A Beautiful Floor, Inc

Alt Shaw got its start in 1946 as Star Dye Company, a small business that dyed tufted scatter rugs. The events that transformed the company into the world's largest carpet manufacturer are too numerous to write...or even fully know. But the philosophy guiding those events meeting customers, determine their needs, and supplying those needs hasn't changed much through the years.

In 1958, with $300,000 in sales, the company expanded dramatically and soon started finishing carpet as Star Finishing Company.

In 1967, a holding company was formed to acquire Philadelphia Carpet Company, founded in 1846. The holding company added Star Finishing to the fold one year later, marking the company's first move into carpet manufacturing. The holding company went public as Shaw Industries, Inc. in 1971 with approximately $43 million in sales and 900 employees. In 1985, Shaw made its first appearance on the list of America's largest corporations--the Fortune 500--with more than $500 million in sales and close to 5,000 employees.

Continually differentiating its service and adding value for customers motivated every major move in the company's development, among them:

• Generating its own yarn supply with the 1972 purchase of its first yarn plant
• Creating its own trucking subsidiary, dramatically improving shipments nationwide
• Significantly expanding direct sales to retailers beginning in 1982
• Establishing regional distribution centers across the United States
• Modernizing plants and equipment in the early 1980s, allowing it to respond quickly to such breakthroughs as stain resistant carpet
• Decreasing the consumption of fuel, water, and electricity in the manufacturing process and finding innovative recycling solutions for manufacturing waste
• Acquiring Amoco's polypropylene fiber production facilities in 1992 and providing consumers popular Berber styles
• Starting the rug division in 1993 and the hard surfaces division in 1998 with the launch of Shaw Ceramics

The desire to be the industry's low-cost provider was also a determining factor in Shaw's decisions, namely the acquisitions that brought such respected names as Cabin Crafts and Sutton under the Shaw umbrella. It also played a role in one of the largest and most significant moves in the company's history: the merger of Shaw and Queen Carpets.

On January 4, 2001, Shaw began a new chapter in its long and varied history with the completion of its sale to Berkshire Hathaway Inc., the holding company of renowned investor Warren E. Buffett. Berkshire Hathaway is known for buying and holding businesses that have a dominant market share, have strong management teams, and are considered undervalued in the stock market. With the move, Shaw ended its tenure as a public company.

Today, with the leadership of Vance Bell, CEO, and Randy Merritt, President, Shaw is a full-service flooring company with more than $4 billion in annual sales and approximately 25,000 employees. The employees' daily efforts illustrate their commitment and their determination to stay on top in an ever-changing and highly competitive marketplace.

 Shaw Warranties

With Shaw, making the best selection is written in the stars. Shaw's Star Assurance makes it easy to shop for carpet. You can compare the features that are most important to you, which means you can be sure you're making the right choice.

Shaw's Star Assurance groups product features, price ranges, and warranty packages into three easy-to-understand categories: 3-Star, 4-Star, and 5-Star. You'll find the distinctive star rating on the top right-hand corner of most Shaw residential brands. Although there are a few exceptions within categories, the packages of features and benefits for each of the star ratings are outlined below:

3-Star Products

Residential products in this category carry the following warranties:

• Shaw Limited 5-Year Quality Assurance Warranty (warranty against manufacturing defects)
• Limited 5-year generic stain warranty (Stain Safety or other)
• Limited 5-year TEXTUREGARD texture retention warranty, if the product meets stringent performance requirements and rating guidelines

4-Star Products

Residential products in this category carry the following warranties:

• Shaw Limited 7-Year Quality Assurance Warranty
• Limited 7-year stain and soil warranty (either Shaw's R2X Stain and Soil Repellent, DuPont Stainmaster, or Scotchgard Soil and Stain Release)
• Limited 7-year texture retention warranty, if the product meets stringent performance requirements and rating guidelines

5-Star Products

The 5-Star, or luxury, products in this category carry the following warranties:

• Shaw Limited 10-Year Quality Assurance Warranty
• Limited 10-year stain and soil warranty (either Shaw's R2X Stain and Soil Repellent, DuPont Stainmaster, or Scotchgard Soil and Stain Release)
• Limited 10-year texture retention warranty, if the product meets stringent performance requirements and rating guidelines
• 30-Day Customer Satisfaction Guarantee
• Backed with SoftBac Platinum, which carries a ten-year no-wrinkle/no re-stretch guarantee

 Post-Consumer Carpet Recycling and Collection

Labels found on Shaw's carpet styles made from Anso Nylon 6 feature information regarding the post-consumer recycled content, as well as the recyclability, of these products. Recycling of carpets made from Anso Nylon 6, as well as other carpets made from the same type of nylon, is made possible by Evergreen Nylon Recycling, Shaw's Nylon 6 recycling operation in Augusta, Georgia. The Evergreen facility converts post-consumer Nylon 6 carpet back to its original starting material,  caprolactam the building block for Nylon 6 fiber. The caprolactam from Evergreen is mixed with new caprolactam during the manufacturing process, and new Anso nylon fiber is made. Although Anso Nylon 6 carpets contain nylon produced with Evergreen post-consumer caprolactam, the actual percent of recycled content in the product will vary from sample to sample.

Evergreen Nylon Recycling, Shaw's nylon recycling operation in Augusta, Georgia, employs patented technology that converts post-consumer nylon carpet and recycles it back to its original material - the building block for nylon fiber. As a result of this technology, carpets of Nylon 6 are capable of being recycled into new carpet repeatedly without the loss of any aesthetic or performance properties.