Guarddog Mats Q & A

Guarddog Mats Q & A

By now, you should have received two A la Nood Guarddog Mats portfolios for Rib, Berber, Dotz, and Solidz. Being able to customize the mats, pardon the pun, “opens a lot of doors” for questions. We are starting to get a lot of positive response about this option and want to address some the questions we have received thus far.

How do I find out the lead time for a custom mat?
The mat’s layout has to be qualified along with the receipt of the completed purchase order and 50% deposit before the lead time can be determined. Standard lead times for custom mats range from 3-6 weeks. (All sales are final and non-returnable.)

What does the qualification process require?
• Artwork must be submitted to Rick Holsomback via email (rholsomback@noodfashion.com). The artwork may be drawn from hand, a jpeg file, or a pdf file. Once Nood receives the artwork, the layout will be determined along with the colors.
• The manufacturer’s recommended layout will then be submitted to client for approval and must be signed off on before production begins.
• The qualification process should be completed within 3 business days.
• Complex logos have to be qualified with the manufacturer. Any logo with more than 2 colors is considered complex, and would need to be evaluated and signed off on by the manufacturer and the customer/end user before production would begin.
• Not only will complex logos have to be qualified but they will also require special pricing issued based on the complexity of the logo that the design requires.

What are the edging options?
• For Rib & Berber mats, the only option is vinyl edging. The vinyl comes in two colors: brown and black.
• For Dotz & Solidz mats, both vinyl and serged yarn edgings are available. The standard color yarns used for serged edges are black, tan, and gray. This is determined usually by which Dotz pattern is chosen.

How do they make the logos into the mat?
These designs are cut using a precision water jet cutting device. They then inset the logo in before backing it.

Do these mats have a warranty?
Yes, they have a limited-time 6 year warranty. Please see all the limitations and exclusions on www.guarddogmats.com.

Who do I contact for sales positioning and coaching for Guarddog Mats?
Please contact your Guarddog Coach, David Sides at 415-533-1275 or davidsides@noodfashion.com.

Who do I contact for order placement information and custom mat qualification?
Please contact your Customer Service Representative, Cassie Peterson at 888-351-0306 or cpeterson@noodfashion.com.

Guarddog Mats

The Guarddog Equation
• Did you know that 65% of Property Managers purchase their building’s walk off mats between the months of July and September?
• Did you know that the average size mat purchased is 10ft x 12ft?
• Did you know that the average number of mats purchased is 2?
• Did you know the average street price for non logo mats is $17/sf and $23/sf for logo mats?
When I add this up, I get the following:
120 sf * 2 mats = 240 sf
240 sf * ($17 - $13.50) = $840 commission check from Rick!

Consider how many buildings in your area use walk off mats and how long it takes to drop in and find the Property Manager’s office. Here is the answer – They ALL use mats! MOST use higher end, high performance entry mats like Guarddog to protect their marble, granite and carpet, prevent slipping when it’s wet, and make their maintenance easier. In addition, any LEED building is going to buy walk off mats to get the easy LEED point.

For the second part of the quiz, we all know how to find the office. So what is stopping you? OK, so you need a good story.
Here's Guarddog's Unique Story
Guarddog is the only custom walk off mat that has 35% recycled content. As sales people, we all want a differentiator when we are talking to our customers.
Here are several:
• Available in any shape
• Available in any size
• 3 week lead time (competition on custom mats are 6-8 weeks)
• High performance
• 6 year warranty
• Competitive pricing
• GREEN (Did I mention Guarddog is the only custom mat program with 35% recycled content?)

Times are tight, the economy is still tough and not everyone is buying carpet. What they are buying, however, is mats. Here is a simple product to earn you easier commissions without adding significant time to your schedule. If you are already calling on Property Managers, take them a Guarddog folder.

If you have a friendly dealer that is calling on Property Managers, tell them about Guarddog. Nothing better than having more feet on the street helping you sell more. If you need help, call me and we can talk about who you can call.
I’m here to help!

If 65% of the Property Managers in your area are getting ready to order mats, now is the time to find them and present a product they are already budgeting and buying.

