Economy, War, Jobs – Cleaning in the U.S.A.
Economy, War, Jobs
Anyway you look at it these days, things don’t look good. The U.S economy is still on the skids. Every business and customer that I know of is looking for ways to do more with less. In most cases this means reducing labor costs and laying people off. Everyone is hanging on, but it is getting tougher and tougher to do as the days go by. The stock market continues to lose value and is no longer considered a safe investment strategy. Interest rates are so low now, that there isn’t any room left for the government to use them to artificially prop up the economy. The President talks of tax cuts, while at the same time his administration raises the debt limit another trillion or two, so meaningful cut aren’t going to happen anytime soon.
These issues and the War with Iraq have both business and consumers in a holding pattern. Everyone is cautious and is doing their best to hold on to what money they have in case things get worse.
On a positive note, business goes on, it’s just different today. Not as free moving as it was in the past, and you have to look harder for customers and it’s tougher to make a profit or increase your income. If you can find ways to cut costs and reduce labor, you have something to sell. If not, it’s a hard sell today.
Personally I expect this cycle to continue for another 8 to 10 years before we see a stable long term turn around and upward cycle of prosperity and profit taking.
Surfaces Floor Covering Show
The 13th annual Surfaces Floor Covering Show opened today in Las Vegas NV. Over 900 companies are displaying their latest product offering in three exhibit halls with a total of over 525,000 square feet of exhibit space. This is the place to be when it comes to seeing the latest color, design and product trends for carpeting, wood, stone, laminate and vinyl floor covering materials. Some 35, 000 attendees are expected to attend the four-day event, which ends Friday January 31.
This year’s show features an expanded installation contest that includes laminate floorings, over 40 educational seminars and a Red Carpet Reception that is open to all attendees.
A before the show sneak preview of the exhibit area found these trends that will hit local showrooms over the next year:
| – | A wider use of lighter softer colors (tans, cream, and beige) is evident, although a few manufacturers are testing the market for bright colors and busy patterned carpeting and rugs. |
| – | Laminate and vinyl sheet goods are highlighting innovative uses of multi-dimensional deeply embossed patterns that more realistically simulate a wide variety of natural stone materials and clay tiles. These products are growing in number, quality and variety. |
| – | Glossy vinyl floor coverings have been replaced with earth tone and stone colors |
| – | This year’s show includes more international exhibitors, more wood, laminate and stone exhibits, with a greater emphasis on installation, maintenance and cleaning. |
| – | Carpets show a wider use of deep textured patterned goods with more intricate designs and light earth tone colors. |
| – | There is a trend toward the use of a combination of floor covering materials of different types in a rooms floor design. Examples include intricate patterns that combine stone and metal inlays in a wood floor that may be surrounded by carpeting. |
| – | The use of area rugs continues to grow, as does the popularity of natural fibers such as wool, cotton and exotic grasses such as coir, hemp, and bamboo. |
The weather is dry, the temperature is in the low 70’s, and the crowds are friendly. For more information on this and Surfaces 2003 show, contact: Hadley-Wood at www.SurfacesExpo.com
Not Your Fathers Concrete Floor
One of the shows I recently attended was the World of Concrete in Las Vegas, NV. As shows go, this is a big one, over 60,000 people from around the world came to visit over 1700 booths in 3 display halls with a total of over 550,000 square feet of exhibit space. Over 40 technical seminars where offered on all types of subjects related to floor care.
In the cleaning industry we often take concrete for granted, as it seldom needs much care other than cleaning and infrequent recoating. That’s one of the reasons that concrete is the most widely used floor covering in the world. Although we often see it as that gray slab on which other types of floor coverings are installed.
Well that is about to change. My primary purpose in attending was to tour the exhibits and sit in on seminars that deal with Decorative Concrete Overlays, Stamping and Epoxy Coatings. And I certainly wasn’t the only one interested in those subject, in fact they were the most widely attended seminars with over 500 people paying $85.00 each to attend four different seminars on these and other related subjects.
Although this trend may be unknown to many in the cleaning industry, it’s a hot subject in the concrete field. Several suppliers and contractors I spoke to stated that they have been experiencing an explosive 30% to 50% or more growth rate in their businesses over the last 3 to 5 years.
