Good news for the flooring industry. Recent studies have shown that there has been an increase recently in commercial carpet sales. This was reported by Shaw industries. Shaw also recently released an article saying that their economy experts said they expect another increase in sales in the latter part of 2011. Shaw Industries Inc., a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., is the largest manufacturer of carpet in the world. Headquartered in Dalton, Georgia, Shaw sells floor covering and rugs for residential and commercial applications throughout the United States and exports to most markets worldwide.

Shaw says that the biggest reason for this increase is due to building renovations in the business community. This area of the industry shows the biggest growth in the beginning of 2011, since 2006. Shaw experts also say they expect the housing market to begin a major turn around next year. They believe this will happen because of past economic history data. In the past it has always been the business owners that start the buying process, doing renovations, investing more in their business. Then usually this trickles down to the middle class home owner.

I have seen this personally myself. Many times when the U.S. has economic crisis like the last few years, the first group of people to recover are the businesses. The company I work for has personally seen a lot of growth the last few months. The larger majority of the contracts we have begun lately are from business owners, Hotels and Business offices that are buying commercial carpet. We have seen an increase in sales in other areas as well, but the commercial carpet has been the top selling item. We sell a lot of Shaw industry products, but all of our sales have not been just for Shaw products. We have also seen an increase in sales for Southland Floors Carpets, Glen Eden, Dixie Home, Stanton and Helios Brands.

From what I can see, the business owners in our local area are buying products more and more. We have had a 45% increase in company sales. Usually our sales are for the most part geared towards the local middle class home owner, but just lately this has changed drastically. Now, our most popular client is the business owner. We have had tons of businesses ask us to restore their hardwood flooring. Either, sand, stain and refinish it. Or, refresh the stain with a deep cleaning and buffing. A specific area we have recently received several contracts for are custom stained hardwood flooring jobs. This is really hopeful. To me, it shows there is a definite growth in our economy. When business have the money to spend on these types of custom jobs they must be doing well.

We have also seen an increase in the purchase of custom area rugs. This is unusual and hopeful, because custom area rugs are usually more expensive than pre-made rugs. The increase has not been small. The last 3 months have shown a 300% increase in the sale of custom made area rugs. Our biggest seller has been area rugs made from Dixie Home carpet. Another positive is that these purchases have come from individual home owners, not business owners. This also shows that either consumers are beginning to have more hope and loosen up on their spending, or they are making more money. With all the positive growth we have seen lately, we are hopeful that our current economic slump will soon be history. Now, perhaps we are having growth because we have doubled and tripled our efforts at sales, marketing, cold calls, etc. But, never the less, there is hope!