David Sides
415.533.1275
davidsides@noodfashion.com

Bounce Rubber

One thing in our industry will simply not go away, the need to drive healthy and sustainable building. It is one of the greatest initiatives on both the manufacturing and design implementation sides of the industry. With that said products that are made from naturally renewable resources and that contain high levels of recycled content carry tremendous force and leverage in gaining the support of your client base. Bounce Rubber by Nood is manufactured with up to 85% recycled content and is manufactured from Rubber which is a natural and renewable resource.

Here are a few things to consider:

• Bounce Rubber by Nood will help your designers deliver high levels of recycled content and contribution for Materials Resource Credit on any project they are working on.
• Bounce Rubber by Nood is a perfect fit on any Project… for example… on a Law Firm Project in Washington, DC 8,000 square feet of rubber was specified in the high density storage space. Every Law Firm has High Density Storage spaces, and the amount of commission you could earn on the rubber could in fact trump the total commission another rep earned on the carpet sale…. Or imagine if you happened to hit the home run and specify both the Carpet and the Rubber… Not only do you earn more, but you also CONTROL the project now with two products rather than one when it comes time to price the project.
• Recycled Rubber is a perfect product for gyms; however it is not only for gyms. Bounce is for break rooms, copy rooms, mail rooms, corporate break spaces, schools, universities, hospital rehab areas, nursing home activity spaces, and beyond.

Here is the straight forward deal:

Your designers specify recycled rubber…. And, unlike carpet and many other finishes in the industry, designers are not typically married to their ‘recycled rubber rep’. We all know that the carpet industry is king in the floor covering world, and relationships can be a driving force behind winning specifications and projects… With that said, you can use Bounce to your advantage… rather than presenting Bounce as an ‘oh by the way, we have recycled rubber’, set up a 10 – 15 minute presentation on Bounce and then use a couple Nood Carpet Products in striking bright colors for some pop and “oh by the way, are you familiar with our carpet line?”

Lastly, no product in our industry sells itself. Don’t believe for a second that you don’t have to constantly remind your design teams about Bounce, the levels of recycled content, our slick website, and of course the fact that Bounce is simply recycled rubber available as a roll or tile. Take a 6” sample and leave it behind in libraries out in the open EVERY time you visit… you will be surprised how many times a 6” sample lying around at the right place turns into a Bounce spec… You decide what to do with all of that extra money you earn from Bounce…. It’s yours to keep.

Good luck out there and please call me anytime that I can help!

Reade Palmer
Team Bounce
954-533-3272
or reade@SSquaredFL.com

Our Carpet Collections

We promised a little more on collections and here it is. There was a lot of thought that went into something as simple as the collections that we have come up with to segment and discriminate between products. Basic, Dynamic, Coordinates, Preview and A La Nood are the five basic categories that everything will fall underneath from this point forward.

Basic and Dynamic- These two will forever be linked for a myriad of reasons. The majority of our standard products will fall under one of these two collections. Basic being simple, small scale products that are more about texture than actual pattern. They will typically be sophisticated and subtle. The website does not do them justice in most cases and it is important to see them in physical samples to give them their due. Dynamic patterns are going to have more pattern layered with the texture. These are typically medium and large scale and the website or TRYKS is critical when trying to understand scale in broadloom and tile. All of the products in basic and dynamic are offered with eight standard piece dyed colors as “color me ready” and in “color your way” with BM paint colors as the reference for everything. These are all products that will be currently showcased in physical portfolios or they will be coming soon. It is important to note that in the dynamic portfolios, we always show a medium scale product on the cover and then partner it with a large scale pattern that is shown in TRYK form only inside. A lot of people are overlooking some of the larger scale products such as Wake Up Pretty, DC Metro and Southside because they are only shown in TRYKS that may get misplaced.

Coordinates- This will be our fastest growing collection in the coming months in physical portfolios and is designed for us to create unique groupings of patterns and colors that coordinate well together for some specific reason. This allows us to take very traditional challenges that designers face daily and create pre-defined packages that make their life easier. These collections are created through our history of collaborating with designers to solve unique challenges such as TI building standards, senior living rooms, high end executive suites or lounges or the new wave of value oriented carpet tile. While some of these will be simple solution dyed products with set color lines, others will offer some limited range of flexibility dependent on the category of product showcased. All Coordinates will offer multiple patterns with standard colors. They will be shown in portfolios and will not be shown with “color your way” capabilities on the portfolio but will be offered to recolor on the website if they are piece dyed instead of pre-dyed products.

