(Note: This story appears in the January 2022 issue of ED Magazine)
Is your carpet game lacking? Kristin Messick and the professionals at Omega Pattern Works can give your club a carpet that reflects what the rest of what your club has to offer.
The team at Omega Pattern Works has been poring over patterns, laying down and improving carpets for clubs for decades. Omega, which has been a staunch supporter of the industry and a stalwart at EXPOs over the years, has not taken its foot off the carpet pedal as it continues to advise clubs on what works best for them as well as evolve carpet technology to maximize the return of investment for you on a piece of furniture that is sometimes walked all over.
It only helps that Omega stocks its own yarns, runs its own dye house and boasts some of the most advanced tufting, graphics, and printing technology in the industry. By holding large inventories of yarns, Omega can quickly produce customizable orders no matter your interior.
When talking with Kristin Messick of Omega, she points out the importance of carpet backings, aka attached cushions, for commercial carpeting. Carpet backing is the underside of a carpet and it secures the carpet’s tufts and gives the carpet additional strength and dimensional stability.
But the backing does so much more.
“Basically, a carpet backing/cushion does four different things: it absorbs foot traffic so you don’t have carpet or traffic patterns, it enhances the tough bind (where the cushion and backing are molded together with latex), helps with acoustics, and for delamination, an attached cushion helps keep moisture at the top of the carpet,” says Messick.
In other words, spill-resistant and worry-free.
She recalls a club that had flooded because of burst pipes, but because of the attached cushion, the club only had to suction the carpet, saving it thousands of dollars versus having to replace all the carpeting. If you have neglected your carpet and/or its upkeep, that damp odor may not signify a spilled cocktail — but lost earnings.
“There’s a lot of clubs you walk in and it doesn’t matter how pretty they are, they just smell,” cautions Messick.
For one club, I was redoing their carpet quite often, but it was a heavy-traffic club. I went in and switched them to a higher-grade face weight and I put the cushion on. They basically doubled the life of their carpet. That club said it’s one of the best decisions they’ve ever made. — Messick
Another interesting point to consider when wondering if revisiting your carpet is a worthwhile investment? Getting sued.
Now, while nobody is going to sue you (hopefully) over your carpet’s appearance, the probability of litigation soars if you’re talking about a patron that has tripped because of your dereliction of carpet duty. Messick notes how after an extended period of time, a carpet’s seams will start separating, increasing the likelihood for a trip and fall.
Whether it’s to avoid court fees, spruce up your decor, access a new avenue stream with branded flooring or finally time for a replacement, Omega is here to make sure your carpeting needs are met — whatever they may be.
“It’s that old saying you never have a second chance to make a first impression,” says Messick. “Getting a good carpet is relatively inexpensive in comparison to a lot of things you can do.
“As far as an investment, I have a large chain that years ago was using a lesser face weight at 36 oz (Editor’s note: carpet face weight is the weight of the carpet pile per square yard of carpet),” Messick says. “I was redoing their carpet quite often, but it was a heavy-traffic club. I went in and switched them to higher-grade face weight (42 oz) and I put the cushion on. They basically doubled the life of their carpet. If you think about doubling the life of your carpet, plus the cost of labor they avoided, it’s amazing what you can save. That club said it’s one of the best decisions they’ve ever made. Obviously, carpet isn’t supposed to be the main feature but it certainly does bolster the aesthetics and helps build the atmosphere you’re trying to convey.”
For more information, visit omegapatternworks.com.
