Carpet maker Shaw acquires Tennessee digital sample provider

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Shaw Industries, the country’s biggest carpet maker, is buying a Tennessee-based producer of digital carpet samples and design tools.

The Chattanooga Times Free Press reports that Shaw, a subsidiary of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, acquired Tricycle Inc. for an undisclosed sum.

Tricycle was founded in Chattanooga in 2002 and works with commercial manufacturers, interior designers and architects to visualize carpet designs and colours digitally. The company says its three-dimensional, colour corrected digital images reduce waste by removing the need to produce physical samples.

Tricycle will continue to operate independently in service of the commercial flooring industry, and will remain headed by CEO Aern Hetem.

Hetem says in a release that Tricycle is excited to join Shaw, which he calls “a company known for award-winning design, quality, service, innovation, and sustainability.”

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Information from: Chattanooga Times Free Press, http://www.timesfreepress.com