Piece by Piece

Carpet tiles are a flexible design alternative to broadloom carpet and can give retailers new options. With the new trends of sisal-inspired carpet tiles and with manufacturers extending their tile lines to offer more coordinating patterns, carpet tiles are ideal for creating?and consistently updating?almost any look in the retail environment

"Conventional carpet is attached to the floor and pretty much stays there," says Greg Colando, president of InterfaceFLOR, a Chicago-based carpet tile company. "Carpet tiles allow retailers to keep an environment fresh, changing the floor design to accommodate changes in product sales." When a retailer sees especially strong sales in a department and wishes to expand the area, additional carpet tiles can be added to the department to visually expand it. By contrast, if a retailer wants to shrink a department, the only action needed is for the retailer to remove some of the tiles.

"This characteristic makes it ideal for big boxes," says Michael Callaghan, director of sales and marketing for Milliken Carpet Consumer Environments, LaGrange, Ga., which recently launched a modular line dubbed Simply Artistic. "The modular systems are usually placed on top of vinyl or hardwood, so when they are removed, the hard flooring is visible again." This trait is also a plus when making seasonal changes to stores, such as allowing for carpeted floors in the winter months and sisal during the summer.

Retailers can create unique looks by mixing and matching coordinating lines of carpet tiles. Toy Poodle, a vibrant new line from InterfaceFLOR, can be combined with InterfaceFLOR's Line Up or Scribble lines to create a cutting edge look. "Hardly anyone uses strictly monochromatic tiles," Colando says. "They will buy striped patterns and make their own looks for a store, or they will buy solid colors, but will create their own designs." The seeming randomness in such designs also means if a tile is damaged, the replacement tile is not limited to being from the exact same line of product.

Sisal looks are back in style, and both InterfaceFLOR and Milliken have exploited this trend. InterfaceFLOR launched NuSisal, a sisal product with the look and feel of hand-woven rope that is available in two neutral colors. Milliken's Simply Artistic line features three sisal-inspired patterns?Exhibit, Avant and Display?which also provide a neutral palette for store merchandise. The Simply Artistic line features hatch marks and various textures for a hint of attitude.

The newest technology in adhesives is also increasing the versatility and flexibility of carpet tiles, lending them to even more applications. Milliken uses TractionBack, a glueless backing that leaves no residue when tile is moved. The adhesive, similar to a sticky note, is built to release vertically, but not horizontally when customers walk across the floor. IntefaceFLOR uses peel-and-stick tape dots, which also boast sticky note features. Because the tape dots can be purchased individually, tiles do not have to be thrown away if the adhesive stops sticking to the floor.

Callaghan sees such technology as making custom-designed carpet tiles more prominent in the future. "Customers are looking into spotlighting different promotions on the sales floor using carpet tiles," Callaghan says. "With carpet tiles you can pop designs in and out and rotate them frequently. With broadloom, you have to cut the images in." Colando says he sees trends toward even more mixing and matching of product lines. "More customers will see and feel comfortable mixing and matching tiles," Colando says. "This allows retailers to have a hand in designing their own floors."