Hall of Fame

Reg Burnett, who passed away in 2013, was a visionary leader, internationally known carpet expert and a consummate professional. Born and educated in England, Burnett moved to the United States in 1957. During the next 15 years he studied synthetic fibers and worked in the American carpet and man-made fiber industry. He founded the RBI Carpet Consulting business in Dalton in 1967 and as its reputation grew internationally, changed to RBI International in 1969.

Piet Dossche, founder and chief executive officer of US Floors, didn’t hail from a business environment. His father was a judge in his home country of Belgium, so he grew up in an academic household. After attending Brussels Catholic College, Dossche took a job at Beaulieu International Group, where Roger De Clerck became one of his first professional mentors, giving him the chance to prove himself at an early age. He became managing director of Beaulieu’s manufacturing plant in the U.K.

Harold Chapman has spent his entire professional life in the flooring industry. After graduating from Clemson University in South Carolina, his first job was as a salesman for Sears in the commercial division in Anderson, SC. He was promoted to division sales manager for the entire state before he even hit his two-year anniversary with the company! Chapman’s next notable accomplishment occurred after he joined Bonitz Flooring Group in Greenville, SC.

David Polley was establishing himself as a "strategic thinker" before corporate America even knew what "strategic thinking" was. Unlike some, he was not "born" into the flooring industry. He came into the business armed with an undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from Columbia University.

Keith Campbell has spent his entire career at Mannington Mills, which was founded by his great grandfather in 1915. He cut his teeth in the business at his family’s company, working from the ground up through a wide variety of positions. He joined Mannington’s Board of Directors in 1983 and became its Chairman twelve years later. 

The paper trail of industry accomplishments by Fritz Munzinger could very possibly circle the globe more than once. Most notably, he is recognized for his merchandising and selling skill-set in the retail sector.

Sonna Calandrino enjoyed a unique career in the flooring business. The first portion of Calandrino's flooring journey centered on her founding a retail flooring store in upstate New York. Ultimately this business grew to include ten stores, emphasizing excellent customer service directed to the architec­tural and design communities. 

Marvin Berlin was the force behind New York Carpet World.  Between 1967 and 1996, New York Carpet World grew from two stores to a chain of over 250 stores in 17 states.  Berlin visited virtually every location on at least an annual basis and his management and information systems became models for others to follow.  The art of multi store merchandising, private labeling and advertising matured and were perfected by New York Carpet World.

Phil Gutierrez, who began his distinguished career in the floor covering industry as a Buyer at Richard’s Department Store in Miami, took ownership of Abbey Carpet in the 1970s. At the time it had a negative net worth and only a handful of members. From those beginnings, Gutierrez built a company (Abbey, Floors To Go and The Floor Club) into more than 1,000 franchises.

After graduating from Georgia Tech in 1963, Julian Saul returned home to Dalton to work for his father’s textile business, Queen Tufting (later Queen Carpet), which eventually became a part of Shaw Industries. When the haze of cotton lint and dust in the mills caused Saul’s allergies to flare up, he approached his father about the company manufacturing carpet with synthetic materials. In 1969, Queen entered the carpet business—and never looked back.

A retail merchandising legend, Herb Wolk is best known as the Owner and driving force behind Cadillac Carpet Distributors, which began operations on Long Island, N.Y., in 1975. His keen sense of merchandising was honed through experience as a Vice President of Allen Carpet and a 20-year stint as Owner and Vice President of David’s Carpet. He was also very active in the Retail Floorcovering Institute, which later became known as the American Floorcovering Association (AFA).

Alan Greenberg had a lifetime of experience in the floor covering business. He grew up in the family business: Tile Town/Carpet City of St. Louis. After earning his MBA from St. Louis University in 1968, he joined Tile Town/Carpet City as a minority stockholder. He quickly grew the company into a $20 million enterprise and one of the region’s largest floor covering dealers.

The story behind Robert Van Buren is that of a young star’s rise through the ranks, beginning as a chemist in 1950. Through the years, Van Buren’s vision impacted every aspect of the industry, from manufacturing and distribution to retailing and marketing. Called a manufacturing “genius” by a friend, Van Buren understood the business.

