FloorCoveringNews

Johnson City, Tenn. – Mullican Flooring has entered the voting phase of its WE ❤ OUR MULLICAN FLOOR! photo contest now under way on Facebook. The deadline for casting a vote is Feb. 29, 2012.

Mullican Flooring is introducing its Hillshire Collection this year at Surfaces 2012. The collection is comprised of five 3/8-inch-thick, prefinished engineered oak products available in both three-inch and five-inch widths. The selections are red oak natural, oak caramel, oak gunstock, oak saddle and oak bordeaux. Hillshire represents the company’s first American-made engineered line of products.

By Matthew Spieler

While 2011 seemed to mirror 2010 for the wood industry, manufacturing executives say it was expected and, considering the losses that mounted up since the recession started, not so bad. Though the overall economy doesn’t appear much brighter in 2012, many feel there will be some upward movement due to pent-up demand as well as other indicators that favor their products.

JOHNSON CITY, TENN.— Mullican Flooring will be expanding its operations in Johnson City, Tenn. and creating 164 new jobs.

No category has suffered through the building market’s sag quite as much as hardwood, particularly in new construction. But consumers are still buying and certain parties want what they want—those who demand luxury still expect nothing less. To meet her needs, mills are producing unique products that transform her home into something exceptional.

Of all the flooring segments, the wood category has been hit the hardest since the housing market crash and subsequent economic decline. While the sector is no longer falling off a cliff, sales continue to struggle as consumers become ever more vigilant with their spending.

The difficulties, however, have not stopped manufacturers from bringing out new products and technology for the fall selling season. While the handscraped, rustic look continues to be popular, companies are introducing a wide range of designs and features as they try to help retailers grab consumer interest.

Whether you chalk it up to the economy, stricter environmental and logging laws, changing consumer preferences in both style and where a product comes from, or something else, one thing is clear: The use of non-traditional North American wood species to make flooring has risen dramatically over the last five years.

Generally referred to as domestic exotics, these are wood species that go beyond the traditional oak, maple and pine. While oak has been the king of wood flooring for decades, the latter two have, historically, been more widely used than any other domestically grown specie.

ROSLYN, N.Y.—Following a two-year hiatus, Shaw Industries was voted the industry’s Best Overall Manufacturer in the 15th Award of Excellence competition. This was the third time in the award’s history that Shaw took top honors, which it last held in 2008. Shaw also repeated its performance from last year by taking home the Award of Excellence for Environmental Leadership, which was first awarded in 2010.

Roslyn, N.Y.—The 15^th annual Award of Excellence competition, sponsored by Floor Covering News and the World Floor Covering Association (WFCA), is a way for manufacturers’ customers—retailers, distributors, designers, installers, specifies, etc.—to honor the companies they feel consistently provide the best service, professionalism of sales force, management responsiveness, value, design, B2B, handling of claims and ease of doing business. In other words, those manufacturers help them do the best job running successful, profitable business operations, whether it be a retail operation, distributorship, design centers or installation workrooms.

SAN DIEGO—Against the backdrop of the first positive sales trajectory since the beginning of the Great Recession, the National Wood Flooring Association’s 26^th annual convention focused on just that: How to take advantage of a reviving economy.

Much of the U.S. may still be struggling to escape winter temperatures but the calendar says it’s officially spring. A time of rebirth and hope, not just in nature, spring is when consumers air out their homes and take a look at how to get the glum out of the house. One historical way has been to redecorate, with new floors and furniture and a fresh coat of paint. Spring traditionally marks one of the industry’s busiest selling times.

Hardwood has been a flooring category generating plenty of buzz recently. The Lacey Act revisions two years ago sent ripples from Washington, and the recent anti-dumping case brought many manufacturers flocking back to government agencies in an effort to understand just what is at stake. While hardwood has long enjoyed a strong domestic manufacturing presence, recent shifts in the trade balance have shed a light of uncertainty on the category’s future. Coupled with the troubled economy and a struggling building sector, this last year is one that is best left behind in the books.

