The best year ever. Disappointing. A pleasant surprise. A noisy roller coaster. Dealers across the industry reported a wide range of experiences as uncertainty and mixed results defined 2025. The range of experiences and comments from the flooring industry’s elite dealers run the gamut in a year when uncertainty reigned and mixed results defined the landscape.
With only a few weeks left in 2025, most dealers are thankful for how well they performed. They faced confusing trade swings. They also dealt with a tight labor market and near-record-low consumer sentiment. The housing market remained stagnant. Together, these issues created mixed results across the country.
A recent University of Michigan survey said the decline in consumer sentiment was driven primarily by anxieties over and its potential impact on the economy, inflation and jobs.
While clouds in some spots, it wasn’t doom and gloom everywhere, however. FCNews spoke with several premier flooring retailers about their experiences in 2025 and received mixed results regarding the 2025 flooring industry. The one point of consensus was that the first half was better than the second half.
Boise, Idaho-based Dillabaugh Flooring Company (two Flooring Americas, one Carpet One Floor & Home, a Floor Trader Outlet, a builder design center and granite fabrication company), for example, took full advantage of a rebounding builder market in his region to post its best year in company history.
“Business started off hot in the first two quarters because we were comping against less than stellar numbers from the first six months of 2024,” said Casey Dillabaugh, president. “Once we hit July, we started comping against better numbers so while we were up dramatically the first six months of the year, the final six months have been close to flat over 2024. The single greatest factor contributing to our success was our focus on taking market share while the builder market was stagnant in 2023 and 2024. When the faucet turned on, we were ready.”
Dillabaugh noticed a significant slowdown in October across residential sectors, both retail and builder work. “We expect that to continue through the end of the year,” he told FCNews. “That said, all signs point to business picking back up again in the first quarter of 2026.”
A fast start to the year paved the way for an overall solid 2025 for Denver-based Carpet Exchange, which operates 17 locations. “This year began with strong momentum, showing double-digit growth that has since moderated to a steady mid-single-digit pace,” said Bruce Odette, president/owner. “Over the past three weeks order entry has leveled off, tracking closely with the same period last year. Overall, we’re pleased with our performance to date and optimistic about a solid finish to the year.”
Carpet Exchange’s marketing efforts have been particularly aggressive, expanding into new channels such as streaming platforms and social media advertising. “We’ve also started exploring partnerships with select influencers—a strategy that’s still evolving as we assess its return on investment,” Odette explained. “As we head into the final stretch, our focus remains on driving strong results through the last [few weeks], with the goal of closing the year with a high single-digit increase.”
Another Mountain West flooring dealer, Salt Lake City-based RC Willey Home Furnishings, is also reporting positive gains this year despite a slower market. “Tariffs were the biggest factor in our success,” said Eric Mondragon, division manager/flooring buyer. “It actually created a sense of urgency for those customers that were on the fence about buying. Also having inventory helped in closing those jobs faster.”
Mondragon said he expects a strong finish to the year based on his pipeline. “We are booked out for the month of November, so unless things come to a screeching halt, I expect to be up 3%-4% for the year,” he said. “October was a big month for us, and we are optimistic that the year will finish strong.”
Venetian Carpet One in Houston is also looking to finish strong, which would cap off a year in which it posted double-digit sales gains, with margins slightly ahead of 2024. “We serve the luxury market and new home construction; remodels are booming in the upper-end market,” said Gary Touchton, general sales manager. “Navigating the tariffs has been challenging and hopefully we are past the worst. We are expecting more of the same and hope to finish the year out strong with any luck.”
Not all flooring dealers who are forecasting positive sales numbers are celebrating. In assessing the year, Michel Vermette, CEO of Columbus, Ohio-based AFS Group, cited the mixed results, “somewhere in between surprising and disappointing,” adding, “We have been prospecting new accounts aggressively and our team has been very involved in the community and industry events. This has enabled us to grow in a lackluster market. We are also in a strong financial position, which makes us think long term.”
Vermette said he expects the flooring industry will be down for 2025 overall. However, he notes AFS Group should outperform the market by 5 points or so.
In a similar vein, Phil Koufidakis, president of Phoenix-based Baker Bros Area Rugs & Flooring, summed up 2025 as a “disappointing” year, pointing to the economy as the main culprit. “The underlying economy is not great,” he said. “Housing is slow, inflation is still a problem. The street-level economy is not great. There continues to be pent-up demand that will eventually come out. The hope was for this year and that didn’t happen. Hope has now moved to next year. Unfortunately, small moves on the Fed rate have not translated to low-enough interest rates to get the housing market moving—which is what we need. It’s going to happen; your guess is as good as mine as to when.”
Perhaps no region has experienced the economic vortex more than our nation’s capital. Tariffs, government job cuts and shutdowns have dominated the conversation for the better part of 2025.
“It’s been a noisy, roller coaster year,” said Adam Joss, owner of The Vertical Connection Carpet One, based in the D.C. suburb of Columbia, Md. “Tariffs, DOGE [Department of Government Efficiency], government layoffs, government shutdown, interest rates [have all played a role]. That said, I’m very proud of our team for successfully navigating a roller coaster of a year. Hopefully the government shutdown ends. Our market has a lot of federal workers, so we know many purchases are put on hold until there’s clarity around this issue.”
