CEO Viewpoint: Flooring forecast is mostly sunny with lingering concerns

Judging from the responses we received from some of the industry's leading manufacturers, the floor covering business these days is simultaneously blessed and bedeviled. The blessings have come in the form of a sharp increase in housing sales and a boom in home improvement (egged on, no doubt, by the popularity of home makeover TV shows). The renewed focus on the home has contributed mightily to solid sales increases, particular in hard surface categories. Also catching the consumer's eye is an emerging generation of designs and patterns that are boldly taking the industry into territories once reserved mostly for apparel makers. In short, manufacturers say demand has never been so brisk and the products have never been better.

But on the flip side, industry leaders say there are finding pricing pressures every where they turn. Apart from a nagging shortage of raw material like risen, increases in the price of oil have been a body blow to installers and anyone else who has to stay mobile to stay in business. On top of that is a wave of off-shore suppliers that are elbowing their way in to with aggressive pricing strategies. Most notably, Chinese-importers have quickly become a major factor in the flooring industry over the past few years, and nearly everyone expects their influence on pricing and product will steadily grow.