In spite of economic uncertainty, what many have dubbed a trade war with China and an ongoing shortage of skilled labor, flooring distributors foresee 2019 being a good year for the industry; a year of continued product innovation, positive market growth and category expansion, all to the benefit of both distributors and their retailer customers. Floor Trends recently sat down with distributors from the southeast market, Sandy Fowler, vice president of sales and marketing, Southern Wholesale Flooring; John Allen, vice president of sales and Gary Rudebeck, senior sales and product director, William M. Bird; and Hoy Lanning, president and CEO, J.J. Haines, to learn more about the positive outlook they share for business, the market and their customers in 2019.