Calhoun, Ga.—Mohawk’s newly imagined, 30,000-square-foot floor space at The International Surface Event (TISE) will feature new products, storytelling and marketing programs designed to help retailers thrive in today’s increasingly competitive world of specialty retail. Visitors to the booth will experience product stories designed to capture a consumer’s interest and drive her into retail stores in search of the Mohawk, Pergo and Karastan brands.
“There is no better place to be than Surfaces,” explained Paul De Cock, president of Mohawk Flooring North America. “It’s the industry’s premier show where we can connect with our retail partners and the flooring industry as a whole. Mohawk’s front and center presence communicates to our retailers that we are here to be the best business partner we can be with product solutions that the consumer needs and, more importantly, feels compelled to buy.”
Mohawk is kicking off TISE 2020 with a VIP Karastan Better Than Nature Intended event on Monday night before the show opening. The company’s leadership team will host Karastan retailers to celebrate the integration of hard surface into the 90-year-old Karastan brand.
“The Karastan brand is broadening its horizon with two unique collections of premium hardwood and luxury vinyl tile—taking Karastan from a category brand to a flooring brand,” said Karen Mendelsohn, senior vice president of marketing. “We challenged our craftsmen to search the globe for the best materials and designs. Not only did they seek out the rare and beautiful, they also found inspiration at every turn—allowing us to develop differentiated products for our retail partners, targeting more discerning homeowners. These floors are truly better than nature intended.”
For the first time ever, Mohawk will be participating in Converge, TISE’s educational curriculum, by hosting a peer-to-peer panel that will include some of Mohawk’s Edge Council members. On Tuesday morning, these retailers will discuss popular industry topics and business challenges, as well as the creative solutions they are using to navigate them.
During the show, Mohawk’s space will be the hub where visitors can view a mix of new hard and soft surfaces.
Retail partners will be able to check out the latest SmartStrand lineup, which will include multiple new ColorMax styles and a new SmartStrand Silk merchandising system. This new display features more than 40 of the best styles and is designed to attract the consumer and tell the complete product story—from astonishing softness to long-lasting durability.
As one of the world’s leading plastic bottle recyclers, Mohawk is placing an emphasis on eco-friendly products. In total, Mohawk has recycled more than 40 billion plastic bottles by repurposing them into fiber for carpet products such as EverStrand—which, on average, uses 63 reclaimed plastic bottles per square yard.
A new RevWood Select and RevWood Plus wing display holds 60-plus styles of wood without compromise, making shopping simpler for consumers. Additionally, Mohawk will help retail partners drive traffic to their stores for these products along with SolidTech and SolidTech Plus with new waterproof flooring digital campaigns. These campaigns will enable retailers to easily translate the benefits of several waterproof options to best meet their customers’ lifestyles.
To support Edge partners carrying Pergo Extreme, Mohawk will be introducing new marketing tools for the Pergo “Go Life” campaign to demonstrate the product’s extreme durability. These enhancements, along with a refreshed consumer-targeted program on Pergo.com, will expand brand awareness and product interest.
Along with its hard surface launch, Karastan will introduce new broadloom products, including wool and tailored loop collections.
Retail partners will also discover what’s new in Mohawk’s award-winning programs. Rather than making programs one size fits all, Mohawk continues to design them to be more dynamic and flexible to fit each retailer’s unique business needs.
At the booth, retailers will experience how Omnify makes it easy for them to use digital to drive more feet through the door for Mohawk flooring. Retailers can also explore Mohawk’s new digital local advertising campaigns for Edge partners that are designed to help drive more traffic. Along with these digital solutions, retailers can learn how Five Star provides a Mohawk branded shopping experience that simplifies the showroom to accelerate a consumer’s decision to buy.
Mohawk’s booth experience will culminate at the Retail Showroom, an ideal specialty retail store layout featuring all of the latest in merchandising and product displays, including the highly anticipated new rug display and kiosk. The display will feature 100 of the most popular rug styles and colors, while the digital kiosk will extend the offering and provide even more choices.
“Every hard surface needs a rug,” said Jeff Meadows, president of residential sales. “As hard surface continues to take share from broadloom carpet, rugs are still a growing piece of the market that many specialty retailers aren’t participating in. This program gives our Edge partners a low-cost, highly efficient and unique method for expanding their business into rugs and enjoying a new revenue stream.”
On Wednesday at 5 p.m., Mohawk will host its annual One Mohawk Party in collaboration with the company’s sister brand, Daltile, to celebrate its customers and the industry. VIPs will join Mohawk leadership and Flooring North America employees for an exciting private event.
TISE will be held Jan. 27-30, 2020. To register, sign up for Mohawk’s VIP registration by clicking hereand using code 30109 to secure a free ticket. Retailers who register with Mohawk can skip the line and pick up their badges at Mohawk’s exclusive VIP check-in area. Mohawk Edge partners can expect extra VIP treatment when they check in.