FLOR Opens New Store in Santa Monica

CHICAGO, Nov. 4, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- FLOR, Inc., manufacturer and marketer of beautiful and responsible modular fashions for your floors, announced today the opening of its second national retail store in Los Angeles.  Located at 412 Broadway, Santa Monica, the new FLOR store offers West Coast consumers the opportunity to experience the beauty and benefits of the FLOR design system in an environmentally-progressive retail space designed in collaboration with environmental consultant, John Picard.

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Visitors to the new store will be able to experience the range of inspiring colors, patterns and textures available in FLOR's innovative system of 19.7-inch (50cm) carpet squares.  The store design brings to life pages from the FLOR catalog through larger-than-life visuals and room vignette extensions that replicate the stunning FLOR designs found within the catalog.  Customers are invited to experience just how easy it is to redefine any space by mixing and matching styles to create custom rugs, runners and wall-to-wall designs.

"We are excited to open our second national retail store in Santa Monica," said Greg Colando, president and creator of the FLOR brand.  "This store gives our West Coast customers an opportunity to interact with the full range of FLOR styles up close and in person.  We wanted to bring the FLOR catalog to life and give people an environment where they can create their own FLOR designs, either on their own or with one of our FLOR design consultants.  The opening of this second retail location is part of our overall goal to bring FLOR to more people in more cities around the country."

THE FLOR EXPERIENCE

FLOR's new store is designed to motivate, educate and inspire visitors to explore how the beauty and adaptability of the FLOR design system can enhance their decor.  FLOR design consultants are available to help choose styles and coordinating colors – whether in-store or in-home – and work with consumers to create customized FLOR designs for their space.

"We want people to be inspired the moment they walk into a FLOR store," says Chip DeGrace, vice president of creative strategy at FLOR. "Visitors of the Santa Monica location will be greeted by an inviting, open atmosphere that showcases our latest styles and designs.  A knowledgeable staff is also on hand to explain FLOR's do-it-yourself, easy installation process, how to mix and match styles and other creative suggestions."

Information located throughout the store communicates the company's commitment to sustainability, such as the use of renewable and recycled materials in FLOR products and the company's pioneering Return & Recycle Program, which takes back old FLOR squares to be recycled into new products.  With the opening of FLOR's Santa Monica store, consumers can drop off their old FLOR squares in person.  It's all part of the company's ongoing commitment to responsibility from design and manufacturing to reclaiming and recycling old FLOR into new.  

THE STORE DESIGN

FLOR worked with environmental consultant, John Picard, to help design the Santa Monica store.  His experience in sustainable architecture influenced design choices for many Fortune 500 companies and the Clinton White House.  Picard is also a member of Interface Inc.'s (FLOR's parent company) "dream team" of sustainability advisors.

"Our focus is less is more," says Picard. "It's not so much what is in the store, but what is not."  Key environmentally-conscious features of the Santa Monica FLOR store include energy-efficient LED lights, reclaimed timber in all fixture merchandise, water-saving motion detector bathroom faucets and functioning sky lights to aid air flow.  

FLOR is commissioning the location to serve as a connecting point and resource for community gatherings and collaborations on topics of design, creativity and innovation.

Santa Monica store hours are Monday – Thursday, 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.; Friday & Saturday, 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p .m.; and Sunday, 12 noon to 5:00 p.m.  For more information visit FLOR.com.

About FLOR

Launched in the spring of 2003 as part of the Interface, Inc. family of companies, FLOR is a coordinated design system of 19.7-inch squares that allows people to freely and easily mix and match colors, patterns and textures in countless ways.  This unique system of carpeting offers countless area rug, runner and wall-to-wall carpeting solutions for any space in a way that is practical, flexible and environmentally responsible.

FLOR's dedication to beautiful design includes a commitment to the environment:  Truly great design creates sustainable living solutions that are beautiful for the Earth.  Because FLOR cares about the planet and its future, it seriously considers its footprint in the design, manufacture and ultimately recycling of FLOR tiles to create new products.  Learn more at FLOR.com/sustainability.  FLOR is part of parent company, Interface's, Mission Zero initiative – a promise to eliminate any negative impact its family of companies may have on the environment by the year 2020. Learn more at InterfaceGlobal.com/sustainability.  Ten years away from its Mission Zero promise, Interface will release a "Mission Zero Milestones" report, as part of a national press conference on November 9, 2010, to share facts about the company's progress toward sustainability.  

SOURCE FLOR