| CARPET ONE FLOOR & HOME INTRODUCES NEW LEES COLLECTION
DENVER, CO Since it was launched in 1999, Carpet One Floor & Home’s LEES For Living carpet has been one of the top-selling and most popular brands. This October, the company will be re-launching the brand with a new name – Lees – and a new tagline – Relax, it’s… Lees – which highlights the unique stain resistant qualities and extensive warranties of the product. To showcase the new Lees collection, Carpet One Floor & Home will also be introducing a new custom-designed Lees gallery.
An Established Brand
Lees is one of North America’s most established brands, developed in 1848 and built on a history of innovation. The brand has been re-launched based on a powerful promise to the customer; it offers her a unique peace-of-mind based on both its heritage and its powerful technological advances and performance benefits. The new tagline, Relax, it’s… Lees, represents the emotional connection consumers make with their homes and the pragmatic advantages of Lees’ revolutionary stain protection technology.
Distinctive Products
The new Relax, it’s…Lees collection will feature 22 new styles and 656 SKUs, but with the same warranties and stain protection technology that has always set the brand apart from other products. In collaboration with 3M and Mohawk, Carpet One Floor & Home developed products in the Lees collection that feature exceptional durability and repellency. With a unique top-to-bottom stain treatment application, the products have outstanding soil and liquid repellency that is unsurpassed by any other carpet. Lees also features a 25-year stain protection warranty, serviced by 3M, and a 25-year wear and installation warranty.
Carpet One Floor & Home began the process of re-launching the Lees brand at their winter convention in Anaheim, when members were invited to view and vote on the styles they wanted included in the collection.
“The entire process of re-launching the Lees brand has been in partnership with our members,” explained Charlie Dilks, COO of Carpet One Floor & Home and President of Carpet One Floor & Home Canada. “Our members have been involved in choosing the product, right from the beginning, so I know that they will be just as excited as we are to introduce the new collection this fall. This effort really represents the spirit of the cooperative.”
“We at 3M are extremely excited about combining the most durable Scotchgard™ Protector product on the market today, for 4X total fiber coverage, with Ultra25, the leading carpet stain protection plan backed by 3M,” said Jim Stevens, National Sales Manager for 3M Scotchgard™ Protector Products. “We’re very pleased to integrate such a great protection package throughout a premium product line like Lees. Now, every Carpet One Floor & Home member and sales professional can know they have the best stain prevention program available to provide the greatest value to their customers.”
The new Lees products will be in-stores in mid-September, in time for the October 1 nationwide re-launch.
Innovative Merchandising
In conjunction with the new products, Carpet One Floor & Home will also launch a re-branding effort, shifting Lees from a performance brand to a “lifestyle” brand. Each store will now feature an innovative merchandising gallery that visually reflects the new tagline for the brand: Relax, it’s… Lees. This shop environment, designed by the renowned architectural firm FRCH, features attention-getting graphics with engaging messages to capture both the heritage and the promise of Lees and the peace-of-mind it offers to consumers.
Carpet One Floor & Home’s Vice President of Visual Merchandising and Store Design, Theresa Fisher explains, “We are extremely happy with the design of the new Lees gallery. It incorporates rich colors, catchy text and fun graphics that visually tell the Lees story. As a result of this creative merchandising,” she continued, “customers will be drawn to the Lees brand and will easily see how this distinctive product will benefit their lifestyle.”
Carpet One Floor & Home will be celebrating the re-launch of Lees in October with a nationwide campaign, featuring in-store marketing, training, a contest for the “Muddiest Buddy” and Lees “spokes-pet,” and a new website dedicated to Lees.
About Carpet One Floor & Home
Carpet One Floor & Home (www.CarpetOne.com) is North America’s largest floor covering retailer, with over 1,000 locations in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The stores are known for a broad selection of floor covering products, distinctive warranties, excellent service and exclusive brand names, including Liz Claiborne Home and Good Housekeeping. With annual sales of more than $3.7 billion, Carpet One Floor & Home is the largest division of CCA Global Partners, a leading management and marketing company serving the retail and service community. Carpet One Floor & Home headquarters are in Manchester, NH; St. Louis, MO; Ontario, Canada; and Queensland, Australia.
|