The Floor Covering Institute Blog

FLOOR COVERING STATISTICAL TRENDS AND OUTLOOK

As a floor covering industry consultant and analyst, I was always surprised by the lack of interest in the market for area rugs.  And as a consumer, I always wondered why floor covering stores paid little attention to this market sector.  I purchased area rugs and runners at specialty rug stores, home centers or other mass merchandisers.

So when I read “Selling Rugs Profitably” in Floor Covering Weekly , I just skimmed over the contents.  Shortly thereafter, a client asked me to do an in-depth investigation of the area rug and bath mat market.  Well, the analysis of the U.S. area rug and bath mat market really opened my eyes to the opportunities in this industry sector.


Below are a few of the findings uncovered in the Catalina Market Profile on Area Rugs:

• Consumers are estimated to have purchased $6.0 billion of room size area rugs, scatter and accent rugs, bath mats, and runners in 2011, a 4.7% increase over the previous year.

• Rugs an…

Attending industry trade shows and conferences can cost people and companies a lot of time and money.  First, there are expenses associated with out of town travel such as airfare, hotel and meals. Then there are show registration fees. And then there is the lost opportunity cost of you and/or your employees not being in the office and therefore not being productive.  If you plan and spend your time effectively, however, by participating in and networking at these events, you will walk away with great insight and potentially new opportunities that will give you a nice return on that initial investment.

In this tough economy industry organizations and associations are looking for ways to help their members reduce costs related to attending annual meetings, exhibitions and conferences.  One example is the ceramic tile and stone industry whose leading associations merged their events into one larger one.  In fact, I just returned from Total Solutions Plus, held near Phoenix earlier in Nov…

Did you get a chance to read National Floor Trends' article titled WFCA Consumer Study: Consumers Not Using Social Media For Flooring Purchases? It caught my attention.

I love data about consumers and the purchase process. Especially in flooring. In a world where the overall retail experience is evolving beyond the physical store to encompass digital tools, how different is flooring? And what role does social media play?

According to the article "Seventy-five percent of consumers surveyed used online resources when shopping for their most recent flooring purchase."

That's not too different from what Google details in an ebook titled "ZMOT" which states that 84% of Americans engage in ZMOT activities prior to purchase. This is based on research by Shopper Sciences of 5000 shoppers across 12 categories. [Note: "ZMOT" stands for 'zero moment of truth' [i.e., the moment between purchase stimulus and purchase decision [aka first moment of trut…

FLOOR COVERING STATISTICAL TRENDS AND OUTLOOK - Housing Data

Something happened on the way to the predicted double-dip recession that was to be caused by the European debt crisis and the paralysis in Washington- the housing market showed strong gains and specialty floor coverings store sales turned upwards.  These trends can be seen in the following reports.

• According to the Department of Commerce (http://www.census.gov/const/newresconst.pdf), housing permits increased by 6.5% and starts rose by 5.5% in the third quarter of 2011.  In October, these gains accelerated, growing 17.7% and 18.9%, respectively.

• Existing home sales increased at even sharper rates.  According to the National Association of Realtors  existing home sales increased by 17.8% in the third quarter of 2011 and by 11.7% in October.(http://www.realtor.org/research/research/ehsdata) • Floor covering store sales also began to rebound as housing demand increased.  Commerce reported that specialty floor covering store…

As a consultant to the global floor covering industry I talk to manufacturers about shifting markets and how to reach new opportunities. The fastest growing and yet most mysterious market is Asia where the demand for all products, including floor covering, is rapidly rising. It’s no secret that China’s market is expanding at unheard of rates and some floor covering companies have already made the leap to China. In fact, US exports of floor covering to China increased 36.8% over the first eight months of 2011, according to Stuart Hirschhorn of Catalina Reports.


I have written about the growing opportunity in China many times and you’ve certainly heard the message from others.  But I know many of you are asking, What does it mean to me?  Is there an opportunity for my company and if so, How can I capture it?

These are serious questions especially when you consider the trouble that some of the world’s largest, and presumably most sophisticated, retailers have faced in China. Best Buy Co…

Culture at a company (corporate culture) is generally developed through the actions of management.  Employees then follow their lead.  “The boss did it this way so it must be the right way.” I share this obvious observation because sometimes leaders do things that ultimately reflect poorly on the company.  This is particularly so during difficult times.


One of the benefits of working with dozens of companies outside the flooring industry is the opportunity to understand their corporate standards and culture by observation.  I recently spoke at a convention for a couple hundred people.  The food was acceptable as you would expect; but the room was dirty and hideous.  The company chose this room because it was the least expensive room available.  The room was so remote and old that most of us didn’t even know that wing of the well-known property existed.  We sat in a dirty room that communicated the company’s own low standards while the corporate president spoke glowingly about their c…

On this Veteran's Day, there aren't enough words to thank the Veterans and their families for all that they have done and continue to do for our nation...all generations and including Veterans from other countries that have stood by our side.

We are forever indebted to you; your service and sacrifice and your courage.  We honor you today, as we should every day.



The Floor Covering Institute

There’s a yearning for clarity of the Lacey Act Due Care Standard. Many in the wood supply chain are waiting for the next shoe to drop, wondering who will find themselves in the boat with Gibson Guitar, the first US company to be investigated for importing illegal wood. The second raid on Gibson in August caused a lot of stir and controversy but even before that happened one coalition was already working to define the Due Care Standard for the wood and paper supply chains.  The movement started far outside the floor covering industry but its effort and anticipated result are surely of interest to us.  You may have read a brief description of this in the trade press so I wanted to give you more information about who is taking up the cause, their goal, and what you can expect as an outcome.


First,  for anyone who wonders why you should care about the Due Care Standard .…  The Department of Justice defines Due Care with two criminal liability standards: strict liability for forfeiture of…

The economy hasn’t been good for most and it doesn’t seem to be getting any better.  So what does a company do to position their business and products to survive the down economy and prepare for opportunities when the better economy returns? 

Whether you are part of the ceramic tile or stone industry, which is my speciality, or even part of the floor covering industry, the same business and marketing principals apply and you need to go through the same exercise to answer the following questions and prepare your business strategy:

•    You need to know who your competition is
•    And, what your competitive advantages are over that competition 
•    You need to know your own strengths and weaknesses as well as those of your competition
•     You need to have a good product mix in order to supply the commodities, drive volume and to promote the higher margin products that give you a competitive advantage
•    And of course, you need a written marketing plan to orchestrate the comple…

Almost a year after the International Trade commission (ITC) announced an affirmative determination in its preliminary investigation of anti-dumping and countervailing claims made by US engineered hardwood flooring manufacturers’ against China, the case is heading for a final determination in November.
The ITC has held its final hearing of the investigation where both sides stated their case for the last time in public.

Floorcovering weekly produced an excellent article for its readers (ITC holds final hearing on imported Chinese engineered wood) which summarized the event. What I found particularly interesting were the comments from both sides in the case; the US manufacturers represented by the Coalition for American Hardwood Parity (CAHP) and US distributors and importers represented by the Alliance for Free Choice and Jobs in Flooring (AFCJF).

Here's my take on some of their comments:

Comments  by US manufacturers.
•    A large US manufacturer claims it has had to lay off one …