August 2007 Archives

The attention that Westhollow has demonstrated with regard to making sure the the Brazilian Cherry, Tigerwood, Angelim and Brazilian Walnut are harvested with sustainable practices is to be commended. The dedication that the chain of custody partnership is something that all companies are evolving towards and I hope to continue to see advancement and further certifications as they become practical and available.

I thought I would share some exotic photo room scenes to share just how beautiful a well executed project can be.

BRAZILIAN CHERRY FLOORING - By Westhollow

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TIGERWOOD - Westhollow hardwood
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Below are some photos that will give you a better perspective:

I get alot of questions about cork and what it is all about.

I am uploading a couple photos of some cork trees to let you get a visual.

I think everyone is onboard that Google is taking over the world and we are happy to be a part of it! We're the part that pays into the system. ;)

As a new test we are participating in Google TV service which is driven primarily online, but I suspect it will move offline as well like their radio and newspaper services.

It is amazing to watch that company grow!

I have pasted the spot below for your review.

My quick tip of the day is to remember that entry mats both outside your doorway and inside the doorway are a critical link to maintaining your flooring.

Can you imagine having a beautiful new hardwood, laminate, cork or bamboo floor installed and NOT have entry walk off mats? (I can't imagine - but I am sad to report it happens all too often.)

So please - do our part to save your flooring and keep it happy and healthy over the long run: put in walk off mats both inside and outside your doors. (yes, all of them!) (yes, I mean the garage too.)

I am struggling to find time to post, but I thought I would upload some photos real quick just to show you I care.

Here are some shots from last week's store manager's event here in Seattle. It was great to see such a talent pool sitting in the same room!

Alaska is such a great place to visit. I've only been there a few times, but it is truly a beautiful place! I thought I would take a moment and share just a few of my Alaska photos. (yes this is laziness at it worst.)

(We have served Alaska for many years from our Seattle Distribution center and so it is fun to travel up and see where this great customer base is.)

Recently Ryan traveled to China and brought back these photos that I thought I would share here.

Cathy has been with iFLOOR or it's prior landbased precursor, Midlakes, for what I would guess is coming up on 15 years.

Cathy has been a completely focused on getting it done right for all of these years. Her dedication and commitment to customers has been inspirational for all of us who work along side her. Cathy continues today at an even faster pace with even a stronger sense of service to our customers than ever before. Cathy puts her name on every experience. That is a true accomplishment.

In addition to having an unyielding sense of service Cathy's numbers are always in the upper tier. This proves that superlative service is rewarded by ample and repeat business. Furthermore she never hesitates to lend a hand to her colleagues and she can always be counted on for a laugh. (a loud laugh typically - somewhere around 70-80 decibels.)

I certainly know that it has been and remains my privilege to work with Cathy and I sincerely and publicly thank her for her outstanding and momentous contributions. I couldn't have done it without you Cathy!

Kudos to Cathy for being a shining example of excellence. As a small token of this recognition I will be giving Cathy her first sanctioned company apparel. It is a bamboo shirt with the new iFLOOR logo. (since this is the first time she has ever been given "company swag" it is a big deal. - this has been a running contest between Cathy and lo these many years.) I hear she got a hat too!

In order to recognize Cathy and perhaps annoy her here is are beautiful photos:

We have been running like crazy working through a store managers meeting, I will post more at the end of this week, but I wanted to just upload a photo that showed a few guys at the Mariner's win over the Twins the other night with a walk off home run!

The names of flooring have often amused me.

I used to look at the names of carpeting and wonder who came up with this stuff. At times it appeared that the same book used to name carpeting was used to name boats and race horses.

Recently in the hardwood and laminate category brands have begun to embrace this same more liberal naming convention. Not that there's anything wrong with that....

But check out these unique product names:

Whistling Kettle

Old Furnace

Rain Barrel

and how about being verbose?:

Canadian Maple Rustica Arctic Slate

Quickstep Eligna Natural Varnished Cherry Uniclic

So to the smart branding guys who have to come up with this stuff I salute you. I don't know how it all works, but I sure do like watching the creativity!

In some ways it reminds me of the recent Budwieser radio campaigns about "Real American Heros." I heard the one recently about Mr. Taxi Cab Over Accessorizer or the Mr. Bowling Shoe Giver Outer, Mr. Cargo Pant Designer and of course Mr. Over-Zealous Foul Ball Catcher.

I believe in fact that we should nominate these flooring branding folks as Real American Heros! Here are some of my ideas so far:

Mr. Creative Flooring Namer Guy
Mr. Really Named the Hell Out of that One
Mr. Overly Descriptive Branding Name, While Still Not Accurately Describing the Product Guy

I am open to other suggestions.

Anyway - You can see I really have nothing of value to add today. ;)

*** A footnote: we have seen manufacturers change the name of the product and reintroduce and magically sales went up! So there is something to this - even though I like to have fun with the topic.

Over time I have commented about Merbau specifically as well as other tropical species that are being harvested in a way that is at a minimum suspect.

We know that a lot of illegal logging happens and we also know that much of that timber lands in china for production of flooring, furniture, etc...

Recently congress has started working on a bill that would be designed to reduce or restrict tropical timber from entering the US. The Combat Illegal Logging Act of 2007, introduced on Aug. 1 through Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) is aimed at taking a bite out of this crime. My understanding is that this would be an amendment to existing laws that protect wildlife trafficking like ivory and other black market products. By extending the same law to plants and trees it would provide similar protection which should be a good thing.