Preview- This is the most exciting collection that we have at Nood and is designed to stay that way. This is a collection of patterns that have been created in collaboration with our clients. We respond daily to unique design requests to create new patterns for a specific project. The inspiration could be anything from an oak tree to a parking space. We typically design these patterns to work within our existing un-manufacturing system that allows maximum flexibility based on the short order cook philosophy. If the pattern is approved, we get the design firms approval and immediately launch it on Preview for the world to consider as an option for their next project with 1% of the revenue from that next project going to the charity of the original design firm’s choice. This is our way of outsourcing design to our clients and in turn giving back a real-time glimpse at what is hot and current. Don’t forget that “fashion” is part of our name. If a product gets specified out of Preview frequently enough, it will be moved to either Basic or Dynamic and a portfolio will be created with the standard colors being the ones that have been previously specified by the marketplace. No one will ever know where the original design or colors came from but will have the comfort of knowing that they are truly current. If someone wants their pattern to be custom and exclusive to them or their project, we will honor that request and not place it in Preview. The patterns in the Preview collection may have certain minimums and that information is readily available and constantly updated as they mature. Preview has been in existence for three months and has grown by at least a pattern/week and that should only multiply as people become more familiar with our capabilities and we expand into more and more markets

A La Nood- This collection’s name plays off the sound of A La Mode but the definition of A La Carte. If we were a steak house, our steak is carpet in broadloom and tile on high performance backing systems with eco-preferable ingredients. But we are excited to offer some unique stuff that compliments our steak like Guard Dog Mats or is just uber-cool like Spork II and Spike. This collection is a catch basin for anything that we feel obligated to offer our clients. We are uniquely passionate about Guard Dog because of the critical role that walk-off mats play in helping our carpet perform over long periods of time while Spork was just a whimsical addition that has turned out to be our most frequently ordered product.

Fez & Read Between Portfolio

We are excited to announce that the next portfolio coming your way will be Fez and Read Between. Fez has been out there in loose sample form for a couple of months and all eight standard colors are available today. We can also offer “color your way” samples with standard delivery expectations. The challenge in releasing this portfolio has been the larger scale Read Between pattern. When we transitioned to Nexterra for our tile backing, some unique challenges in manufacturing forced us to reconsider the original Read Between pattern and make some significant alterations. Some of you may have had loose samples and several custom colors were done. We even processed an 1800 yard order out of Philadelphia that was installed months ago. We have adjusted the pattern significantly and will not be offering the original version moving forward. For most of you, this is a mute issue as only a few reps ever got their hands on the original. If you have questions, please feel free to contact Lacy Price.

Un-Manufacturer

There is a lot of green decisions that we made at Nood that get a lot of sizzle points. We only offer eco-preferable products and are committed to changing or upgrading the minute something better comes along. We only make carpet and samples when someone actually wants it. The natural progression was to encourage the designer to stop shopping and start designing which allows us to minimize multiple waste streams because we are making exactly what the client wants instead of trying to predict something as shifting as fashion. What does not get a lot of attention is the un-manufacturing philosophy that defines Nood behind the scenes.

When we proclaim that less is more, there are truly no boundaries. When we started Nood, it became clear that there was already way to much capacity to make carpet in the industry. Designers were not complaining about the availability of carpet, mills or the reps that visit their firms by the hour. The problem was that they all started to run together and that the experience often left a little bit to be desired when all the mud-slinging and price cutting was over. Nood did not set out to be another company that made carpet and then tried to sell it. Our goal was to completely rethink the process with the intention of being a green company that helped designers make the carpet that they actually wanted. The shift from supply to demand became clear early on, and it significantly impacted our fundamental building blocks from day one.

