Mohawk Select to Enter New Retail Channels

By Cecile B. Corral -- Home Textiles Today, 4/23/2007 12:00:00 AM

Sugar Valley, Ga. —

Mohawk Industries' Mohawk Select area and accent rug division, which for the past couple of years since its inception has straddled between the company's luxury Karastan and mainstream Mohawk Home classifications, is now coming under the umbrella of the latter.

The addition of the Mohawk Select brand to Mohawk Home creates opportunities of cross-merchandising rugs with home textiles, representing Select's entry into areas like decorative pillows, throws and patio cushions. But more importantly the union allows for Mohawk Home to pursue new tiers of retail — namely furniture stores, rug dealers, catalogs, and additional specialty stores outside the big-box retailers it already hits.

"The time was right to combine forces and place a major focus on the fastest-growing segment in the market place, our furniture retailers," said Mohawk Home vp sales Jim Quist. "The ability to package our rug products with our textiles products will give us a clear point of differentiation in this and other new channels."

The marriage of Mohawk Select and Mohawk Home "gives us the opportunity to introduce an all-new line of rugs that coordinate to our textile products, yet do not conflict with our traditional products and distribution," he explained.

The first collaborated effort was launched last month during the High Point International Home Furnishings Market with the introduction of more than 170 new styles of rugs.

Jeff Vaughn, who spent the past 15 years working in several capacities at Homemaker, has joined Mohawk Home as national accounts manager, focused on servicing catalog and specialty store customers. He works alongside David Moyer, who remains national sales manager, focused on working with furniture and area rug dealers. Both Vaughn and Moyer report to Quist.

All of Mohawk Home's rugs are tufted, printed and woven. It is in the manufacturing and design that the division now makes a distinction between its Select and Home offerings.

Mohawk Select rugs are set to retail for $149 to $429 for 5-by-8 sizes; Mohawk Home rugs, which cater to major discount, specialty and home center retailers, are more aggressively priced, between $79 and $399 for a 5-by-8.