Luckily for our customers, we do our best to navigate them through the various pros and cons of anything from 3/16″ PVC yoga mat vs the 3/16″ natural rubber yoga mat or 1-3/8″ thick crosslink vs 2″ thick. This,
however, can’t guarantee against the guiles of a stubborn customers who despite their best intentions and frugality do come into play in our daily routine.

Our SoftWood flooring is one of our most popular items and one of the ones surrounded by this exact kind of issue. A soft EVA foam with a nice laminate top emulating various wood tones like cherry, walnut, and two shades of oak are a perfect additions as kids playroom flooring, a family room in the basement, or most commonly, display booths at trade shows. This is where it gets ‘controversial’. While these tiles are very durable, a trade show has higher than normal amounts of actual foot traffic. A good portion of this foot traffic can be women’s (or men’s… we don’t discriminate) heels. While it depends on the type of heel and the person walking on it, we stress that THEY CAN but won’t necessarily leave an imprint or permanent indentation. In the worst case scenarios (happens less than 1/100 times!), a tile might even get punctured. It’s stressing these kinds of points to our customers and having an honest dialogue, as opposed to just driving a sale, that really makes a customer feel comfortable making a decision to purchase something online from a person across the country they can’t even see.

One of our recent customers, Allan from Picaboo Yearbook, just sent me this today:

“Hi there, Love the [trade show flooring] floor, it is a great compliment to our booth. I think I may have sold 2 more floors for you to other exhibitors. I gave them your company name. Thanks for your help!”

I don’t like getting older, but who does? Lately it’s become very apparent that I’m transitioning into an actual adult and it really frightens me. I know we are technically ‘adults’ when we turn 18, but I think we really become adults during certain events.  For the most part my life hasn’t changed in years, I thought I was an adult when I moved into my own place- but since then I’ve had the same friends, job and done the same things almost every day.  Lately little things are changing- Birthday celebration at a bar or club are turning into brunches. I’m being invited to baby showers, weddings and house warming parties and my friends and I are even planning a trip to Mexico as a last hurrah.

I get more calls to babysit on a Friday night than I do to go out, it’s really depressing.  Furthermore, I recently applied to go back to school and found that I’m so old, my parents income is no longer a factor when it comes to loans.  There’s just too much to think about and not enough time to do anything!

I was asked to babysit last minute a few days ago and normally it’s no problem! I have a play carpet,  soft wood tiles, some toys and lots of Disney movies- so I’m always prepared.  But just like us adults, sometimes we need an upgrade. It might be time to start looking at other softwood flooring alternatives for my house. The soft wood flooring is ideal as trade show flooring, but I’m thinking our lightweight wrestling mats will be a good alternative as the kids get older.  The smaller sizes come in one piece and with slotted backing, can be rolled up and stored easier than the tiles. Also, since this mat is intended for wrestling, the foam is more dense and the surface is a lot more durable. Not to mention it can be made with microban protection, so all those little germies we’re concerned about won’t be a problem.

I am a geek; yes I said it and certainly whole-heartedly admit it with great pride and gusto!  Since I was just a wee one I have been going to Trade Shows of all kinds.  I used to frequent the Los Angeles Auto Show every year with my father.  From my teenage years and even into my 20’s I attended the Anime Expos in Los Angeles with my friends as well.  Every one of these conventions would have its Trade Show floors, filled with products, samples and the variable eye-candy abound.  If you have ever been to, or participated in a Trade Show of any kind you will know that they magically transform an industrial floor space into an appealing show floor for each company’s products. 

But how do they transform a barren, open concrete floor into something visual appealing and yet highly functional?  They do so with our various versions of Trade Show Flooring.    From our Interlocking foam mats with texture tops, to our carpet top interlocking floor tiles, or even the marvelous wood film laminate top interlocking foam floor.  You can find these flooring tile at almost every trade show you visit. Whether you’re checking out the newest or oldest in vehicular madness, or the cosplay shenanigans of the Anime floor; you’ll find yourself standing on our Trades Show Flooring.  Also as a side note, if you’re not familiar with cosplay, look it up; just grown adults dressed like comic and anime characters.  It’s great for chuckle or two!

So the next time your favorite convention, take a peek downwards and notice not just the products on the floor, but the floor itself.  You’ll be amazed by the variety and amount you’ll find of our Trade Show Flooring.  Happy Hunting, and Happy Holidays!

