NEWH - Fall 2017 - 44

COVER STORY

Flooring It
Shaw proves innovation matters in an ever-evolving market
By Alia Akkam
Photography courtesy of Shaw

Before joining the team at the Atlanta-area flooring behemoth
Shaw Contract two and a half years ago, Robert Stuckey,
director of hospitality and retail, worked at InterContinental
Hotels Group. He's no stranger, then, to the rapidly fluctuating
needs of the hotel realm.
"The whole industry is growing and flourishing, and Shaw's
been a part of most of these changes," says Stuckey, pointing
out that before his arrival at the company it was already
transitioning to become "a leader in hospitality, growing
alongside the hotel brands and design firms we collaborate
with." Underscoring this is the decision to unite Shaw Contract
and Shaw Hospitality into one entity, based on the observation
that hospitality-focused flooring solutions now abound in
corporate settings. All Shaw products, says Stuckey, should be
available to all segments.
One category that especially resonates with hospitality
clients is luxury vinyl tile (LVT). "This is the biggest change in
flooring we've seen in general over the past three, four, or five
years. The LVT arena is a relatively new category for Shaw;
we weren't doing this eight years ago. But it's now the fastest
growing one for us," Stuckey explains. "LVT has allowed us a
huge change in focus,
repositioning the
brand from a carpet
supplier to a total
flooring solution."
Last year's purchase
of USFloors will only
strengthen Shaw's
hold on the LVT and
hard surfaces markets,
enriching an already
diverse portfolio with
materials like woodplastic composite and
rigid core board.

44 www.newh.org

During this year's HD Expo, Shaw snagged a Carpeting/
Carpet Systems and Rugs award during the annual IIDA/HD
Product Design Competition for its custom broadloom Off
the Grid collection. It's simply a story, says, Stuckey, of "our
designers literally going off the grid. We sent two to Arizona,
two to Portland, and they came back with rocks and photos and
reinterpreted these images of nature as carpets. Off the Grid
was a way for us to capture genuine, authentic design."
Such ambitious, one-of-a-kind pieces are produced
frequently at Shaw, which has a department of more than 50
devoted to crafting bespoke flooring possibilities. "A high
percentage of the projects this team works on-every one of
them is different and fun-is for the hospitality sector, so it
aligns with our growth plans there," adds Stuckey.
For "years and years and years," Shaw has been turning out
carpet tile, and it's part of the brand's heritage. Lately, Stuckey
continues, "we're working on new ideas and screaming louder
in the hospitality world that carpet tile provides solutions
to guestrooms, corridors, and public spaces," even as a
complement to LVT. A new Shaw facility in North Georgia also
focuses solely on carpet tile.
Sustainability, says
Stuckey, is a core value
of the company, "from
where and how we
source the material
to how we deliver it,"
guided by the Cradle
to Cradle philosophy.
So important is this
innovative, eco-friendly
concept to Shaw's
ethos that it relaunched
its circa-2003 Walk in
the Garden collection
this year, co-created
with Cradle to Cradle
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NEWH - Fall 2017

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