John (Johnny) B. Campbell II began his long and distinguished career in floor covering manufacturing in 1934, during the Depression. At age 12, he joined Mannington Mills, the company founded by his grandfather in 1915, as a summer employee earning 25 cents an hour. After attending Dartmouth College and serving in World War II as a member of the Marine Corps, Johnny returned to Mannington in 1946 as a Plant Manager Trainee.

Howard Olansky, a highly respected Journalist and Publisher who devoted his career to the flooring business, was widely credited with advancing the industry in a number of key areas. Olansky’s legacy in the flooring business can most readily be seen in several prominent industry publications, including National Floor Trends, Floor Covering Installer and ICS Cleaning Specialist magazines.

Through Roger Milliken’s leadership and passion for innovation and research, Milliken & Co. became one of the largest and most successful textile and chemical manufacturing companies in the world. With more than 16,000 associates working in 65 plants in South Carolina and five other states, Milliken’s operations extend to 12 countries worldwide.

James (Jim) Marcus was a major East Coast Carpet Manufacturer in the 1940s. Together with partner George Stone, Marcus formed Aldon Rug Mills, which at first produced mats and area rugs. The company later started a separate broadloom business, which grew rapidly. Marcus later sold that business and started a new company, Commercial Carpet Corp. At its peak, Commercial had 125 full-time salesmen and five regional managers. Marcus expanded that enterprise by selling product to distributors.

Ted Einstein was far ahead of his time, making it all about fashion instead of just flooring. Born in Frankfurt, Ted Einstein fled Germany in 1933 with the advent of the Nazi regime in Berlin. He survived the war in France and came to the United States in 1947. Eight years later, Einstein started a carpet business in Bloomfield, N.J., teaming with Albert Moomjy, a partnership that grew two years later to take on Walter Moomjy and Einstein’s twin brother, Ernst.

William Orders founded Orders Distributing Co. in 1955 in South Carolina, and for more than five decades it flourished under his leadership serving flooring dealers in a seven-state region of the Southeast. An active Leader in both his community and floor covering industry, Orders is known for running his business in an ethical and professional manner. In 2006, Kraus Carpet Mills, a Canadian-based carpet and fiber manufacturer and flooring distributor, acquired Orders Distributing.

Few flooring executives had a run of success like Bud Seretean. He co-founded Coronet Industries in Dalton in 1956 and served as Chairman and CEO for 30 years. The carpet, furniture and wall coverings manufacturer quickly grew to $400 million in sales and 4,000 employees and was purchased in 1971 by RCA Corp. Seretean’s entrepreneurial spirit continued after his decades at Coronet.

What do Gene Barwick and Paul “Bear” Bryant have in common? They both were named to the Sports Illustrated Silver Anniversary All American football team. Barwick was known for much more than that, of course, specifically his innovative ideas and enthusiasm.

Howard Brodsky and Alan Greenberg shared a vision: to dominate the floor covering market by creating a unique business that would allow independent carpet retailers to operate profitably in an increasingly competitive marketplace. That was 1984. Within a year, they achieved their goal—and made history—with the launch of Carpet One.

Walter Guinan, one of the carpet industry’s marketing legends, began his career in 1928 as a Sample Boy at Bigelow-Sanford, rising through the ranks to Stylist. In 1954 he was named Executive Vice President and Sales Manager at Karastan Rug Mills, assuming the role of President in 1957. Over the next 10 years, Guinan transformed Karastan Rug into one of the most recognizable brand names in America and in 1969 was named Senior Vice President of Karastan’s parent company, Fieldcrest Cannon.

Dean McKinney was known as a consummate professional—friendly, honest, hard working, mentor; it was those qualities that made him one of the most respected leaders in the flooring industry during his 38-year career that began in 1954 when he was a Marketing Rep for Armstrong World Industries in the flooring company’s New York district office. Two years later he left Armstrong and headed to Chicago to work for Carson Pirie Scott as a Residential Sales Rep.

Peter Spirer’s career spans more than four decades, during which he has left an indelible mark on the industry. Spirer is most widely recognized for his success in establishing Horizon Industries, which he founded in 1972. He is largely credited for bringing fashion to floor covering through both product and advertising. He served as Horizon’s CEO and helped steer the company from last among some 300 manufacturers to sixth in the industry.