I was going through all the wonderful comments you guys make on our website and I was pleased to see how many of you decided to go with our company because a product was Made in America. I knew our Gymnastics Equipment as well as our Dance Equipment and many of our other products, are made in America.  Whenever I hear “Buy American” I usually see it as a marketing ploy. I can’t stand salesmen or ploys to trick me into buying something (which will make me the most honest salesman ever). I went online to look up actual reasons to buy USA made products and I’m going share with you my favorite:

-Foreign labor standards allow unsafe worker conditions in many countries. When you buy American you support not only American manufacturers but also American workers, safe working conditions, and child labor laws.

-US manufacturing processes are much cleaner for the environment than many other countries; many brands sold here are produced in countries using dangerous, heavily polluting processes. When you purchase American-made product, you know that you’re helping to keep the world a little cleaner for your children.

-The growing lack of USA ability to manufacture many products is strategically unsound. When you seek out American-made goods, you foster American independence.

- Foreign product safety standards are low. For example, poisonous levels of lead are in tens of millions of toys shipped to the USA. When you buy toys and other goods made in the USA, you can be confident that American consumer protection laws and safety standards are in place to protect your family.

- As the US manufacturing ability fades, future generations of US citizens will be unable to find relevant jobs. Buy American and help keep your friends and neighbors-and even yourself-earning a living wage

-Shipping anything from overseas can take a long time and be pricey when you consider duties and fees that have to be paid. Even if you don’t order directly from another country, if the company you do order from gets their products from overseas- they most likely pass those extra fees onto you

I was going to list all our products that are made in the good ol’ U S of A, but then I discovered it’s too many.  From Gymnastics to Dance, you can be sure it’s made here- even most of our Anti Fatigue Mats.  In fact, the things you won’t find are made here are the Soft Floor Tiles (trade show flooring) and our Yoga Mat.  But I guess you can’t win them all.

As much as I envy this generation and all the cool toys they get to grow up with, I feel as if they don’t get to use their imaginations as much as I got to.  When I was growing up my Dad, along with the neighbor dad and his son, used to take us to department stores and get empty fridge or washer/dryer boxes. We would take them home and make the most awesome forts!  We could literally spend the whole summer playing in our back yards, in BOXES!

I kind of miss being able to use my imagination like that! I got very nostalgic for simpler times when I was talking to a customer this week who wanted to get some trade show flooring (interlocking foam tiles) for her kids playroom.  That’s very common and I provide people with these types of tiles all the time so their kids can have a colorful, safe, and soft area to play on.  I remember one customer of mine who had a different use!  She said she wants to have a floor her kids can play on or build stuff with, like tunnels.  Right away, my inner child came out and I started thinking how fun it would have been to have tiles like this when I was younger.  I can already imagine the different types of forts I can make.

I actually have some smaller versions of the trade show flooring or kids playroom floor tiles on my desk and arranged them in few different ways that could be fun.  (as seen in pictures) The cool part about having these tiles as a kid would have been that they’re mine, and permanent.  Let me explain.. while the refrigerator boxes were cool , Mom could only stand seeing “trash” in her backyard for so long.  These interlocking tiles would have been awesome!! They look nice are easily stacked and hold up against elements a lot better than cardboard!  We also carry a number and alphabet puzzle mat with removable letters- these don’t interlock with the interlocking trade show tiles but being able to punch out the letters to create windows in my fort would rock! And if you look at the product page for the ABC mats you’ll see a couple other ideas for your tiles like hop-scotch! If you have some of these tiles, or plan on getting some send me pictures of what creative stuff you’re kids do with them!

I just want to take a moment and talk about how much fun I have working here.  I work with mats, so I’m sure you’re thinking that I’m probably exaggerating, but I’m not.  Unlike most sales jobs, we don’t work on commission and we don’t read of scripts.  In my opinion that gives you a pretty unique and “real” experience.  I think not working on commission really helps us stay honest.  I’m sure we’ve all dealt with that less than honest sales person who’s just trying to make a buck and will say whatever it takes.  Because we don’t have quotas or financial incentives I really have no reason to lie or mislead you.  The owners of the company NEVER push us to sell or pressure our customers.  Whether it’s one of our kids play mats, our trade show flooring, rubber gym flooring or any one of the thousands of mat products we offer, our products are quality and the reviews from you guys speak for themselves.  You can be sure that we will never sell you a product that won’t work or you don’t need.

The lack of scripts allows us to be ourselves, we here at MatsMatsMats.com all have such different personalities that you’ll know you’re talking to a real person not some robot going through the motions.  We all have our own opinions on how to do things and when you call with questions or problem, it’s really a group effort.  We bounce ideas and solutions off each other and it’s beneficial in making sure you are taken care of properly.  I think that’s what makes working here so stress free.  I know that if I don’t know how to do something or if I don’t have the answer I have co-workers that are there and willing to help me.  We are like a family and work as such.  It’s more about being united as a company and less about being the “star” employee. Being that we have so many products, it’s hard to be an expert on everything but we work as a team and each have our own areas of expertise, so if I’m not 100% sure about a product I can easily get an answer for you.