What this mean is that in both commercial and residential construction, builders, designers and architects are moving away specifying and installing expensive floor coverings and instead going with low maintenance decorative concrete floors that require less maintenance and may last the life of the building itself. Bottom line, your going to have to learn how to clean, repair and recoat an entirely new type of floor covering because decorative concrete is quickly becoming the floor covering of choice.
Vacuum Dealer Trade Association Convention
If you want to see the latest in vacuum cleaners, steamers and air filters for the residential market, the annual VDTA Show is the place to be. The VDTA held it’s annual trade show and convention in Las Vegas, NV March 5 to7.
Attendance and the number of booths seemed to be down slightly from last year. The crowds in the exhibit area were strong each morning and tapered off in the afternoons which is normal for any show. This is an interesting show in that it combines residential vacuum cleaner manufacturers and dealers and sewing machine dealers as well as a few chemical and equipment manufacturers from the commercial side of the market. ProTeam, Kleenco, Clarke, Host, EDIC, CORE Products and Oreck were a few of the commercial names that I recognized.
Although the program contained a number of seminars, most were sales pitches for products and poorly attended. On the other hand, there was a standing room only and lively discussion at industry round tables for vac shops and built in systems.
Like other industries, vacuum cleaner dealers are facing tremendous pressure from mass markets stores like Target, Wal-Mart and Costco. Most of the attendees I spoke to readily admitted that sales are down 10 or 15% over last year. The talk at the show focused on how dealers can diversify and add value to their product lines and attract more qualified buyers to their stores.
Here’s a few of the trends that I noticed at this year show:
| – | More emphasis on health, IAQ, mold, allergens, and filtration. |
| – | Bright colors are on the way in, look for red, yellow, green, blue and silver. |
| – | The latest cutting edge vacuums are quieter, more compact, lighter weight, smoother and sleeker in design. |
| – | Bagless vacuums with clear dirt containers that are easy to empty are a popular feature. |
| – | Upright vacuums seem to have more attachments and features than last year, they also look bulkier and heavier. |
| – | Attachments or adjustments that allow a vacuum cleaner to be used on wood, stone and other hard floor surfaces are a common and expected feature. |
| – | Vapor cleaners, home extractors, micro fiber cloths, air fresheners, and a wide variety of specialty cleaning products are now being sold by vacuum dealers. |
| – | Green / Environmentally preferred cleaning chemicals are making inroads into the home market. |
ProTeam Vacuums in Boise, ID, long recognized in the commercial market as the manufacturer of choice for backpack vacuums, introduced several new models at this years show. ProTeam now offers a full line of uprights (Advantage), canister vacs (CX 440), and a sleek new lightweight backpack (VX 2000) (www.proteamvacs.com)
234 Certified Floor Care Technicians World Wide
According to the Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification (IICRC) in Vancouver, WA. a total of 234 cleaning professionals have competed a two-day course of instruction and passed the 160 question exam to become a certified “Floor Care Technician”.
The Floor Care Technician certification category was established two years ago by the IICRC as a prerequisite for hard surface floor covering inspectors and has been popular with self employed building service contractors and carpet cleaners as well as in house custodial technicians, supervisors and managers.
The IICRC course is the first nationally recognized certification program that prepares cleaning professionals to clean, maintain and restore all types of stone, ceramic, wood, laminate and resilient floor covering used in commercial and residential properties.
The two-day course which is instructed by experienced and approved industry professionals covers the following subjects in detail via lecture, discussion and demonstrations.
Day 1
– Floor Care Basics & Industry Overview
– Health, Safety, & Liability
– Floor Covering Identification
– Chemicals, Tools and Equipment
– Floor Care Principals & Procedures
Day 2
– Specialized Floor Care Procedures
– Problem Solving and Trouble Shooting
– Sealers, Finishes & their Application
– Managing the Floor Care Function
– Resources, Costs & Production Rates
– Certification Review/Exam (Optional)
For information of future locations for the Floor Care Technician Certification Seminars Click Here
