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Shaw Floors
Shaw got its start in 1946 as Star Dye Company, a small
business that dyed tufted scatter rugs. The events that transformed the company
into the world's largest carpet manufacturer are too numerous to write...or even
fully know. But the philosophy guiding those events meeting customers, determine
their needs, and supplying those needs hasn't changed much through the years.
Continually differentiating its service and adding value for customers motivated
every major move in the company's development, among them: - Generating
its own yarn supply with the 1972 purchase of its first yarn plant
- Seeing
the potential of newly developed continuous dyeing processes and acquiring its
first continuous dye plant in 1973
- Creating its own trucking subsidiary,
dramatically improving shipments nationwide
- Significantly expanding direct
sales to retailers beginning in 1982
- Establishing regional distribution
centers across the United States
- Modernizing plants and equipment in the
early 1980s, allowing it to respond quickly to such breakthroughs as stain resistant
carpet
- Decreasing the consumption of fuel, water, and electricity in the
manufacturing process and finding innovative recycling solutions for manufacturing
waste
- Acquiring Amoco's polypropylene fiber production facilities in 1992 and providing
consumers popular Berber styles
- Starting the rug division in 1993 and
the hard surfaces division in 1998 with the launch of Shaw Ceramics
The
desire to be the industry's low-cost provider was also a determining factor in
Shaw's decisions, namely the acquisitions that brought such respected names as
Cabin Crafts and Sutton under the Shaw umbrella. It also played a role in one
of the largest and most significant moves in the company's history: the merger
of Shaw and Queen Carpets.
Shaw, now a Berkshire Hathaway company,
has teamed with IAP in procuring national government and private set-aside flooring
projects using Shaw as the manufacturer and IAP as the construction manager providing
installers, project managers, accounting, administrative, and supervisory roles.
By building solid relationships with General Contractors nationally, IAP allows
SHAW products to be specified in government and private projects while allowing
these companies to fulfill their minority business inclusion requirements. This
relationship will also allow Shaw products to be considered for preferred status
as a “standard product” required by the federal government.
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