ATLANTA - An inaugural floor covering event brought 282 exhibitors from 25 countries to Atlanta from February 28 to March 2.

 

Domotex USA is a new annual flooring innovations industry trade show and conference. The event is the latest extension of the 30-year-old Domotex, the world’s foremost showcase for floor coverings held annually in Hannover, Germany in January. The Atlanta event was focused on the needs of the residential floor covering industry’s buyers and manufacturers, featuring product displays across soft and hard surfaces including area rugs, carpet, hardwood, laminate, resilient, as well as flooring technology. 

 

More than 57 percent of the show’s exhibition space featured North American flooring suppliers and 43 percent of the square footage was dedicated to international exhibitors.

 

“Domotex USA highlighted the passion and innovation of the world’s floor covering manufacturers in an intimate and artfully curated space in the Georgia World Congress Center,” said Larry Turner, president and CEO of Hannover Fairs USA (HFUSA), the organizer of the event. 

 

To unveil the event, HFUSA organized for registered attendees a tour of four Dalton, Georgia-area flooring facilities, including Shaw Industries’ manufacturing facility, The Dixie Group headquarters and facility, Engineered Floors SAM plant and Beauflor USA’s sheet vinyl facility. The full-day tour took place on Wednesday, Feb. 27, the day prior to the opening of the show. 

 

Attendees experienced from start to finish the manufacture of several products, including Shaw’s COREtec brand of waterproof luxury vinyl tile flooring, Dixie Group’s new carpeting products across its Dixie Home, Fabrica and Masland lines, Engineered Floors' carpet fiber production and Beauflor’s crafted sheet vinyl and proprietary textile backing, Blacktex. 

 

The quality mix of show attendees was extremely high – a fact show organizers say was confirmed by all exhibitors. The inaugural show secured 5,130 registrants, attracting retail professionals, wholesalers, distributors, OEMs, interior designers, contractors and installation professionals. About 70 percent of the first show’s attendees are located in the Eastern U.S. 

 

“Attendee traffic, including qualified North American retailers and distributor partners, exceeded our expectations for the inaugural show,” said Pat Oakley, vice president of marketing at Mullican Flooring in Johnson City, Tenn. “The show’s location was a perfect fit for us, allowing many of our customers, manufacturing and marketing personnel to easily attend. We have signed on for Domotex USA 2020,” he added. 

 

Domotex USA 2020 will take place at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, Ga. from February 5-7. Find out more here.