Dealers laud Mohawk’s best business-building intros

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This year Mohawk took the wraps off a number of new products and programs across all categories designed to make things easier and increase profits for floor covering retailers. All of that has been covered in the last few issues of FCNews, but what are the retailers saying? What have they seen at Edge, Surfaces and the various regional events that is resonating?

FCNews publisher, Steven Feldman, recently sat down with nine retailers at a recent regional event and asked a simple question: What has Mohawk introduced this year that is going to make a difference in your business and that you’re going to make money with in 2023?

To show the breadth and depth of the intros, the answers were quite varied:

COLOR WALL/SIGNATURE TECHNOLOGY
Steve DeSitter DeSitter Flooring Boiling Brook LeGrange
Glen Allyn, Ill.

The first thing is the new Mohawk Color Wall, which I believe will make a difference. It’s a well-lit display, well presented and the concept is already a proven success in our showroom through one of their competitors. It just has a presence in your showroom that clients gravitate to. The other thing I was very impressed with is the Signature Technology, which results in some unbelievable laminate visuals and textured products that rival wood.

Mike Morris Millers Flooring America
Logansport and Lafayette, Ind.

I really like the Mohawk Color Wall; it is going to be a nice addition. I think the industry’s made it a little harder to shop and the Color Wall simplifies the shopping process for the consumer. Just the pop of color will allow the consumer to gravitate toward it. It’s a destination. Also, we’ve done well with the waterproof laminate, and I really think RevWood Plus is going to come on strong. We know that laminate is durable and with the water-resistant core (WetProtect), along with a scratch-resistant finish, it’s something I believe will take off.

WETPROTECT
Andrew Hill Brothers Floor Covering
Indianapolis

mohawk

I like the idea of this waterproof edge—the WetProtect system. I think that’s an advantage. They’ve added the shoe mold or quarter round that goes with it. I believe they’ve had it on RevWood, but they have added it to TecWood. A laminate that is legitimately waterproof would certainly give that category a better name and exposure. I think vinyl plank’s becoming a little oversold when it comes to waterproof, but the topical part is really what I care about. A flood is a flood, so I think that’ll be game changing on the laminate side and potentially the wood side, too, if that becomes an option there. I think it gives a peace of mind to the customer.

PRICING
Ray Huber Huber’s Carpet Outlet
Plymouth, Ind.

I like the aggressive pricing on the new 12-mil SolidTech and Pergo SPC. The lower price points will help us be very competitive against the box stores. The majority of the prices are coming down, finally. I have been moving away from the lower-end products that had a lot of failures on the 3-mil, 3.5-mil [products]. I want to go higher to 12-mil, 20-mil. It won’t fail. It’s going to hold up to the everyday lifestyle. I do very large multi-family apartments and rentals. I do a large scale there. So, I’m within the big scale now.

SCENTSTOP/SUNDRIES
Jerry Elkin Dearing Floor Center
Jeffersonville, Ind.

The one thing that caught me most of all was that odor eliminator (ScentStop) from Mohawk. It eliminates and breaks down pet odor by using enzymes and non-harmful living bacteria that you can spray straight onto baseboards and walls. It’s not masking it. It’s not encapsulating it. So for us, if we’re doing a demo, you don’t have to pull up the tack strips and baseboards if pets have been there. You can just spray and kill that odor. It’s going to continue to work, even after it’s dry.

REVWOOD
Cortney Harpenau White’s Flooring
Columbia City, Ind.

I really liked RevWood Premier. I like how it looks exactly like real wood; the texture is so much more real. There’s always been a texture to RevWood, but this is just above what has been available to this point. Mohawk has a display showing an actual piece of wood with the RevWood Premier samples next to it, and it is almost perfect. People are becoming more interested in laminate vs. LVP lately, mostly because of the scratch resistance. Our clientele all have animals and want that scratch resistance.

Joe Rose
America’s Flooring Store
Arlington Heights, Ill.

We’d love to see a growth in laminate, which is currently about 10% of our business, so we are excited primarily about RevWood. I’d love to see us make between 40% and 50%. The WetProtect story, where the edges are all protected and sealed, is fantastic. So are the GenuEdge beveled edges. There is great technology there, but it’s really about the authentic visuals.

REVWOOD STAIR TREADS
Krista Jones Select Flooring
Kendallville, Ind.

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I love that RevWood now comes with treads, so you can do a full staircase or stairway with it. We go up against different LVP lines that [come with coordinating] stair treads, and that can be more economical for the customer. But adding stair treads allows RevWood to compete more easily with the SPCs. It’s more durable; every home has pets, so to put in a laminate makes more sense. And we can make more money selling a RevWood job.

DEPTH OF RESOURCES/MADE IN THE USA
Cameron Franklin Dad’s Flooring
Berea, Ky.

One of the biggest advantages we see with Mohawk is just the depth of resources and the ability for them to support and educate us. For example, they’ll let us go through school and teach us things we might not know about installs. We’re actually planning to send all of our installers to Atlanta for a week to learn every product line. We’re dedicated to doing this the right way. The product managers can help us understand what we’re selling. We’re very big believers in being able to convey the value to the consumer. Having the access to those product managers who can explain the technical side of that is important. The other thing we find valuable is product delivery based in the U.S. We’re very much an American-run business and we love the idea that these products are made in the USA. That’s going to be big for us.

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Feb. 6/13, 2023

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