I suspect the EU has similar legislation in the works as well. For once I can say that they Government may actually have something good in the works when it comes to regulation!

Both environmental groups and businesses (at least manufacturers based in the US) are in favor or this type of legislation.

I support it from the context of making sure that good usage of timber and harvesting in a responsible sustainable way.

Although this will guarantee increases on tropical timber species for flooring and furniture in the future I think that folks who buy the $3.99 merbau flooring today would think twice and ultimately make the right choice not to buy it since it was illegally logged. Most customers who buy these kinds of products really don't know they are buying "slash and burn" illegal logs.

Our decision not to stock merbau for the last 24 months has been a direct result of our inability to tell the difference between the good guys and the guys selling illegal stuff. And yes it has probably cost us a little short term profit, but we all believe it is the right thing to do. This is now expanding to other species as well including potentially kempas and possibly even Brazilian cherry at some point. Any tropical timber could be impacted ultimately.

As my scoutmaster used to say, "Always leave the campsite better than you found it." I think our obligation is to leave the planet better than we found it.

The laminate category continues to grow both in terms of the sales, quantity of square footage as well as it's range of options.

Although we were one of the first to introduce a beveled edge, random length laminate in thin widths today there are a number of sources for this very fashionable style.

Additionally hand scraped (aka handrubbed, hand sculpted, hand etched, distressed etc...) laminate continues to increase in it's appeal and the depth of it's visual design.

If you saw laminate in the late 90's and decided it wasn't realistic enough for you, it may be worth a second look now!

I just heard the unilin, which is now owned by Mohawk, is expanding their Thomasville, NC facility by investing 30 million dollars into additional capacity. They will also add on 50 full timer folks as well.

Mohawk continues to roll onward! They just purchased Columbia hardwood which gives them even more credibility when it comes to being a true manufacturer of all products. They make alot of carpet, tile, now hardwood and with unlin a ton of laminate as well.

Certainly a big enterprise!

Yes that's right. Sweeping can save lives.

By sweeping your floor regularly (or using a DRY swiffer type dust mop) you can really extend if not preserve the lifespan of the flooring.

The life of your flooring is directly tied to maintenance and sweeping (or vacuuming) your flooring can make a huge difference on how long it will last.

So avoid allowing that dust and debris from getting under your shoes and scratching your floor by sweeping, vacuuming or swiffering!

Save the life of a floor today and sweep it. :)

All of our teams receive great KUDOs regularly and I try to post here from time to time. Honestly I need to do a better job of that in fairness to all of the superstars in the iFLOOR universe.

This particular example is from the "BEAST OF THE EAST" team Brooklyn.

Kudos to you all.
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Sent: Thursday, August 02, 2007 12:32 PM
To: Feedback
Subject:

To whom it may concern,

I am writing this letter to share the experience I had with the ifloor in Brooklyn, NY.

It was was a hot and humid Wednesday afternoon in New York, I left work early so I can get there before they close at 7:00pm. Unfortunately, there was rush hour traffic and I got there around 6:45pm. Knowing that they close at 7:00pm, I expected to be rushed out without really seeing and inspecting all that ifloor has to offer, after all, this laminate floor thing is totally new to me.

But the moment I walked in, I was greeted with a friendly hello by Timothy and Narda, the two ifloor representative. They were not only helpful and knowledgeable, but were totally unconcern with the 7:00pm closing time. They made purchasing laminate floors for a first time buyer an easy and positive experience.
Two thumbs up for ifloor, thank you Timothy and Narda at the Brooklyn location and I will definitely recommend you guys to my friends and co-workers.

Sincerely,

Walter

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Hi Walter,

First of all thanks a million for your business. We really appreciate it!

Secondly, thanks so much for sharing your experience with team Brooklyn. We are thrilled that the friendly service combined with going the extra mile made your experience a positive one. Tim and Narda clearly “put their name” on your iFLOOR experience. That is like sweet music to my ears.

Thanks again for your business and I want you to know that we’re counting on you personally to Deliver lots of good referrals from the NYC metro area! ;)

With Sincere Thanks,

Ss

Steve Simonson
CEO
iFLOOR

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If you ever see a floor that has a "natural" finish - that traditionally means that the floor has a clear coat of finish on it an no stain.

A brazilian cherry floor which has alot of natural color variation will show ALL of that variation using a clear coat of finish. This is regardless whether the floor is pre-finished or finished on site. A "natural" finish or clear coat will not change that variation no matter how it is applied.

Of course variation is very much in right now! So cheers to those really cool and natural looks.

There is alot of variation in species alot of exotic species in particular Brazilian cherry, Brazilian walnut, tiger wood. Domestics can have alot of variation too. Hickory, American cherry, Kempas, merbau, rustic oak, rustic maple and really any starting point in the grading system can deliver a very varied look. (say that 5 times fast.)

Installation is a tough business, but the dedicated people we have make people's home dreams come true are really getting it done. From the sales side (which includes setting proper expectations) and on the scheduling side (which includes maintaining a fluent motion for hundreds of projects) and our installation partners that do the physical labor and deliver on the promise to serve.

Part of our mission is to make sure that we ask folks if we are meeting their expectations. The video below is a compilation of scans from a series of recent feedback forms that were turned in. I felt that sharing these would give KUDOs to the incredibly hard working team that is earning the praise. Additionally I wanted to reinforce to prospective customers what happens when our aspirations of delivering world class service meet up with our dedicated folks throughout the organization, but most notably those that enter the home and complete the work.