Hicksville, N.Y.—DuPont will not let its brand leave the flooring industry. Al Wahnon, FCNews’ editor and publisher, was the first to speculate that DuPont would not let its long history of being in the flooring industry go by the wayside once the sale of its Invista division to Koch Industries is finalized (FCNews, Jan. 26). And, he was right. While no official public announcement has been made, FCNews learned the chemical company has entered into an agreement with The Home Depot to sell DuPont branded laminate flooring. Laminate producer Faus is initially the sole manufacturer of the line, which is slated to be called Real Touch premium laminate flooring.

For more than 57 years the DuPont name has been synonymous with the floor covering industry—ever since 1947 when Nye-Wait introduced the first carpet to feature the chemical company’s revolutionary nylon fiber. Since then its residential and commercial branded fibers, Stainmaster and Antron, respectively, have become the most recognized names in the flooring industry. But, those brands are being lost as they fall under the Invista umbrella. That means, when the sale in finalized, the only ties to the flooring industry DuPont will have is through its Teflon brand which is being used exclusively on a number of Mannington Mills’ wood and laminate products.

Up until now, that is. At Home Depot’s Investor & Analyst Conference on Jan. 16, the retailer unveiled the new line, calling it the “most technologically advanced laminate flooring” on the market. During the presentation, the company told investors this is an “exclusive trade-up proprietary brand, featuring a patented embossed-in-register process which delivers texture, depth and realism.” For anyone wondering why Home Depot and Dupont entered into this arrangement, the retailer told analysts the laminate category is the “fastest growing market segment in the $60 billion flooring industry.”

Expanding The Brand For DuPont, Lynne Chappel, its brand manager, said this is part of a consumer products effort the company launched last year. “We are trying to branch out our brand more, especially in the home where the DuPont name has a tremendous amount of credibility.” As to the actual product line, calls and e-mails to Home Depot were not returned but Chappel told FCNews it “will be a premium brand consisting of multiple offerings.” She would not comment if any other manufacturer besides Faus will be making the products.

Additionally, the company would not say why it would choose to launch its first-ever hard surface flooring line exclusively through Home Depot when, historically, it has been linked to the specialty dealer for nearly 60 years through a variety of programs and initiatives. Chappel did note, while this is just the first step in exploring other avenues for the DuPont brand, the company will stay away from soft floor coverings as that is Invista’s territory. Interestingly, DuPont may end up competing against its former division as Invista has expanded the Stainmaster brand into hard surface flooring. Its first venture into this area is with a line of Stainmaster resilient floors produced by Mannington (FC-News, Oct. 27/Nov. 3). The collection and an accompanying display made its public debut in Las Vegas at Surfaces 2004.