Un-manufacturing is a term that really holds two meanings. One is strategically descriptive and simply means that we want to avoid adding any fixed manufacturing assets when there are existing companies we can partner with to provide that service. This is a completely acceptable practice in the industry for all mills especially for specialty backing or branded fiber systems. There was a time when being vertically integrated was a competitive advantage but times have changed. Nood prides itself in outsourcing almost all individual processes and will prominently herald the quality companies that we are partnered with. Some people make the mistake of assuming that we are simply re-branding finished products from other mills. That is absolutely not the case. Nood controls every aspect of manufacturing from product development to shipping. We choose to buy fiber like Ultron from Ascend instead of extruding it ourself. We choose to have the fiber converted by one of many companies that specialize in creating yarn. We choose to partner with existing commission tufters instead of creating excess competition. We aligned with a proven dye house called Chem-Tech to provide all piece and continuous dyeing. We choose to have UTT apply our high performance broadloom backings instead of trying to do something ourself that would cost way more. Finally, we partnered with Beaulieu to provide our new proven tile backing system called Nexterra. This is about being smart, lean, green and nimble. It does not make sense to invest in fixed assets when those assets are readily available at a fraction of the costs variably. Beyond the costs, technology and chemistry is changing at an incredible pace and Nood wants to be free to support any viable new ideas instead of justifying antiquated ones because we are financially strapped to them indefinitely. The entire premise of Nood is based on change, and we are beholden to support it whenever and however it manifests itself in a viable form that is attractive to our clients.

Un-manufacturing also holds a very tactical meaning when it comes to the daily grind of making carpet once the designer as done their part. We proclaim to be made-to-order and that is true in every aspect. I like to draw a correlation between Nood and a short-order cook at an all-night diner. We keep all the ingredients in their raw form and simply build any combination from scratch once an order is placed. This is a huge philosophical differentiator that usually takes people a while to get their arms around. From the beginning, Nood realized that one of the most wasteful practices in the industry was the habit of forecasting trends and then designing beautiful products and then finally figuring out how to make them. At Nood, we began with the simple idea of developing a tool box if you will, a basic set of yarns that feed varying thread-ups on different tufting machines. By coordinating simple and routine schedules, we can create a vast collection of products and patterns that can be dyed to any color with no minimums or up-charges. The more volume demanded actually increases the efficiency of the overall system because it is based on a simple concept of leverage. While we offer and will continue to introduce products that fall outside of this system. The vast majority will continue to grow out of this basic tenet. One simple guide is that any patterns found in the basic or dynamic collections fall into this system. There will be more to come on the collections.

Everything about Nood is founded in a belief that there is a growing demand for new and progressive thinking that dismantles the long-standing and misguided philosophy of MAKE-BORROW-BUY-SELL-DISCARD that has dominated our society recently. Nood represents change but also requires change. Salespeople, designers and endusers have to change the way they think and act. I would argue that a growing majority have already changed or are very receptive but need to have their hands held early on. We have developed many processes intended to act as training wheels but nothing replaces outstanding service and attention from a knowledgeable representative. Hopefully, this dissertation will help you understand how to position Nood and respond to some of those pesky questions that come out of left field.

NOOD’S POLICY ON CUSTOMER TERMS

Our standard terms are 50% deposit at the time of order prior to production and the remaining 50% balance prior to shipping. We hope this is not too much of a hardship on the customer but obviously we will get complaints. The reasons for this policy are:
1. As a relatively new company, we don’t have payment history on most accounts.
2. Many, if not most of our orders involve custom styles and/or colors that once created, have limited marketability to other customers. Particularly the custom rugs.
3. Many orders are too small to justify purchasing credit info from credit rating sources such as Dun & Bradstreet, Experian, etc.
4. In this economy, companies that were once considered rock-solid are now in bankruptcy. Nood has lost more than it’s share of bad debt in 2009.
5. We previously factored our accounts receivable with CIT Commercial Services to reduce our credit risks but CIT itself is now under Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

However, even considering all of the above, if you have a customer that you have experience with or that feels that they deserve net 30 terms based on their credit history and references, then let me know and I will consider their request. The first step is submitting our new account form with credit references. We intend to be competitive with other carpet manufacturers so tell me if they are getting better terms elsewhere.