So, whether it’s your first time calling us, or you’re a repeat customer, I hope this gave you a little insight into our company and how much we actually care about you and what we do.

As I’ve said before, I never knew there was such a demand for the products we here at MatsMatsMats.com provide and I am always curious when people use our products for anything other than what it’s intended for.  That said, I got a phone call the other day from a man who wanted to purchase a roll of our non carpeted crosslink rolls so he could make what he called a Water Pad.  We tell customers all the time that our foam is closed cell, therefore it doesn’t absorb liquid (typically referring to sweat or drinks) – I never thought that it would float.  He seemed to want me to assure him that our crosslink foam rolls would work like he wanted and I just couldn’t.  We already tell customers that we don’t warrant our products to be suitable for any particular purpose and will not be liable for any injuries that may result during the use of these products.  However, I wouldn’t feel right assuring somebody that a product will work when it won’t, or if I know it will have other problems down the line.  I decided to do an experiment:

I took one of our crosslink foam samples and let it float in a bowl of water 8 hours, then let it dry naturally for 15 hours. I then submerged it in water completely for 24 hours, letting it dry naturally over the weekend. I was trying to determine whether the foam would retain its buoyancy, absorb water or start to smell.  It did nothing.  It still looks like it looked before coming in contact with the water and hasn’t expanded or started producing any kind of mildew smell.

I then started testing how much weight the foam could withstand before sinking, and I found that a little 4.5”x4.5” piece of foam, that weighs .5oz, was able to keep a piece of 4.5”x4.5” rubber, that weighs 1.2lbs, a float. 

I’m no scientist, but I’m pretty sure that I could now tell that man with confidence that the foam would work as water pad.  I think these rolls would be perfect when I go boating. Whether you’re out on a lake or out at sea you can throw one of rolls over board and have a floating dock to tan on or to help you get on and off your jet skis.  One full sized roll (rolled up) is only 6’ tall and 3.5’ wide and can be easily thrown in the back of your truck or boat OR cut up into smaller more manageable pads. These are just a few of my ideas, it is your responsibility to determine the appropriate use.  One of my co-workers customers decided to use this product as part of his trade show booth design – not as the trade show flooring, but as part of the design.  So, be creative… and let me know if you come up with another unique use of this or any other of our many versatile products.

Our SoftRubber Interlocking Tiles have become very popular since their release not very long ago.

For fitness areas where people are doing aerobics and other exercises but also want to have their fitness equipment in the same area these Soft Rubber Interlocking Tiles . They have a nice softer layer of foam that is protected on top with a thinner layer of rubber to stiffen up the tile.  So customers for home and larger commercial gyms can finally have a tile that gives both the anti fatigue properties to have a cushioned surface and not have their equipment sink into the tile.

For tradeshow events where people are tired of renting carpet or other types of trade show flooring for every show, soft rubber flooring is a great alternative.  Purchasing your own flooring will provide a cost savings, comfort and a unique appealing flooring surface.  For many tradeshow areas these softer interlocking tiles, which are a type of anti fatigue flooring, provide thousands of people with a nice cushioned surface to walk on, they are easy to install and look great.  Best of all, these anti fatigue properties don’t mean you have flooring that is too soft, the top rubber surface is stiff and can withstand heavier equipment if needed.

There are many other applications where these interlocking rubber flooring tiles are a great fit and we have gotten tons of positive feedback on how well they hold up, the ease of installation and improved look of the area.  As a sales representative at MatsMatsMats.com, our SoftRubber Tiles are one of my favorite products to sell because it really does fit a niche that was missing in the industry for so many years.

If you are one of the thousands of people who are responsible for setting up, cleaning up and/or working at your company’s trade show booth throughout the year then you know the importance of the surface you stand on.  Trade show booth flooring can assist with the look of your booth, add comfort for you and your visitors and hopefully be re-used (because they can be expensive).

The best bet for your money is to purchase one of the many styles of interlocking trade show floor tiles.  These are typically the most affordable and, if cared for properly, you can use over and over again.  Trade show shipping cases can protect your interlocking floor tiles when transporting them to and from tradeshows.  Additionally, these cases can protect the flooring tiles when being stored in between tradeshows.

A hard portable trade show shipping case with wheels would allow you to store your trade show flooring, ship the flooring directly to your trade show location(s) and easily transport it to and from your booth if the case comes with a handle and wheels.  Protect your investment and make it easier on yourself at the same time with portable trade show shipping cases.