A big hit with flooring retailers at conneXtion 2025 was Nourison's display box for its Astra Washables lineup.

ORLANDO, Fla. —CCA Global Partners’ 2025 convention, conneXtion, convened here earlier this month with the headliner being the successful implementation of Retail 2.0, the flooring industry's largest merchandising launch — across 900 Carpet One and Flooring America locations.

Retail 2.0, regarded as a “total selling solution,” features dozens of flooring products merchandised by color, and called out by categories like “Waterproof” and “Performance.”

While there are no rugs in the Retail 2.0 system, there was plenty of talk about rugs at conneXtion 2025, held recently in Orlando.

The way today’s flooring retailers view it, they don’t have to stock rugs to be in the rug business. Gone for the most part are the days when rug displays took up considerable real estate in dealer showrooms. That’s because virtually any broadloom can—and often does—end up as a rug.

Frazier Carpet One Floor & Home, Knoxville, Tenn., teaches its retail sales associates to offer both pre-fashioned area rugs (it stocks dozens) and custom rugs (which it fabricates in-house). “We find it ups the ticket, ups the margin and can be used to close larger hard surface jobs more efficiently,” said Kevin Frazier, president/owner. “As a result, it reinforces our position as a turnkey provider adept at design services.”

While not every dealer has taken advantage of this market opportunity, the number is increasing and grows every year. For example, Taylor Carpet One Floor & Home, Fort Myers, Fla., prefers custom rugs because people can get exactly what they want and do not have to settle for a pre-made rug. “It seems most pre-made rugs are selling online and are not really our customer,” said John Taylor, owner. “The option for custom sizes is a big deal to many of our customers.”

Perhaps that’s why several retailers took interest in the Kaleen Rugs & Broadloom booth. Blake Dennard, senior vice president of sales, said he took orders from flooring retailers on rugs made to order, including one that was 22 feet wide by 100 feet long. “It’s almost unheard of to be making a rug that size,” Dennard said. “But we can, and dealers went crazy for that.”


Kaleen's Blake Dennard showcased the company's PureLife display which showcases all-natural broadloom carpets. 

Other suppliers exhibiting at CCA had ready-made programs to showcase. The Stanton Rug Company, a brand of newly re-named Stanton Design, prominently displayed its rotating unit of hand-loomed rugs—crafted of wool, nylon and polyester—by the entrance to its booth. “We’re hitting key price points you’re not going to find with hand-loomed products,” said Mitch White, vice president of sales. Stanton Design offers its rugs in four pre-made sizes—6 x 9m 8 x 10, 9 x 12, and 10 x 12.

On the hard surface side, Stanton Design is launching more than two-dozen hard surface products. In a sign of the times, each sample includes information on a rug that would complement the hard surface.


Stanton Rug Co., a brand of newly re-named Stanton Design, prominently displayed its rotating unit of hand-loomed rugs.

Indeed, the pairing of hard surface and rugs is commonplace these days, and a smart selling technique for retailers who may not stock area rugs. Retailer Cathy Buchanan, co-owner of Independent Carpet One Floor & Home, Westland, Mich., said she encourages her sales associates to recommend the add-on purchase following a hard surface sale as a matter of course. “We are finding that quite a bit of our soft surface sales is geared toward runners and area rugs due to the high volume of hard surface sales,” she said.

As one of the few soft surface-only companies at the convention, Nourison offers a slew of rug options for retailers—including merchandising units that fit easily within a showroom. Of note, Nourison sold four displays of its machine-made rugs—Astra Washables—within the first hour of the show, according to Don Karlin, vice president of broadloom.

Nourison has also taken advantage of the custom-rug explosion among carpet mills. Its rug fabrication department currently runs 24/7 and employs three shifts. “Our average cut size has dropped,” Karlin said. “It used to be 25 feet; now it is in the high teens.”


Nourison's compact box display for its Astras Washable rug lineup was a big hit at the convention.

Karastan’s signature soft surface introduction for 2025 is called Black Label, a curated selection of 28 products that use premium materials, rich textures and classic patterns. Company officials estimate that 70 percent of Black Label broadloom will become a rug or stair runner—a percentage that would have been unheard of five years ago.


Karastan debuts the Black Label collection featuring premium materials and classic patterns, which it expects to be
predominantly used for cut-and-sew area rugs.