Garden City, N.Y.—Mohawk brands captured six awards, including Best Overall Manufacturer, in FCNews’ 25th annual Award of Excellence competition, sponsored by Informa Exhibitions. The awards were voted on by flooring retailers and distributors.
It was the fifth time in six years that Mohawk took home Best Overall honors, with Shaw claiming the title in 2020. Mohawk’s other first-place finishes were in Laminate A and Hardwood, where it tied for first place with Shaw in the A category. Meanwhile, its Daltile (Ceramic), Marazzi (Ceramic) and Aladdin (Main Street Commercial) brands won in their respective categories.
On winning Best Overall Manufacturer for the fifth time in six years, Trey Thames, SVP of residential sales for Mohawk, said, “This honor is not taken lightly given the challenges we have all faced over the last 18 months. Without the dedication of our employees from inception to manufacturing all the way to the shipping of the product, we wouldn’t be where we are today.”
Shaw was a huge winner as well in the Award of Excellence competition, claiming six first-place prizes. Shaw won for Carpet-A, tied with Mohawk for Hardwood-A and took top honors for Resilient-A. Its COREtec brand was the top vote getter in both the Wood/Hybrid and WPC/Rigid Core categories while Anderson Tuftex was a repeat winner in Carpet-B. “Thank you, from all of us at Shaw, to our valued customers who voted our residential brands as their preferred flooring across today’s most in-demand categories,” said Nina LoCicero, vice president of marketing and digital commerce, Shaw Residential. “All of these tremendous honors validate and reaffirm our mission to be your total flooring solutions provider, and we thank you for your partnership and your business.”
Among the repeat winners were Mirage, Hardwood-B; Mannington, Resilient Sheet; Karndean, LVT-B; and Inhaus, Laminate-B. “To receive an award for quality and excellence is a testament to the quality of the employees, suppliers and customers we have at Mirage,” said Brad Williams, vice president of sales and marketing, Boa-Franc. “We are grateful to the many retailers who have been loyal to our brand for all these years and who helped us to once again earn this prestigious award.”
Mannington is the only company to have won for Resilient Sheet since voting took place seven years ago. “The entire Mannington team is humbled by this recognition, and we thank everyone who voted for us as well as the folks at Floor Covering News for continuing to champion these awards and the sheet vinyl category,” said David Sheehan, vice president, residential resilient business.
As well, Karndean has been a repeat winner in the LVT-B category for several years. “As a family-owned business, we strive every day to be your best partner,” said Bill Anderson, CEO. “We are very humbled and thankful to be honored by your votes.”
Inhaus thanked its retailer partners for once again being recognized as a top player in laminate. “Our entire organization works to continuously improve and supply the best products and programs possible,” said Derek Welbourn, CEO. “Recognition of these efforts by our community of dedicated retailers motivates our continued endeavors and is truly appreciated.”
After a two-year hiatus, Stanton returned to the winner’s circle with a first-place finish in Area Rugs. “Stanton truly values our retail partnerships and is honored to have been chosen by our customers as their favorite area rug manufacturer for 2021,” said Jonathan Cohen, CEO.
This year’s contest also included a first-time winner in the Hardwood C category: Harris Wood. Southwind (not pictured) took home the Carpet-C award.
For the full list of winners accepting their awards, see the Oct. 25/Nov. 1 print edition of FCNews.
