In our straw poles taken with carpet dealers across the country carpet still comes out on top as the floor covering of choice. Despite the growth of hard surface flooring and its popularity, carpet still rules the roost. In the residential market hard surface has made great strides with wood being the leader of the pack. It is beginning to make a stronger showing in the commercial market as well but wood by it’s very nature lends itself to use in specific areas – it is not an overall product. Laminate on the other hand is showing up in more commercial installations in small areas such as break rooms. Residentially hard surface still owns most of the main floor; kitchens, bathrooms, family rooms, great rooms and so on. Carpet is still the flooring product of choice for bedrooms. Carpet is also an excellent value buy for rental property and for installation in a home that is being groomed to sell. As a result of the growth of hard surface flooring area rugs have grown along with them. If you don’t sell area rugs you’re missing the boat on additional sales and profits. Most consumers who buy hard surface flooring buy area rugs.
The builder market is still in a shambles but residential remodeling still exists. The longer people sit home, curb their activities and save money the more attractive sprucing up their home looks. On average carpet sales in the residential market are still off anywhere from 10 to 30%. Commercial sales are now following suit with many commercial dealers we talk to seeing downturns of around 20%. In some markets there are still pockets of demand but prices are being negotiated more intently. Carpet tile sales are still strong with some manufacturers of the product seeing very little slowdown. Increases are coming from cannibalized broadloom sales in markets such as hospitality. Carpet tiles are the industries most engineered product typically delivering the highest performance. They install quickly and they normally don’t create problems. Carpet tiles have become highly styled products that allow a great deal of creativity on a project.
This fact is very interesting. The smaller the marketing area in the country the better business is. Nearly every retail dealer I have spoken with in a small town is doing good business; some are even with last year and some are actually ahead. If the builder market was not upside down in these places and industry was not badly affected, business is still good. This fact is true from East to West coast. My feeling, with consumers saving upwards of 5% of their income and businesses not spending along with banks not lending, is that we may be looking at a water balloon that sometime in the not to distant future will start to leak. When it does we’ll see a “cautious” demand to catch up on projects put on hold.
As for claims, we are seeing an increase in complaints for commercial products. A hard nosed posture being taken by manufacturers and some wood guys denying there’s ever a problem with their products. Now is a time you have to keep educated and very few retailers are taking advantage of the information available to them from various sources.
The good news is that on the horizon there are a multitude of new product innovations you’ll be seeing from high performance fibers, to technologically advanced and greener backing systems to extraordinary installations systems. Carpet is changing dramatically and you’ll have to keep up with it.
Now is also the time for your service to shine. The more inviting your store, the better you look, the more you care about your customer and the higher the degree of service you deliver overall, will be a big advantage for you. Times will never be the same and change is occurring as we speak but there are and will be opportunities for those who seek and see them.
A thought you may not have ever had that is a staggering statistic you can feel good about is that every single home and building in existence needs the products you sell.
I want to dedicate this column to Carl Williams, who many of you may have known. I considered Carl a good friend. He trained the majority of inspectors in the industry, prolifically published books that will continue to serve as a resource for years to come and dedicated his life’s work to the flooring industry.
Author: Lewis G. Migliore
LGM and Associates – The Floorcovering Experts