Charlotte, N.C.—Australia. Russia. China. Italy. Honduras. Malaysia. Brazil. When it comes to wood flooring, the world is definitely a smaller place as companies and species from literally around the world were on display at the Charlotte Convention Center here as part of the National Wood Flooring Association’s (NWFA) 19th Annual Educational Conference & Wood Flooring Expo. In fact, with record participation in terms of exhibitors, booth space and attendance, there was something at this year’s show for everyone. While official numbers were not available at press time, NWFA said more than 3,777 people attended the show, up from the previous record of 2,985 set three years ago.

The number of companies exhibiting went up from 300 to 325, as did the number of booths sold—566 compared to 510 in 2003—and the total amount of space the show occupied was the most ever—200,000 square feet, a 25% increase over last year. “This is a great show for us,” said Robert Belisle, sales and marketing director for Tembec, maker of Muskoka brand floors. “We not only get to make contact with distributors, and both existing and potential customers, we get to have meaningful conversations so as to better understand their needs as well as get to know each other better.” David Wootton, president of Columbia Flooring added, “NWFA is a unique organization that doesn’t just continue to grow, it puts on a quality market each year. It’s a very economic show and very focused in that the people who come in your booth you know are pre-qualified in that they are already in the wood business.”

For attendees, like John Slater of Slater Distributing in Chandler, Ariz., the market is an opportunity to fill holes and find new products. “The choices are certainly here. In fact, this show is doing exactly what I had hoped. I came looking for some new lines and definitely found one and am considering others. The thing is, you just have to make the right choices for what your business’ needs are.” One of those needs was finding a unique product. “Mesquite is very popular in the Southwest and I have been looking for a flooring line of this but with an engineered construction. I never saw one before, but here I did.” His search took him to Brandon Claborn of Heritage Mesquite Hardwood, who was showcasing a number of these products in his booth. “The reaction overall has been very good. In fact, a number of people have told me I’m the first they’ve seen to offer this and are glad they found it.”

Handscraped wood was another area Slater felt made the show worth the trip. “There is a lot more of it here than last year. That’s good because it has been so expensive but the competition is helping to drive the price down to where I feel it should be. Now more people can afford to buy it.” This type of technique was one of the most popular types of product on display at this year’s show. In fact, a number of companies only deal in handscraped products, including Rocky Mountain Hand Sewn Flooring, which officially went into operation at the expo. “We’re using this market to launch our company,” said founders Stephen Brown, a co-founder of the NWFA, and Randy McCullough; both are third generation wood flooring professionals. The two have been working toward the launch for more than two years.

The biggest thing has been “teaching the people in our factory how to do a variety of handscraping techniques as our products feature a number of never-before-seen methods that I have pioneered,” Brown explained. With an initial launch of 16 SKUs featuring both solid and engineered woods such as birch, American Cherry, tropical cherry from the Yucatan, etc., he said the reaction “has been better than we ever thought. I truly didn’t expect it to be this good. “What people like is,” Brown continued, “we use the old style of manufacturing with regard to our engineered woods in that it is the same wood all the way through so it is more stable. “And, best of all,” he added, “we’ve been able to keep the price down so that handscraped is affordable and not just a high-end luxury item.”

Rocky Mountain’s products can retail for $9.50 a square foot as opposed to $15 and up for similar products.  What stood out most at this year’s market was not just the broad expanse of wood species and styles but the many new and unique products that made their debut. At Bali Flooring, Bill Smith took two of today’s hottest trends in wood flooring—bamboo and handscraped—and combined them into the Old World Handscraped Bamboo collection. Featuring five SKUs—Cognac, Jacobean, Gunstock, Carbonized and Natural—Smith was offering “the only real bamboo that is authentically handscraped.”

In addition, Smith unveiled Bali Expressions, a collection of stained bamboo; Bali Bamboo Clic, a four SKU line of horizontal and vertical bamboo styles that feature a mechanical locking system for glueless installation, and Bali Cork, which features nine colors, a durable acrylic finish and Unilin’s patented glue-free locking system. “All products are stocked in the U.S.,” he noted, as Bali currently has warehouses in Los Angeles, Seattle and Chattanooga, Tenn., and a fourth soon to come in Baltimore, “so distributors and dealers can feel confident that product is not only available but will get to them in a timely manner.”

While a number exotic species are making their way more into the mainstream, such as bamboo and Brazilian Cherry, companies such as Tembec are finding different woods they feel the American consumer will find attractive. For example, Tembec introduced a trio of species from Brazil—Paraju, Walnut and Mahogany—and even though the latter two can be found in the U.S., their South American cousins offer different properties. The company also showed an “overall, more simplified approach to our products and merchandising,” said Belisle. “We’ve tried to make life easier by cutting the number of grades in certain lines, bringing out new marketing materials such as binders and lifestyle photos and, most importantly, a new, modular merchandising unit to sort out our collections and allow them to be presented individually, but together.”

At Italian producer Margaritelli, Tom Balboni, business development manager, said the company, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year has been using the expo to “educate dealers and contractors about the features and benefits of our exotic woods. Many are just into the traditional products and we are showing them how the exotics not only perform as well, if not better, than what they are used to, but the looks and styles are more appealing to today’s fashion-oriented consumer.” While the company does offer American Cherry and American Red Oak, it also featured French red and white oak, and products from other parts of Europe, as well as Asia, Africa and South America.

“We have a little of everything—from white oak to Burmees Teak and even offer the Unilin installation method. But, I’d have to say our most popular is the Cabreuva Vermelha (Santos Mahogany).” At NobleHouse’s booth the company was showing off the fruition of three-and-a-half years of work “improving everything there is about the company,” said Kenneth Ables, vice president of sales and marketing. “We now offer over 200 SKUs of all types of wood featuring the latest styles and trends, including the darker colors such as spice and coffee; distressed looks, and traditional best sellers. Everything has been designed with the consumer in mind, because if it is ugly, she is not going to buy it. “What allows us to do this is,” he added, “we own our own factory in Asia and it is not affiliated with the government. And, we’ve made the necessary investments to ensure our products meet the highest of standards.”

The company is certainly on the right track, as FCNews spotted a number of the industry’s largest distributors seeking to take on the NobleHouse line. Based on reaction, Ables feels the company will reach $100 million in sales with the next 18 months. While the number of foreign companies and exotic species were up there was no shortage of North American varieties, especially oak, but also cherry, pine, ash, and a whole of lot woods that have been reclaimed from either old structures or the bottom of river and lake beds. (Editor’s note: In future issues, we will spotlight a number of these companies —foreign and domestic—including their products, merchandising and marketing strategies)