-By AnnMarie Marano

Everyone can use a good makeover now and again. After doing research and paying close attention to customer feedback, the Mohawk Group decided it was time to tuck a little here, take in a little there, and as a result, transform itself into a more streamlined, solution-driven company than ever before.

"The commercial side had become a stable of thoroughbreds," says Al Kabus, president. "We had excellent brands that we had acquired, but there was no strategic alignment. The identities of the brands were not clear. There was too much overlap. They needed definition."

The Mohawk Group cut its six individual brands down to four in just nine months, boasting very little turnover within the company. Previously, the line-up was Bigelow; Mohawk Commercial; Lees; Durkan Commercial; Karastan; and Durkan Hospitality. Because customers said they couldn't see a difference between Bigelow and Mohawk Commercial, the two brands were merged under the Bigelow name. Also uniting were Karastan and Durkan Commercial, under the Karastan name. What was left after all the slicing and dicing were four brands with unique individual strengths that allow them to complement one another and fit together to create one unified Mohawk Group (the umbrella brand).

Bigelow runs under the tagline of "sensible style," as the service-oriented brand at an affordable price point. Lees is equated with "the art of performance," known as the style and function powerhouse. And at the top of the pyramid sits Karastan, "a step above." Finally, slightly outside the commercial story lies Durkan Hospitality, "patterned after you."

Not only was product development revamped, but the company also took a new, more customer-focused approach to sales and market development. One example is the Drag & Fly program, available at www.themohawkgroup.com through the Lees brand and soon to be carried over to the other brands, as well. Designers can use the program to place high-resolution carpet images into 3D renderings and presentations, allowing for exact on-screen replications of future installations. EcoScorecard will also be added to the Web site as an effort to make sustainability easier to understand and more accessible. This tool allows users to quickly search and evaluate products' environmental contributions to projects, according to key industry rating systems.

At NeoCon® a brand new showroom (Space Number 377) will celebrate the re-branding, and 27 modular and 16 broadloom designs will debut across the three commercial brands.

"We're no longer six companies working together," says Kabus. "We're now looking at things on the whole." Circle No. 201