NEWS INDUSTRY UPDATE Industry Update


Major Wool Carpet and Rug Marketing Initiative Launched


The Wool Carpet Focus Group (WCFG) – whose membership includes wool carpet and rug manufacturers, buying groups, wool yarn spinners, wool marketing organisations, environmental consultants and more – has launched its first major marketing initiative.


The WCFG has been working with the HRH Prince of Wales Campaign for Wool organisation, British Wool and several other supporters in order to produce its first joint venture leaflet and window sticker programme for the wool carpet industry.


The leaflets explain the benefits of using wool as a carpet fibre, highlighting its safety, environmentally-friendly, and aesthetic qualities.


The group will be sending out hundreds of thousands of leaflets through various channels; wool carpet manufacturers will send them when they send samples to their retail customers, buying groups


will distribute them, and they will be available at the Flooring Show in Harrogate this September.


WCFG has defined the benefits of wool under the heading ‘Woolabilities’. One particular ‘woolability’ listed in the leaflet is ‘unflammability’. Coining their own, and in their opinion, clearer term for the word inflammable, the group highlights wool’s fire-resistant qualities by labelling this as ‘unflammability’.


Commenting on wool’s fire-resistant qualities, Martin Curtis, WCFG Chairman, said: “As a result of this quality, several hotel groups are currently investigating all the benefits of wool carpets and are planning to replace their current floorcoverings for the safer and better option.


“I would rather stay in a hotel that is fitted with wool carpets, beds, furnishings and anything else that can be made from wool!”


The full five ‘Woolabilities’ are defined in the new leaflet and also on the group’s website. There are some short videos to explain the message


features practical buying advice on how to measure for the perfect size, layout in the room and what fibre and type is best suited. Browsers can also find out how to care for their rug and keep up-to-date with the latest tips and tricks revealed in the blog.


Flair Rugs Unveils New Website


Flair Rugs has launched a new website, giving consumers an insight into the world of the rug supplier.


Cataloguing the company’s Simplicity and Core collections, as well as detailing the company’s family heritage dating back to 1984, the website also


06 | Tomorrow’s Retail Floors


Of course, visitors will also be able to search the entire Flair catalogue for their dream style, selecting from hundreds of different styles and get in touch to find details of their nearest stockist.


Gareth Davies, Sales and Marketing Director at Flair, said: “As the Flair Rugs brand becomes recognised in homes across the country, it’s important that our website is geared-up to provide consumers with the information they need to make a good rug purchase.


in a logical and easy-to-understand manner, though the points made do have scientific backing. Check them out also on YouTube and Vimeo.


If you’re at this year’s Flooring Show in Harrogate, make sure you go and have a chat with the WCFG to discover the benefits of wool for yourself.


www.woolcarpetsnaturally.org


“We regularly appear in editorial features in the consumer press and it is well known the internet is the first place people go to research their purchase, so it is vital that our website tells the story of Flair, provides genuinely useful advice and shows off our product by making it easy for visitors to find what they are looking for.”


The new website delivers exactly this, developed from the ground up to underline Flair’s position as the country’s leading rug supplier. The website is also being launched alongside a standalone website for Luxmi by Flair, luxmirugs.com, the brand’s line of premium rugs, including the V&A Inspired collection.


www.flairrugs.com www.tomorrowsretailfloors.com


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