Lew Migliore: Carpet is still kingLike He Said… Column on Carpet Hits the Mark: Carpet is still king!

As a person who makes her living largely from writing (and rewriting) stuff, I admit there are tasks I like better than others – a slogan, for example, is more fun to write than a warranty, and a feature story for a magazine or newspaper beats the heck out of a stockholders’ annual report, but, like most of us, I don’t get to pick and choose my chores. As a memorable friend once told me, “That’s why they call it work – if it were a tea party, they’d call it that.” More than anything else, the task I dislike most is having to rewrite something someone else has written when they have done a really good job of it in the first place. Fixing awkward or incorrect writing can be fun (not that I see any of that here at CRI), but when something’s right, it’s right and why mess with it?

I read an article recently that comes pretty close to my definition of being just fine the way it is. Lew Migliore’s Claims File column from the August 3/10 edition of Floor Covering News, entitled, Carpet is Still King, begins with a sentence that I would argue can’t be improved upon, not even by an obsessive kibitzer like me:

Just in case you haven’t been paying attention, carpet has increased its share of the market by about 1% over the last year. Despite what is seen on home remodeling and purchasing shows, carpet is still king.

He continues by listing carpet’s many benefits – what a good value it is; how it’s warm and comfortable and comes in virtually unlimited styles and colors. How it’s perfectly suited for the home remodeler who wants a quick and easy appearance boost for their home. How it’s easy to maintain – one of our rallying cries here at the Carpet and Rug Institute. He continues,
Lew Migliore, claims file

Carpet is quiet and it insulates. It traps soils and particulate matter. Carpet is safe…

Misinformation about carpet persists even though every fallacy preached about it has been refuted and proven incorrect. Carpet is everywhere. It’s in the cars and trucks we drive, the airplanes we fly in, buses and shuttles we ride in, the restaurants we eat in,, hotels we stay in, churches we attend, theaters we go to, stores we shop in and any other place you can think of.

If it didn’t work, was problematic, and created issues with people’s health don’t you think we’d all be sick from it? But again, common sense isn’t so common all the time.

What I like best about Lew’s column is its directness and certainty. He and CRI share what President Werner Braun calls “an unabashed zeal” for carpet and carpet-related issues. I identify with Lew’s enthusiasm about carpet as well as his frustration at how it is so often misrepresented.

Sometimes I get so busy writing for my own purposes I don’t take the time I should to read what other people are saying in and about the carpet industry, and that is my loss. Several excellent publications cover the carpet market, with accomplished writers who really know their stuff. My thanks to Lew for doing such a good job on this issue. Next time someone asks me about carpet I can shrug and say, “It’s like he said…”