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| Understanding VOC's
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We do not
live in California, and we do not have Los Angeles’ smog problems, but soon, Canadian flooring professionals may be forced to meet tough standards for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and formaldehyde that originated on the Left Coast. Suppliers of finishes, adhesives,...more
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| Turning to China for… quality?!
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In his 18 years in the flooring industry, Thomas Baert, president of Shanghai-based Chinafloors, saw a frustrating trend in the efforts of flooring manufacturers that tried to take advantage of China’s low labour rates by outsourcing production there. “Quality was never seen as a selling feature,” he remembers....more
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| An advance look at world-leading designs
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Brazil’s annual Revestir exhibition in São Paulo is a great place to see new ceramic tiles, laminates, glass tiles, mosaic, granite, marble and ornamental stone products before they hit the North American market....more
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| Convince Canadians to walk closer to the edge
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Take a stroll through the booths at Cersaie, in Bologna, Italy, or Revestir, in São Paolo, Brazil. The show floor glitters with a thousand ideas in tile and stone. Indeed, each exhibitor seems to have so many ideas that it must restrict its booth to a certain stylistic theme or segment of its product line....more
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| Associations help you differentiate and cooperate
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Let’s face it: very few companies in the flooring industry are actually out there selling a better mousetrap. Product differentiation in this industry is driven by a combination of cosmetic appearance, dealer service and selection, price...more
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| Niche market: Commercial flooring for health care
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The London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) and St. Joseph’s Health Care operate seven hospitals in London, Ont., treating over a million patients a year on an operating budget of over $1 billion. Recently, the Ontario government approved $200 million in funding for building renewal and expansion in the group....more
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| 6 training tips to increase your greatest assets
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These days it is easy to get too involved working in your business, instead of on your business. Yes, inventory is important, daily store operations are important, planning events and promotions is important, yet none of them matter if your people are not up to snuff....more
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| Report from Domotex Asia in Shanghai
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The calculation for Chinese flooring used to be pretty simple: it's cheap. This is not so, anymore.
For starters, the Chinese are feeling pressure from their labour unions to increase wages and benefits, says China Daily, an English-language newspaper for mainland China....more
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| Workplace violence
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Ask any agency or law enforcement personnel and they will tell you the most common response to a charge or citation is, “I didn’t know I was doing anything wrong.” The next thing they will say is it’s the violator’s duty to know. “Ignorance of the law,” they will say, “is no excuse.”...more
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