Vol. 64 No. 4 A Hearst Business Publication February 23, 2015 $4 Dal-Tile brands command the market F LOOR C OVERING W EEKLY The Industry’s Business News & Information Resource 4 Lori Kirk-Rolley Lesslie thrives in EF’s culture By Janet Herlihy [Dalton] On any day, James Lesslie’s job at Engineered Floors (EF) — assistant to Robert E. Shaw, chairman and CEO — is likely to involve a variety of tasks and skills. “In my capacity, I am called on to handle whatever needs attention,” he explained. Flexibility is key. “I could be involved in product development ideas, marketing and sales decisions, operational choices or finan-cial forecasting. When we were deciding to build the SAM plant, someone needed to take point on dealings with state and local authorities on the tax incentive package. I handled that,” he said. “When I arrive in the morning, I need to be able to respond to whatever opportunity presents itself.” Engineered Floors’ corporate strategy has been setting records for startup growth in the six years since its founding by carpet industry trailblazer Bob Shaw. Along with fueling the sea change to polyester filament yarns for residential carpet, EF has established a new model for a carpet manufacturing that draws on its founder’s 40 plus years of experience and the latest manufacturing technologies. EF has built three highly efficient state-of-the-art carpet Continued on page 22 Engineered Floors’ management team meets daily. (l-r) Danny Freeman, James Lesslie, Clay Shaw and Melvin Silvers. ducer in China,” said chairman Xue Bing She. “The second, third and fourth suppliers put together are still smaller than we are. That gives us an overwhelming advan-tage in the market.” By Santiago Montero In China, that advantage extends beyond manufacturing: Nature has some 3,500 [Las Vegas] Nature Home, China’s largest manufacturer of hardwood flooring, has its company-owned retail stores for wood flooring, another 800 sights on a second for kitchen cabinets run at the U.S. market and nearly 500 selling with a new manage-wallpaper — altogether ment team headed almost 5,000 retail up by Jamann Stepp outlets. While this is as CEO of the com-a common practice in pany’s U.S. division, China, few companies Nature Flooring. have reached this level The company is Nature’s Raymond Zhu and Jamann Stepp of retail saturation. traded on the Hong with company chairman Xue Bing She Speaking to FCW Kong stock exchange and boasts major investments from the Inter-through translator Raymond Zhu, Nature’s national Finance Corporation and Morgan CEO of global operations and overseer of this Stanley. And today has a mandate to pursue vast operation, he said the company also has locations around the world and even owns global opportunities. “We are the largest wood flooring pro-Continued on page 22 Nature Flooring makes second foray into US Inside Empire’s Long Island store By Mallory Cruise [Commack, N.Y.] Empire Today, ranked No. 2 on Floor Covering Weekly ’s ( FCW ) Top 50 Retailer listing with estimated sales of $646 million in 2013, opened its first store here on Long Island — some 5,000 square feet of selling space — earlier this month. It is one of three stores the shop-at-home flooring company is opening as it enters the brick and mortar arena. FCW was on hand for the store’s grand opening for an exclusive tour with the compa-ny’s chief marketing officer and executive vice president, sales, Keith Weinberger and exec-utive vice president, operations, Paul Carter. From custom-made displays to take-home sample cards and even an entire area dedi-cated to carpet padding and underlayment, it is evident that Empire Today’s retail stores were designed with specific customer needs in mind. The store, in fact, is all about making the flooring purchase as simple as possible. Boasting a ratio of approximately 50/50 soft to hard surface, store displays are sepa-rated by patterns, styles and warranties, not by manufacturer. “We’ve noticed there is a set of customers that like, and prefer, to shop at home and then there are those that like to start the shopping experience in the store. We’re now able to deliver our brand experience in a retail store environment,” explained Weinberger, adding, “The number one Empire Today’s Keith Weinberger and Paul Carter offered FCW a one-on-one tour of its new Commack, N.Y. location. search on our website is ‘Where are you stores located?’ which was also a catalyst for opening retail locations.” Warranties in particular are a useful sell-ing factor and are utilized as a way to differ-entiate product for consumers. “Product blending helps customers find the designs they’re looking for. Warranties are separated into three segments and are used to compare one product to another. For example, in carpet there are 10, 20 and 30 year warranties,” said Weinberger. As one of the company’s largest markets, Empire Today chose to open two locations here on Long Island, the other being in Periodical For breaking news updated each business day, visit us online at www.fcw1.com Continued on page 4