Periodical

July 23/30, 2012 Wood 13
Chart 9
Hardwood flooring market value and volume
(in millions)
2,700
2,325
1,950
1,575
1,200
825
450
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
$2,184.2(R)
989.0
$2,101.6(R)
944.5
$1,505.9(R)
803.4
$1,749.1(R)
882.8
$1,824.3
919.0
Market sales Square feet R=Revised Source: Catalina Research
of visuals is good for the industry however
we need a significant increase in demand,”
said Poland.
Import growth slows
Hardwood flooring also witnessed an
increase in imports over the past year, though
not at the rapid pace of previous years.
Import sales were up 11.1 percent to $702.3
million and up 12.2 percent in square foot
sales to 371.4 million.
Goodwin at Armstrong explained that
an increase in costs and decrease in available
materials has had a negative impact on
import sales.
While imports remain a viable part of the
wood market, industry executives have noted a
renewed interest in Made in America products.
“There is a growing passion amongst
consumers, encouraged by today’s media,
of made in the U.S.A. We’ve been talking
with distributors and retailers about the
amount of working capital that they have
to tie up in imported goods, causing long
lead times. We encouraged them to look at
products, like those offered by Shaw, that
can be serviced immediately and don’t
have to tie up so much working capital and
inventory,” said Kevin Thompson, hardwood
category manager at Shaw. FCW
less expensive product. The days of putting
2,000 square feet of hardwood in the home
are gone because it’s the difference between
qualifying for a mortgage and not qualifying
for a mortgage. On the remodel side, it is still
a little weak but there are spurts of growth.
Remodel is critical because wood floors are
what people aspire to but sit back on until
equity in the home grows,” he explained.
Milton Goodwin, vice president product
management, wood, at Armstrong, agreed
saying that any growth in sales is dependent
on new home construction and as that
improves so will hardwood sales.
But, Finkell also pointed to overcapacity
as another issue facing the industry “The
laws of supply and demand cause prices to
go down,” he said.
Even given the challenges facing the
hardwood sector, Jim Gould, president of
the Floor Covering Institute, pointed out
that this category is one of the few product
segments that is seeing growth. “There
is a combination of factors attributing
to hardwood market growth. There is an
improvement with the wood floor itself,
the consumer wants a natural product,”
Gould said. “Hardwood is holding its own
or gaining market share against other categories,
which is what is most important.”
Philip Key, vice president of sales and marketing
at CFS, said he believes that hardwood
options are more expansive today than they
were before the recession, benefiting the consumer
and encouraging growth.
“Smart companies really looked at their
product offering and enhanced it, so today’s
homeowners who are ready to purchase a
hardwood floor have great options to choose
from that they didn’t necessarily have before
the recession,” he said.
In fact, Mullican Flooring has upped
its product offering considerably, according
to Mullican president Neil Poland.
He said that while expansions in product
offerings are an advantage , there needs to
be a growth in consumer confidence when
it comes to spending.
“We are manufacturing 100 percent
more styles and colors (SKUS) versus 2007
therefore it is very challenging to control
production costs, sampling costs and marketing
expenses. Overall the diversification
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