The Floor Covering Industry Foundation (FCIF)’s gala scheduled for Oct. 5 at Gotham Hall in New York City is nearly sold out and already surpassing the number of tickets sold for the last gala, according to the organization. The black-tie event will honor three leaders whose contributions have made a lasting impact on the flooring industry: Sy Cohen, chairman and founder of Stanton Carpet; Dan Frierson, chairman and CEO of the Dixie Group; and Roger Marcus, chairman and CEO of American Biltrite.
Proceeds from the event will go towards furthering the mission of FCIF, to financially aid families battling catastrophic injuries, severe disabilities or other life-altering medical crises. Founded in 1981 by industry leaders, the 501(c)(3) charitable nonprofit helps those who have worked in the floor covering industry by providing direct grants for medical care and other basic needs.
Sy Cohen has been an industry fixture for more than 50 years, launching Stanton Carpet in 1980, but his roots are in retail. Cohen founded Country Carpet in 1972 as a trade showroom on Long Island selling moderate to better-end carpet products to interior designers. As the business flourished Cohen saw the opportunity to offer more decorative, proprietary products for his clients.
Soon, the challenge became selling this exclusive inventory through only one showroom. Cohen contacted his dealer friends and a few agents throughout the Northeast. Tapping his roots from the Lower East Side of Manhattan, Cohen formed Stanton Carpet.
Stanton grew into a decorative powerhouse, supplying more than 800 carpet products across multiple brands. The company utilized organic growth with launches like The Wilton Gallery in the mid ‘90s and strategic acquisitions including Antrim, Rosecore and Crescent. Today, the company also offers decorative hard surface products.
For nearly six decades, Dan Frierson has been one of the flooring industry’s most prominent executives, in a career that dates to 1966 when he first joined Dixie Yarns. Following in the footsteps of his father, J. Burton Frierson, who came to Dixie in 1925, Dan worked every job in the plant during the early years before being appointed CEO in 1980 and chairman in 1986.
In the early 1990s, it became clear Dixie’s customers would be heading overseas searching for lower-cost alternatives to apparel manufacturing. Frierson led the challenge of transforming the business from a textile company to a carpet company. Dixie purchased Masland Carpets in 1993; as Frierson recalled, “We had been selling them yarn for 40 years and we had talked in the ’80s about maybe trying to get together.” This gave Dixie a foothold in the carpet business.
From 1993 to 2000, Dixie made more than a dozen carpet-related acquisitions and divested its textile and apparel assets. The big one came in 2000 when Dixie acquired Fabrica International. The deal helped secure Dixie’s brand as a luxury floor covering manufacturer.
Roger Marcus has presided over his family’s American Biltrite business for the past four decades in a floor covering industry career that spans nearly 60 years. The Marcus family story begins after WWII when his father Robert, as president of American Tile Co., took the company later known as Amtico from manufacturing rubber heels and soles to rubber flooring.
In the early ‘50s the company started making thermoplastic vinyl floor tile. It would be the first company to chemically emboss, cut and register VCT tile; and the first to develop no-wax floor tiles, in 1969. Marcus began at the company as a sales rep in 1967 and became CEO in 1983. He oversaw the merger of Congoleum in 1992 and was involved in launching DuraStone, DuraCeramic, Ultima and ArmorGuard.
Marcus is well-known for donating his time to associations that forward the industry. He has served multiple terms as president of the Resilient Floor Covering Institute (RFCI) and has been chairman of FCIF’s grant committee for many years. In addition, his company has been a corporate donor to FCIF since the beginning, and Marcus personally planned the first three FCIF galas.
For more information on the upcoming gala or to purchase sponsorships or tickets, visit https://www.fcif.org/gala2024 or contact the FCIF directly at (706) 217-1183 ext. 105.