Rick Holsomback

Nood Lab

Having an online tool for designer’s to use has always been a top priority at Nood. We have always tried to use this tool that we refer to as “Nood Lab” to truly let the designer’s stop shopping and start designing. Using Nood Lab, designers choose styles and recolor them. Creating these digital room scenes on their screen is more eco-friendly, expedient, and economically way to order samples for a project. They can down load specs with complete recycled content breakdown numbers. Please contact Lacy Price for step by step instructions on how to use Nood Lab. (lacyprice@noodfashion.com)

Nood Fashion Website’s New Look

If you haven’t noticed already, the Nood Fashion website has some new digs. Our plan for the website will be executed in two phases.
• Phase I will include a new home page with links to our new Facebook page and a link to the article in Metropolis Magazine that featured Nood’s Trunk Show. You also can enjoy a colorful option or a more classic white background with the feature at the bottom of the home page that says Lights: ON / OFF. Phase I has already went live, and you can check it out now.
• Phase II will include more live feed of what’s going on at Nood. You will see a live status update from our Twitter and Facebook accounts on the Home page along with Featured Installations and Press Releases. All of the technical and backing information will be updated with the new modular technical additions. Our goal is to update the home page more often with color trends, events, and featured installations. We hope to have Phase II live at the beginning of December.

Nood's New Web Intiative

If you have checked the noodfashion.com site lately, you have been taunted with the idea that Nood is going social. There is some truth to that! We have developed a presence on Facebook corporately, and I have personally started a Twitter account. We are also creating a public blog that will represent a more long-winded arena for Nood to express ideas, initiatives and progress. If you are reading this, then you are aware that we have initiated a sales partner blog where you guys have the inside scoop on the land of Nood. This post is merely a warning at this point! But, we are serious about taking advantage of how connected and dialed in our target audience is. This is only the beginning and we are going to need your help! You have to help us spread the word! You have to actually follow us on Facebook and contribute from your side. You have to encourage your clients to follow Nood. Twitter is my personal initiative, and I hope that it helps represent Nood as a company that actually cares because we do. You don’t create a company that is completely invested in the idea of change if you don’t believe that change is a reality. If we do not change, we will always be “here”. I don’t know about you, but “here” is not where I want to stay for too much longer. Most of you are aware that I have made some significant changes in the last six months. I have back filled with talented people in Dalton and decided to create a really flat sales organization where I am on the road essentially every week. I believe that it is important that you and your clients hear the story from the founder. I think it is critical for our target audience to feel my presence as we all respectively pioneer the Nood brand into a crowded market. The real idea behind this web presence is to personalize Nood and create more of a tangible experience by using these social and web based mediums to multiply our collective efforts. What really separates Nood is that we are truly different, and we need to get our clients to experience that in a myriad of ways and then also to help us spread the word via this social vehicle.

Our goal is not to use these sites the way our competitors are as simple marketing extensions, but to truly use them to help represent a unique and compelling movement of designers who acknowledge that things can be done better and that Nood is part of the solution. We want people to feel our presence in a lot of markets engaging with a lot of clients in a lot of projects. This will drive credibility which any new company needs. We want them to see that we are not simply about selling carpet, but that we are promoting and participating in related ideas like alternative urban transportation, organic farming, urban green spaces, health and personal wellness. These are not bogus. We are supporting teams of designers to train for triathlons in DC. We are invested in low-speed electric vehicles that can transform urban transportation. I take my daughters to dance in mine twice a week. The portion of our target audience that will actually follow us online are eager to find a higher meaning in the products that they choose other than the simple apparent value. They want to feel like their choices are part of a greater good. Nood is not artificially positioning itself there but eager to let people see us simply as the new and different green company that hopes to slowly transform the way carpet is made and specified.

Here are the links to Facebook and Twitter and I would challenge each of you to not only participate but to make any suggestions or observations that will help us with this initiative.

Become a fan of Nood Fashion by going to www.facebook.com and searching Nood Fashion.

Follow Bo on Twitter by going to www.twitter.com and searching @bobarber.

Tile Backing is now Nexterra

Nood is thrilled to announce the introduction of Nexterra as a new backing system for modular products. After much deliberation, we have decided to partner with Beaulieu of America and endorse their Nexterra backing technology for all of our commercial products. We will be keeping Envirocel Modular Laminate as a viable option for future introductions of modular products for residential applications. The short term reality is that effective immediately, all modular tile orders will have Nexterra applied and will only be available in 24”x24” tiles. Briks(24”x48”) will no longer be offered on existing commercial styles.

