Tigressa SoftStyle Carpet From Shaw At Carpet One, Flooring America

Shaw Floors and CCA Global have just launched a new carpet product together.  It's called Tigressa SoftStyle, consists of a collection of 31 carpet styles and is available at Carpet One Floor and Home and Flooring America.

New Carpet Style Introduced Via Bloggers

What's particularly unusual with this carpet style introduction - beyond its "exceptional strength and ultimate softness" is that it involves bloggers, a first for the flooring and carpet industry.

That's right, on May 19th and 20th, 2010, Shaw and CCA Global invited bloggers to participate in a two day event, starting at Barnsley Gardens with an inspiring presentation from Amy Devers, HGTV's DIY to the Rescue and the next day at Shaw in Dalton, GA, with a visit tour of the Shaw Design Center and mini-manufacturing process, the creation of trend boards, and firsthand Tigressa demonstrations.

Here's who participated - a veritable who's who in the interiors and home furnishings industry each projecting strong voices in design, color, decor and green living:

• Carrie Malatesta from Building My Green Life, about living, working and building sustainably.
• Timothy Dahl from Charles & Hudson, an independent resource for do-it-yourself enthusiasts seeking the latest in home improvement tips and techniques as well as the finest tools and hottest news in the home building industry.
• Maria Killam from Colour Me Happy which exudes her fresh take on contemporary and her love of color.
• Danny Seo from Daily Danny, about green living expert Danny Seo's eco-friendly and crafty ideas for everyday living
• Creede Fitch from Grassroots Modern
• Jill Seidner from Material Girls which offers design inspiration from coast to coast. 
• Jocelyn Hagan and Kim Fauth from One Project Closer,filled with tips, advice, experiences, products, reviews, giveaways, finances, how-tos, tools and more that help us build better homes, communities and lives.
• Carmet Natschke from The Decorating Diva
• Amy Bleier-Long from Traditional Home Blogs

Preston Koerner from Jetson Green, a daily-updated web magazine blog obsessed with Green Living, wasn't able to attend. He did, though, describe in A Durable Soft New Carpet Tigressa the Tigressa materials he received.

Attending from the flooring trade media were Woman In Flooring Kim Gavin from Floor Covering Weekly [see CCA & Shaw launch Tigressa via bloggers] and Emily Hooper from Floor Covering News [see CCA launches Tigressa, markets via bloggers - note: registration required].

I was invited to participate and, unfortunately, couldn't attend. My friend and former colleague, Bruce Conlon -- we both called on CCA Global, he for Shaw and I for Solutia/Wear-Dated -- graciously sent me information so I could share it with you.

What The Event Was Like

To give you a feel for the event, I thought I would share with you posts written by the blogging attendees. [Kim and Jocie from One Project Closer Tweeted the event. I wish I had a transcript :(...] Here's their summary: New Tigressa SoftStyle Carpet Line By Shaw - Rolling Out this Weekend.

I love the detailed and visual overview that Material Girls' Jill Seidner shares in Tigressa SoftStyle carpet event from Shaw Floors.

Colour Me Happy's Maria Killam offers a marvelous visual description of the entire event in Tigressa SoftStyle; 4 Steps to Removing Stains from your Carpet. I love the photos of the trend boards!

There's The Decorating Diva's Carmen Natschke summary: Shaw Floors' Tigressa SoftStyle Carpets Debuts. And in Traditional Home Blogs, Amy Bleier-Long describes eye on the tiger - behind the scenes at shaw.

What makes Tigressa Softstyle carpet different?

According to FloorDaily,Tigressa is a "line of soft nylon carpets with fibers half the width of human hair... More fibers yield better color saturation within the carpet as well as greater durability and wear resistance since it spreads wear out across more individual threads."

DailyDanny's post Introducing Shaw Floors Tigressa does a great job of explaining what makes Tigressa unique as does Charles & Hudson's Timothy Dahl in Tigressa Softstyle Carpet From Shaw Floors.

What's the story behind the name "Tigressa"?

The Tigressa introduction includes a strong commitment to saving wild tigers in Asia, where they are on the brink of extinction.

"For all Tigressá sales made between May 16 and August 20, 2010, we’ll donate a portion of the proceeds to the National Fish and Wildlife Federation’s Save the Tiger Fund (STF). STF sponsors effective efforts to stop the killing of wild tigers, enabling them to recover and flourish, and empowers local people to live in balance with natural resources, providing tangible benefits to them whenever possible."

Accordingly, the Tigressa SoftStyle carpet introduction includes a Tigressa sweepstakes:

"One grand prize winner will receive a trip for two to India to see the tigers, a $12,000 value! Three first prize winners will receive a $1,500 gift card for Tigressá carpet, and five second prize winners will receive a Nikon COOLPIX camera. Enter now for your chance to win! 

Increase your odds of winning by sharing on both Facebook and Twitter. For every entry on Twitter, we will donate a dollar to the Save the Tiger Fund to help support the efforts to save this regal creature from extinction*."

The sweepstakes lasts until August 20th.

When you register for the sweepstakes, you have the opportunity to share on Facebook and on Twitter.  For every #Tigressa tweet sent out [you have 3 to choose from]:

• Just donated a dollar to the Save The Tiger Fund and entered to win a trip for two to India thanks to #Tigressa! http://bit.ly/tigressa
• Donated a dollar to the Save the Tiger Fund, entered to win great prizes, and learned about new #Tigressa carpet! http://bit.ly/tigressa
•  Found the perfect new carpet for my home and entered to win great prizes, including a trip to India! http://bit.ly/tigressa #tigressa

Shaw and CCA will donate $1 to the Save the Tiger Fund.  Note: you must issue the tweet from the sweepstakes registration page.

Here is Materials Girls' post about Save The Tiger: Tigressa Carpet & Save The Tigers.

The Tigressa SoftStyle Carpet Product

Now onto the Tigressa carpet product itself.

From the samples Bruce and Empower MediaMarketing sent me, Tigressa feels lush, thick and soft. The brochures describes it as "luxurious and durable" with "ultra protective color and microfiber technology, supreme, silky softness, stronger than ordinary carpet, richer stronger color."

In terms of nitty gritty details, Tigressa is made from type 6 nylon which can be repeatedly recycled into new nylon. For that reason, it is categorized as a Green Select product at Flooring America and Carpet One. 

Building My Green Life's Carrie Malatesta describes what she learned about carpet sustainability in Shaw Floors: Tigressa Carpet Launch.

That, then, is the lowdown of Tigressa SoftStyle Carpet from Shaw based on the accounts of the bloggers I've listed above.  Look for it at Carpet One and Flooring America and then, please, let me know what you think.

Note: Photos Courtesy of Shaw Floors.