Whyyyy?????

I have written here before about the dish room mats at front doors of businesses...lately I keep seeing this phenomenon again and again!  I just wonder sometimes if these people are on to something.  The mat is usually about an inch thick, has large drainage holes and is non-slip. Other than the issue of shoes with narrow heels getting stuck in the holes, are these mats such a bad idea at an entrance after all? Maybe not...

I mean, sure, they are very ugly, available only in either black or a terra cotta type color. But say you own a liquor store or laundromat in a part of the country that has plenty of "falling weather"; who cares if the mats outside your place of business are "cute" or "matchy matchy"?

Usually if a mat will be exposed to the elements, the thought is you do not want something uber plush such as the Luxor mat from Andersen Co.  My gosh, for the money it costs, just one day of heavy rain or snow and you would be crying over the soaked mat. And most (most, not all) of the rubber mats offered by manufacturers are so low profile that they don't seem to offer much room for rain or rocks to live until the mat is cleaned.

Stay tuned for more musings on this topic as I do some interviews with store owners and maybe even patrons about these door mats.