America's second biggest hardware store chain is buying the most recognized carpet brand.
Lowe's announced Thursday it has acquired the Stainmaster carpet cleaning brand for an undisclosed amount. The Stainmaster brand rose to fame by Dupont, which created Stainmaster and promoted it with an unprecedented $85 million advertising campaign that made the treatment, in many instances, better known than the carpets that use Stainmaster.
Invista, which was formed from DuPont Textiles and Interiors in 2003, sold the Stainmaster brand, including related trademarks such as Pet Protect. Lowe's officials said they hope to use the well-known brand on other home products.
"Today's announcement adds the most trusted and recognized brand in carpet to our lineup of private brands," Lowe's CEO Marvin R. Ellison said in an announcement of the product purchase. "At a time when home has never been more important, customers are increasingly looking for high-performance products to meet their evolving needs and expectations. We see great potential to leverage and extend the Stainmaster brand into other product areas to further serve our customers and deliver on our Total Home strategy."
Sarah Dodd, senior vice president of global merchandising for Lowe's, said the Stainmaster brand acquisition should strengthen Lowe's family of private brands, along with allen + roth, Project Source and Harbor Breeze.
"Research shows Stainmaster is the soft-surfaces brand customers trust the most when shopping for flooring," she said. "This acquisition further demonstrates our commitment to deliver a compelling product assortment for customers wherever they choose to shop with us."
The industry publication Floor Focus said the Koch fiber division plans to continue supplying nylon 6,6 fiber as "unbranded" and all carpet mills and independent retailers have four months to discontinue use of the Stainmaster brand name. At this time, Invista still intends to produce fiber under the Antron commercial brand name, according to Floor Focus.
But carpet retailers competing with Lowe's may opt to drop Stainmaster rather than help their competitor.
"We will be dropping this brand like a wedding dress on a honeymoon night!" Jeff Macco, vice president of Macco Floors told Floor Focus in a Floor Daily report Thursday. "We are still a strong believer in the performance of nylon carpet and we plan to transition our showrooms to non-Stainmaster nylon carpet as quickly as possible."
Another carpet retailer, Phil Koufidakis of Baker Brothers, told Floor Focus the Lowe's purchase of Stainmaster "will continue to erode the value and meaning of the brand and eventually eliminate it completely for us.
"Our vendor partners make plenty of great products that perform and are backed with the same warranty," he said.
- Compiled by Dave Flessner