Flooring executives already know the coming year will harbor plenty of hardships that will need to be confronted. Interest rates, a sluggish housing market, installer shortages and a presidential election—just to name a few.
With both external and internal challenges looming large, FCNews spoke to key executives to find which hurdles they expect to jump in 2024—and which are already keeping them up at night.
“The economy. There is a lack of consumer confidence in this country, which is causing consumers not to remodel. We have great products, but when foot traffic is slow it doesn’t matter.”
Jamie Welborn
SVP, product management, soft surface
Mohawk
“The ever-evolving volatility since the start of pandemic has me paranoid of ‘What’s next?’ More importantly is my follow-up question, ‘Have we proactively positioned ourselves to handle the unforeseen profitably while maintaining outstanding service to our customers?’ We’ve developed a [culture] here, and my team at Tarkett Home has done such a great job of executing against our key initiatives to build the business. We’ve built strong relationships with both our suppliers and customers, which will help weather any economic [headwinds].”
Jason Surratt
president
Tarkett Home
“Supply uncertainty is something that keeps me up at night. We have been through multiple years of rapid and major disruption, and it is very hard to guess the next one.”
Jimmy Tuley
president
Mannington
residential
“One of the biggest things that keep us up at night are cyber threats— many large companies continue to be hit with cyber attacks. We are investing heavily in security, but it seems the attackers are one step ahead of the good guys.”
Raj Shah
co-CEO
MSI
“The unrest in the world. It would only take Iran to attack Israel to create a situation in the world where you have oil prices soar. These kinds of things you can’t control, but you do game play internally of what could happen and the impact it could have on the U.S. economy.”
Jeff Meadows
president of residential sales
Mohawk
“Over the past few years, we have survived some pretty dramatic events—a global pandemic, a ransomware attack, our primary fiber source abusively exiting the market and 40-year-record-high inflation—so I am sleeping well these days. Seriously, I am concerned about the difficult market conditions and how long they will continue, which is very unpredictable. There is a lot of global unrest and political divisiveness affecting our country—none of which is good for business. I would like to see the temperature come down a bit and see our leaders taking steps to work together for the country versus against each other for political gain.”
T.M. Nuckols
president, residential division
The Dixie Group
“What keeps me up at night is how we continue to deliver on the unwavering commitment to understanding our customers deeply and resolving their challenges. The questions at the forefront of my mind revolve around the speed at which we can execute these initiatives, deepen strategic partnerships and make the right investments to achieve growth for us and our customers.”
Tim Baucom
president/CEO
Shaw Industries
“Risk of supply chain disruption or shutdowns from Asia if China acts against Tiawan; increased shipping expense caused by higher costs and increased delays shipping through the Panama Canal; and higher inflation causing reduced consumer spending on flooring products.”
Dick Quinlan
VP of sales and marketing
Wellmade
“Inflation, mortgage rates, housing affordability, war, shipping issues, artificial intelligence—these are the concerns that keep me up at night. The agenda has never been more complex to manage than it is today. Decades-long trends that once created a predictable world are weakening, and new ones emerge daily. Figuring them out is challenging in this ever-changing environment.”
Steve Ehrlich
VP business & operations
Novalis
“Ongoing uncertainty related to new home builds, home prices and mortgage rates and the impact they will have on flooring activity. We’ll also need to continue working hard to showcase our trend-forward design and high-end product quality in an increasingly competitive landscape—and, in doing so, prevent LVT from becoming a race to the bottom.”
Bill Anderson
CEO
Karndean
“The economic macros will be slow to improve, and we need to avoid racing to the bottom on price for the sake of volume. The LVP category is flat, but there are big opportunities in the realm of premium vinyl, especially among would-be SPC customers interested in a higher-quality product. To that end, Cali is excited to roll out new products. Better product drives better margins for our retailers, especially when it comes with colors and branding shoppers are naturally drawn to.”
Doug Jackson
president
Cali
“The higher interest rates are really inhibiting the buying and selling of homes right now. An awful lot of the remodel happens either right after people buy a home or when they get ready to sell a home; they want to fix it up. That’s not happening, which is hampering flooring of all kinds.”
Brian Carson
president & CEO
AHF Products
“Slower remodel activity and consumers buying plastic floors, but mostly high interest rates. If they continue to fall and get below 6%, we can expect to see a surge in demand. But if they remain high—and consumer confidence remains low—it will be a tough year.”
Dan Natkin
chief commercial officer
Bauwerk/Boen Group
“You would be naïve if you don’t see the dangers of a continued downturn. However, we were due for a good downturn after 15 years of bullish flooring markets. The pandemic inspired the strong demand we all experienced. Don’t waste any of this slowdown—take the time to improve your business.”
Derek Welbourn
CEO
Inhaus
“Low consumer demand, the impact of the upcoming election and high interest rates—all this could significantly impact demand in 2024. The volatile geopolitical environment is also something of concern as we head into 2024.”
John Hammel
senior product director,
wood and laminate
Mannington
“We remain very aware of the market around us but choose to stay focused on executing our strategic initiatives with accuracy and speed to stay ahead of the market.”
Jonathan Cohen
CEO
Stanton Carpet
“I don’t see any indicator that the housing market is going to turn positive. I think we’re going to see the continued headwinds for some time. There’s also too much turmoil overseas. Everybody’s going to hold on pretty tight. Until we see a change in interest rates, I think we’re going to have a long ’24 ahead of us.”