Surfaces 2003 Highlights

LAS VEGAS – With a bevy of educational opportunities and a exhibitor list 20-percent larger than last year, Surfaces 2003 is primed to set the tone for the new year during its Jan. 28-31 run at the Sands Expo and Convention Center.
It’s also free to attend – but only if you act before the end of the month.
The event, sponsored by the World Floor Covering Association, provides one of the largest venues for floor products – including natural stone – in the western United States, drawing more than 35,000 people for its 2002 run in Las Vegas during late January and early February.
While the Surfaces event generated much of its action in the past from products such as carpeting, recent trends show a shift to stone and other non-cloth items.
“Between the tile and stone exhibitors and manufacturers with hardwood and laminate, the show is more than 45 percent hard surfaces,” says Michelle Troop, Surfaces senior show director. “Surfaces provides retailers a place to see all the product lines their clients are asking for, as the show’s diversification keeps pace with what retailers are experiencing in their stores.”
The total exhibit space at Surfaces will easily exceed 500,000 ft². Last year’s event used a net 517,000 ft², and show officials note that this year’s floor plan includes 20-percent new exhibiting companies.
The 900-plus exhibitors for the show – running from Jan. 29-31 – cover a wide variety of home-decor products, centering on flooring – although more than 40 companies also plan to show products for countertops. An early view of the exhibitor list shows more than 75 companies offering natural-stone products.
Surfaces also offers 40 educational seminars during its conference session from Jan. 28-31. Many of them center on carpet and tile issues, but a significant segment deal with business and sales. And, a few touch the stone industry.
The Complete Approach To Ceramic & Stone Tile Marketing on Jan. 30, for example, features Greg Gelston, director of sales for Schluter Systems North America, showing that there are more than aesthetic considerations in selling tile.
Also on Jan. 30, a panel of flooring experts offers Capitalizing On The Big Box Retailer, with a sharing of strategies in dealing with large home centers and other mass merchandisers.
Another panel on Jan. 30 tackles the topic of Mold: A Growing Problem In Floor Covering, focusing on subfloors, underlayments and proper installations in stopping mold and possibly avoiding future litigation.
And, on Jan. 31, scientist/tester Howard Kanare of the Portland Cement Association deals with another persistent problem in installation with Has The Concrete Moisture Problems Dried Up?
Surfaces 2003 also adds a social event this year, with the Red Carpet Reception after show hours on Jan. 29 at the Venetian Resort-Hotel-Casino adjoining the expo center.

This article first appeared in the December 2002 print edition of Stone Business. ©2002 Western Business Media Inc.