Floor Daily Flooring Professional Podcast

Steve Cloud, Chairman of Starnet and Co-owner of M. Frank Higgins, and Kemp Harr discuss Starnet’s Board initiatives for this year and the recent success he is having with his commercial flooring contracting business in Connecticut.

Lara Rassette, VP and GM at Circadia Flooring (formerly Image Flooring), discusses her commercial flooring contracting business based in Kansas City and the benefit of being part of Starnet.

Tracy Daves, regional manager with Shaw Industries’ builder division, and Kemp Harr discuss the latest flooring trends in the builder segment based on a national meeting she attended with interior designers focused on that market. Listen to the interview to hear what’s trending in flooring in the builder segment.

Joe Lundgren, a tile industry expert, discusses current demand trends, share shift by country and the latest strategy by importers to deflect potential tariff risks.

Keith Christman, president of the Decorative Hardwoods Association, and Kemp Harr discuss the difference between the reciprocal IEEPA tariffs and the Section 232 tariffs and what Keith’s trade association is doing to protect domestic producers of hardwood products, including flooring.

Drew Hash, CEO with Southwind Floors, and Kemp Harr discuss business conditions and a few highlights from this weekend’s FEI Group annual meeting in San Diego.

Armando Cafiero, managing director of Ceramics of Italy, and Kemp Harr discuss highlights of this week’s Cersaie show in Bologna, Italy and business conditions impacting the tile market worldwide.

Eric Foley, VP of business development with Happy Floors, and Kemp Harr discuss Happy Floors' new status as a core vendor to the NFA.

Ian Newton, general manager of Flooring 101 and president of the National Floorcovering Alliance (NFA), and Kemp Harr discuss the buying group's fall meeting in Anchorage, Alaska.

Santo Torcivia, an economist focused on the flooring business, and Kemp Harr summarize a few highlights from Santo’s Market Monitor quarterly report.

Dave Triepke, CEO with Universal Metro, and Kemp Harr discuss business conditions and outlook for growth for Dave's commercial flooring contracting business based in Los Angeles.

Amie Gilmore, Show Director for Informa’s Surfaces/TISE expo, and Kemp Harr discuss the highlights for next year as the show opens registration for the Las Vegas residential flooring show scheduled for January 27 - 29, 2026.

Bruce Zwicker, a flooring industry consultant, and Kemp Harr discuss the segment performance within the flooring industry for the first half of the year and the outlook for the remainder of the year.

Gary Scheidker and Anthony Roopnauth, director of technical services and technical sales manager, respectively, with Taylor Adhesives, and Kemp Harr discuss Taylor’s Dynamic product and the firm’s shift to recycled packaging.

Christine Zampaglione, VP of Marketing at Stanton, and Kemp Harr discuss current business conditions and the firm’s focus on building more interior decorator relationships with its new license with the Kravet brand.

Scott Levy, the new sole owner of Arley Wholesale, Inc., and Kemp Harr discuss Arley’s fit as a specialized East Coast distributor that’s primarily focused on tile and stone and sundries but also offers some unique resilient products.

Alex Roberts, CEO of Roberts Carpet and Fine Floors, and Kemp Harr discuss the strategy behind her recent growth at the firm’s 9-location independent flooring retail chain in Houston, Texas. Listen to the interview for more details.

Kevin O’Meara, a veteran and SVP of supply chain and enterprise strategy for Shaw Industries, talks about the importance of the Homes For Our Troops organization for veterans, including one who was paralyzed in Afghanistan. With the help of HFOV, she was able to move into a more accessible home and grow her family.

Stephanie Owen, president and CEO of the National Wood Flooring Association (NWFA), and Kemp Harr discuss business conditions and challenges for the wood flooring business and her new role as permanent head of the trade association.

Malisa Maynard, chief sustainability officer for Mohawk, and Kemp Harr discuss the highlights of last week’s flooring sustainability summit and Mohawk’s recently released 2025 Impact Report.

Sunil Palakodati, CEO with Artivo Surfaces, and Kemp Harr discuss the recent news that the firm was acquiring the Walker Zanger and Anthology brands from Mosaic.

Jim Lloyd, president of Cornerstone Commercial Flooring, and Kemp Harr discuss the firm’s acquisition of Craft Croswell. Listen to the interview for more details about these two Starnet members coming together.

Miller McNamara, owner of Jimmy Lyle's Flooring Gallery, and Kemp Harr discuss this Mississippi-based flooring dealer’s recent growth and diversity into fabrication.

Scott Banda, co-founder of Climit, and Ali Cheloei, president of Abbey Commercial Flooring, a commercial flooring contractor in the Washington, D.C. area, discuss the benefit of using Climit site monitoring on job sites to ensure site conditions are within spec before the flooring is installed.

Eric Astrachan, executive director of the Tile Council of North America (TCNA), and Kemp Harr discuss the recent challenge to the Department of Commerce’s ruling that India was not selling tile under fair market value.