Gainesville, FL — 10/30/18 — CarpetsPlus COLORTILE®, the business networking and resource-licensing group, recently held its fifth annual buying committee meeting here at Hilton University of Florida Conference Center, October 19-20 to evaluate, strategize, discuss and plan the group’s merchandising and other programs for the coming year.
A representative group of members from around the country convened to evaluate, strategize, discuss and plan the group’s merchandising and programs for the coming year. Seven member stores were in attendance this year with ten total representatives from those stores.
Kevin Logue, co-COO and vice president marketing for Alliance Flooring, presented the main objectives on Friday morning to begin the event. The meeting included subjects such as new carpet and hard surface merchandising strategies for 2019, kitchen and bath expansion, new supplier strategy and what trends members see in their markets.
Members were also able to listen to a few suppliers as they presented some new products. Shaw carpet & hard surface, Mohawk carpet & hard surface, Daltile and Masterbrand Cabinets were among the suppliers who were in attendance. Open discussions and feedback from all attendees ensued after each presentation.
The group reviewed new products as well as discussed 2019 strategies for proposed merchandising. They saw carpet and hard surface displays and provided excellent feedback for display improvements.
Leah Huber, Alliance Flooring’s Supplier Relations Manager, said, “The Buying Committee meeting was very productive and we had a lot of positive feedback about the new products presented. The Buying Committee members really like the new empty display cabinets that we are prototyping. Retailers have such limited showroom space, so they like having the freedom of combining programs if needed.”
David Ellis, Merchandising Manager for Alliance Flooring, said, “We’re really happy with what we accomplished. One takeaway I had was that members requested more hard surface private labeling to protect against internet price shopping. We’re planning on providing that with various new programs.”
Kevin Logue spoke about the possibility of adding kitchen and bath to the mix of products members carry. “This market is a natural add-on to diversify the product mix in member stores. During our discussion about kitchen and bath products, we got 100% buy-in from the buying committee to add countertops. I believe we brought in a tops program that all members can get behind. The cabinet business isn’t for everyone but there was interest in finding out additional information. We want to offer members more and I think we accomplished that.”
“Getting input in advance from our CarpetsPlus Buying Committee is highly beneficial in creating an impactful product strategy for flooring and for all programs we are looking to add,” Logue added.
Jon Logue, Alliance Flooring’s co-CEO, said, “We always appreciate the input we get from our Buying Committee. We received feedback on strategies for merchandising, opinions about new products and input on some new programs. Everyone seemed to be really pleased with how it went. This was the best, most productive Buying Committee meeting we’ve had so far.”