This decision was tough because Nood participated significantly in the research and development of the EnviroCel Modular system and believe that it is a dynamic new technology that is slightly ahead of it’s time for Nood. The logic for this move really centered on the sales and marketing challenge of being forced to introduce a radical new company like Nood and all the changes we are asking the design community to embrace and then throwing a last minute curve ball of a modular product that is not really a tile because it is pliable like broadloom and light as a feather. My belief is that it was asking too much of our sales partners and the design community. I essentially thought it was a liability given the pioneering reality of introducing Nood in the competitive climate that you are operating in everyday.

Now, when you have a designer all excited about a green company that makes carpet and allows them to stop shopping and start designing and she asks if we offer tile, you fire back a simple “YES!”. We offer a NON-PVC, traditional hard back system in 24”x24” tiles called Nexterra. It is commonly used in the industry and is also endorsed by companies like Bolyu and Cambridge with years of successful installations. It is 85% recycled content using plastic bottles(PET) and goes down with a common releasable adhesive from ParaChem (M5080).

It seems appropriate for Nood to choose the greenest backing available with a proven track record. Now, there are some housekeeping challenges. We will be reprinting the backings insert for the folders and will obviously replace them in all future folders and provide you with replacements for you to manage existing books at your discretion. We will be making changes to the website in the coming weeks and will be sending all of you some technical updates via this sales blog. Another positive is that this will increase the number of products offered in tile and that list will be posted in the coming days as well. One positive timing coincidence is that the website is going to be updated with tile functionality and all relevant products will be adjusted online.

This is probably the most significant news for the second half of 2009 and sets us up well to take off in the coming months with a comprehensive, well rounded offering. I do want to clarify that while our broadloom pricing is extremely competitive with any other line, our modular tile offering is not positioned to compete where the traditional PVC commodity tile market has evolved to. We are offering a premium, non-PVC backed product with 85% recycled content on patterns that a designer can have dyed in any color. My hope is that we have created a tile offering that is unique and allows our sales partners to consistently make good money providing a compelling new option in the middle to high end tile arena. With that being said, our commitment to client collaboration and getting traction in your respective markets means that we have your collective backs and will pick a fight when necessary to make a statement.

Do you offer tile? “Absolutely!”

30/60/90 Projections

I know that salespeople shutter when manufacturers ask for projects working. It always made me crazy and that is why I am not going to ask for anything that even smells like one. However, I am going to give you the opportunity to participate in Nood’s production planning. If you have projects that are going to be physically ordered within the next 30, 60 or 90 days, we are inviting you to provide the project specifics on a regular basis.

It seems appropriate to reinforce our commitment to GREEN going way beyond neat slogans and recycled content. We have created an on- demand manufacturing model that centers on not making samples or actual carpet until someone wants it. Manufacturing efficiencies do require us to periodically create greige goods(un-dyed and un-backed carpet) in bulk of several patterns at a time. Our goal is to only tuft carpet for existing or upcoming orders. This is where the 30/60/90 report from our sales partners becomes critical. It allows us to proactively create greige to fill upcoming orders in a proactive manner allowing us to significantly lower lead times. I want to clarify that we will not begin the process of dyeing carpet until we have the signed strike-off, credible purchase order and the relevant deposit.

I would urge you to be diligent in providing this information as it is going to allow us both the best opportunity to look good by meeting or exceeding expectations. We completely understand that orders will sneak up on all of us and hopefully start to drop out of the sky someday and we are committed to filling those orders as quickly as possible. The Nood model actually will become more efficient as volume goes up. That may seem counter-intuitive but more volume means more frequent tufting runs and that is similar to the old-school mentality of turning inventory. It is good when at any time, you are getting shorter and shorter periods between manufacturing cycles.


As Jerry McGuire said, “HELP ME HELP YOU!”

