrating 25 years in April. Again, time flies…
Carpet companies need to do a better job of promoting the fact that basically all their broadloom can be made into area rugs—gives retailers the opportunity to sell the same square footage twice… Who will be the recipient of FCNews’ 2023 Lifetime Achievement Award?… I finally started watching “Mad Men.” Better late than never… Would loved to have seen Bruno Mars in Vegas on Wednesday night. Never seems to be time for that.
See you in Vegas, baby!
