News Releases

Shnier's Summit 2010 labeled "Best Yet!"

Toronto, June 29, 2010 - The 2010 Shnier Summit held at the Fairmont Chateau Whistler in beautiful, British Columbia, was labeled the "best Summit yet" by the 400 attendees. The 10th annual Summit, held from June 16th to 18th, featured guest speakers including Brian Williams of CTV TSN, keynote addresses by Shnier associates such as Ed duDomaine, Shnier President and CEO, an incredible showcase of flooring products and merchandising, show specials, giveaways, recreational activities that highlighted the natural beauty of this special part of Canada, and all of this topped off with a Shnier Rocks! Street Party!

The Thursday morning general session was kicked off with an inspiring opening themed video, a patriotic tribute to Canada, and a special First Nations welcome and presentation of a talking stick to Ed duDomaine by Maurice Nahanee the chief of the Coast Salish Squalish First Nation Tribe.

Ed duDomaine, Shnier President and CEO, delivered an inspiring keynote address under the Summit "Peak Performance" theme. "Remember the Olympians, the "peak performers". They prepare and train for a lifetime, in order to compete in an event that lasts mere seconds. They have but one shot at it. We should think and act no differently." was Mr. duDomaine's final comments as he reflected on life and the importance of Peak Performance in our daily working lives.

Mr. duDomaine's speech was followed by a Floor covering Executive Forum, who provided the audience with varying insights on the floor covering industry in the wake of 2009's recession, as well as other enlightening views on the floor covering market and business in general. The forum was comprised of Mr. Frank Ready, Executive Vice President, Armstrong World Industries Inc & CEO of Armstrong Floor Products Worldwide; Mr. Antonio Amorim, Chairman, Amorim Corporation; Mr. Thomas Baert, President, China Floors/Lamett & Founder and co-owner of Domotex Asia; Mr. Mitch Dancik, President & CEO, Dancik International; and Mr. Mack Hale, North American Director of Major Accounts and Buying Groups, Invista.

Chris Schneider, Shnier Director of Marketing then delivered a presentation on digital marketing titled, "The New Buying Dynamic" demonstrating Shnier's new customized dealer website program available under FloorsFirst. After an exciting afternoon of activities such as golf, zip lining, dog sledding and the Peak2Peak Adventure, guests were greeted at the front of the Chateau with a private street party complete with birds of prey, flair bartenders and the entertaining "Way Cool" band.

Friday morning featured the annual Shnier customer awards. This was followed by industry expert Mr. Jonathan Trivers, who delivered a highly informative and moving keynote address. Carmen Chilelli, Shnier Director of Merchandising, and Paul Green, Shnier Director of Sales stood up to recognize and thank Shnier's customer and supplier partners, as well as the very talented Summit Team that worked so hard to make the event possible. The Summit closed on Friday morning with a sale raffle for several prizes, including the grand prize of Samsung's newest 46" 3D LED HDTV won by John Dyck from Peninsula Flooring in Virgil, Ontario. The Summit closed with a light hearted presentation by Paul Green and Chris Schneider announcing Halifax, Nova Scotia as the location of Shnier's 2011 Summit.

ABOUT SHNIER, GESCO LIMITED PARTNERSHIP SHNIER, Gesco Limited Partnership is Canada's Leading National Diversified Floor Covering Solutions Company. Founded in 1938, the company sells and services over 4,000 residential and commercial flooring customers, offering value-add products, programs and services. SHNIER is headquartered in Brampton, Ontario, in a state-of-the-art, 255,000 square foot central logistics centre. SHNIER's national operations include five warehouse, sales office and/or showroom facilities across Canada.

 

For more information contact Chris Schneider, Director of Marketing, SHNIER, 905-789-3703 or email cschneider@gesco.ca or Kristi Contini, Marketing Coordinator, SHNIER, 905-789-3755 ext 2285 or email kcontini@gesco.ca