Lowering Our Face Weight

Nood promises to do the next right thing as soon as the next right thing comes along. We promise to CHANGE and EVOLVE and that is not an empty promise. We are committed to lowering our footprint and in this case, it means lowering the weight of many of our products. We are happy to announce that we have introduced new yarn technology in partnership with Ascend(previously Solutia) to overhaul our collection of Ultron 6.6 yarns. We will be moving to a 900 denier building block that will allow us to increase our typical 2-ply twisted and heatset yarn to a 1800 denier product. This will significantly lower the weight while increasing our GBW(green by weight) percentages. We will achieve this technically by lowering pile height and increasing stitch rate. The easy explanation is that the yarn is bigger and we can get better coverage at lower pile heights allowing us to significantly lower the amount of yarn(petroleum) needed.. This has altered the specifications and any new requests for specs will show the relevant changes. There will be two slight challenges as we transition. Any signed strike-offs for orders will need to be re-done in the appropriate fabric if there is not sufficient greige goods in inventory to fill the order. This may create some frustration but it is imperative that we stay true to our commitments. We will proactive address outstanding strike-offs if the probability of getting an order is high based on sales partner input on the 30/60/90 projections from the sales partners.

I can hear some of you thinking that pricing is going to go way down. There is some reality to the notion that lowering weight means less fiber for Nood to buy but there is an increased cost to processing the larger yarn so don’t expect any crazy price adjustments. The following is a list of the products that will be effected. Go change the world one designer at a time!

Why Nood is Called Nood

Nood is a Dutch word that literally translates into “NEED” in English but what is unique is the mispronunciation of Nood in English. Most people will go with “NUDE” and that double entendre is very intentional. Nude is very descriptive because it speaks to our commitment to dematerialization and stripping things down as well as the idea of transparency which is part of our core DNA. The name is meant to be unique and memorable but I hope it resonates with our target audience because it should reinforce the simple fact that Nood is not just another carpet company that is going green. Nood was created from the beginning to be a green company that happens to make carpet.



Fashion is a very important part of the name that often gets forgotten and overlooked. Fashion is defined as a response to the time. The idea that we do not make carpet or samples until someone actually wants it is what allows us to have this passion for fashion. We are not a company that manufactures stuff and then tries to sell it to someone. We are clearly interested in making exactly what people want today instead of trying to predict the future when it comes to color. This was born out of our commitment to dematerialization and less stuff but has emerged into the battle cry of “Stop shopping and start designing”. Why fill their library with colors that someone in Dalton chose a year ago when you can collaborate with the designer to get the exact colors they want today. We have heard over and over that shopping for carpet typically will render a product where the pattern is perfect and the color is close or the other way around but rarely are pattern and color both perfect. We have also been told that our flexibility in color allows designers to redefine the way they work. They would typically start with carpet and then design from the floor up but with Nood, they are able to work with all of the other finishes that may be static or unknown from the beginning and then tweak the color of the carpet at the end. The feedback suggests that this saves the designer a significant amount of time and frustration because all of the typical confusion around shopping and that potential reselects are avoided.



Nood was not created because the industry needed another carpet company doing more of the same. However, we believe that a there is a growing number of designers that will welcome a new type of green company that is shifting the focus from supply to demand and allowing them to participate in the process and eliminate waste in their process at the same time. Nood is asking our clients to change and that is not easy and there will be hurdles but the climate in our society and industry are in our favor and that coupled with a target audience that actually wants to actually create change, the future is bright!

Welcome to Our New Sales Blog

Nood is growing and evolving these days in a myriad of ways. We are adding sales partners at a feverish pace, diving into social media and attacking product development with a vengeance. There would be a lot to keep up with if we were an old-school carpet mill but things are multiplied because we are a new type of company committed to evolving and changing in response to where our clients want us to go. We are lucky that our target audience wants us to give them beautiful carpet and the ability to participate in the design process but is equally jacked about our unwavering commitment to re-thinking the what we make, how we make it and even how we specify it.

Our challenge at Nood is to educate and inform existing and new sales partners in an efficient and effective way while considering our footprint. We are introducing a simple blog where we will be posting a lot of information. We will post entries that simply use text to attaching videos, spreadsheets, forms, links to articles/facebook/twitter, etc. The goal is to take you through a three step process that will move you from being comfortable with Nood to being competent and then finally to a place of confidence. I call this the three C's. This blog will serve as a place where we go back in time and post a lot of existing but pertinent information for everyone and a place for us to keep you new information ranging from product development to changes in operational processes and procedures. It will also serve as a vehicle for us to give you insight into some of the philosophical subtleties that define Nood. Our hope is that you will reference this frequently from a educational standpoint and as a reference, and we will alert you to new post as they arrive.

Tune in soon as there will be frequent additions in the coming days....