Nafco by Tarkett has rolled out PermaStone Modular, a new 24-SKU extension of its successful PermaStone luxury vinyl tile line, to the enthusiastic reaction of several dozen distributors who gathered recently for the product's launch at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center in Nashville, Tenn.
Increasingly, the flooring industry's resilient segment -- which includes linoleum, rubber and vinyl products -- is embracing the concept of sustainability and bringing to market an advanced generation of floor coverings that feature recycled content.
In past years, the flooring industry's laminate segment has distinguished itself as a bastion of continuous technical innovation. Consider the abrupt sea change the product category made as manufacturers moved, almost overnight, from traditional glued installation systems to glueless, "click" configurations. And who does not remember the buzz generated by the registered embossing and other textural surface techniques that brought new realism to laminates?
Despite all the hoopla in recent years regarding the increasing popularity of hard-surface floors, soft-surface products -- carpet in particular -- continue to reign supreme in terms of overall market share of the U.S. floor covering industry.
In the aggregate, the growth outlook for laminate flooring remains strong, with more than half of the dealers who participated in National Floor Trends’ just-released 2003 Laminate Flooring Market Study projecting increases for residential laminate sales compared to last year.
Some consumers simply refuse to buy “off the rack.” Demanding, discerning and detail-oriented, these people will purchase floor coverings from the mill only when the goods aren’t run of the mill. To do otherwise just won’t satisfy their sense of style and individualism.
Downtown St. Louis, the city where the National Wood Flooring Association was established in 1985, recently played host to more than 2,800 wood flooring professionals for the NWFA 18th Annual Education Conference and Wood Flooring Expo.
Few product sectors in the floor covering industry are as stable as the vinyl segment, according to three years of data compiled through exclusive research commissioned by National Floor Trends. Our just-released 2003 Vinyl Flooring Market Study confirms many of the projections and findings that emerged in the last two annual surveys of flooring retailers who handle the products.