Although hardwood is one of the oldest categories of flooring, it never fails to evolve with consumer tastes and innovate to meet her needs. Her tastes gravitate toward softer character looks and texturing for unique and authentic visuals, while her needs are for a floor that will withstand a busy, often demanding lifestyle without the need for refinishing or touch-ups. Mills came forward this year to meet both those needs simultaneously with fashion-forward styling and finishes that promise to look as good as on the day of install through its life.

Hardwood sales declined with the subprime crisis and lagging recovery, especially in relation to new home construction. On one hand, hardwood is a statement maker that adds value for the life of the home. On the other, it is an expensive decision complicated by an abundance of options and uncertainties. Further complicating the sale, the proliferation of realistic wood visuals across the laminate and resilient categories gives wood looks at drastically reduced price points.

Today’s distributor is far more than the order taker and credit giver of its predecessors; it is a barometer for what is happening in a particular region.

This is true in multiple ways, from general business conditions to the latest in product trends and styles. In fact, when it comes to helping retailers decide which products make the most sense to carry, a distributor is a venerable weather bell of information.

NEW YORK—Mullican Flooring was among the sponsors of the HGTV Urban Oasis 2010 Giveaway on hand here Dec. 2 for the “key” ceremony. The event, which also attracted sponsors KraftMaid Cabinetry, Kohler and Acura, was the finale of a $1.5 million sweepstakes where the winner of the grand prize—a fully furnished Manhattan apartment in the newly constructed Residences at W New York-Downtown in the Financial District—was announced.

Resilient producers appeal to value, style to gain share

What was ultimately a false start to an upswing in the industry during the first and second quarters, 2010 has coaxed top executives in the resilient category to project a more conservative outcome for the coming year. However, it is one area that is expected to continue growing. The proliferation of LVT (FCNews, Nov. 22/29) and the advancement of fiberglass (see related story) has created a new value standard for the consumer when she shops floor covering. As one of the few segments capturing share in the residential floor covering market, modesty rules the 2011 diagnosis with an injection of optimism.

Environmentally friendly is a buzz phrase the flooring industry has seen become part of mainstream business conversation. Through research and development, focus groups and more, hardwood flooring executives have taken the temperature of the masses and have come to realize the importance of being green is great.

Accordingly, the products they manufacture are increasingly reflecting a consumer desire for a smaller carbon footprint and a conscious effort to be part of the environmentally responsible products for her home.

The Internet is an essential element of any business. With a staggering 80% of consumers researching online before ever entering a store, businesses without a strong, updated website are doing themselves a great disservice if not part of that process. If your company is not part of her floor covering education, you will most likely not be part of her purchasing process either.

“We’ve learned the Internet is the most commonly used tool to learn about our floors and to find a retailer that carries our products,” said Richard Milliron, director of eMarketing at Armstrong. “We believe a website should be an aid to help flooring representatives in making sales [and] must employ usability best practices to keep a visitor and guide her through the purchase cycle. Website visitors know they can abandon the site at the first feeling of frustration and visit another website to meet their needs.”

Fall means back to school and back to the daily grind for many. But minds at some of the top hardwood mills have been grinding all summer to roll out new products, programs and promotions for the coming season.

Times have been tough for the hardwood category. With an over abundance of products moving slowly through the supply chain, many manufacturers are updating current collections and providing selling tools to fill sales tickets. Displays and advertising are also a popular way in which suppliers are keeping their dealers poised to pounce on sales for the fall selling season. The rising cost of virgin raw materials in the category even has one major mill offering a 100% reclaimed product.

NATIONAL HARBOR, MD.—Things are looking up for the hardwood flooring industry. So said Ed Korczak, CEO and executive director, National Wood Flooring Association (NWFA), at the group’s annual convention here two weeks ago.

After a year in which the industry was down about 23% in dollars, Korczak said the association is seeing a 6% to 7% uptick in the first quarter of 2010 over the same year-ago period. “We attribute that to two things,” he said. “First, the consumer has a little more confidence due in part to unemployment remaining flat. Second is the result of pent-up demand.”