By Louis Iannaco
Education, networking opportunities, symposiums, marketing strategies and more new wood flooring product assembled in one place than anywhere else in the country will be the orders of the day when the National Wood Flooring Association ( NWFA) hosts its annual convention, scheduled for the Long Beach Convention Center in Long Beach, Calif., from April 28 to May 1.

The convention is “significant for both mills and contractors alike,” noted Ed Korczak, NWFA’s executive director. Take Mercier Wood Flooring, for example. The company’s goals at the show are twofold. “We hope to maintain the relationships we have with our business partners and showcase our new products to the trade,” said Barbara Manivet, marketing coordinator. “Mercier has a very valuable product for contractors due to its high quality and variety of choices. Our engineered line is appreciated for high-rise projects, and the solid collection is also used for houses/units.”

For Elegance Exotic Wood Flooring, in addition to seeing many of its existing retailers and distributors at the show, it plans to accomplish two things: further the distribution of the Elegance line in the North American market and also private label products for companies that want to design their own line. Lukasz Piatek, sales manager, said, “Major retailers have been very effective in this market, not going through traditional distribution. Our company is unique in that even though our day-to-day in Southern California is distribution, we are not a broker, importer or regular distributor; we are the factory.”

The show is very valuable to contractors, Piatek said, who he believes are the driving force of the industry. “They have the closest relationship with the end user, so the more informed they are the more credible they are to the end user. In any industry, information is power. In a few days you’re informed of market trends, new technology and products. The NWFA is the only show exclusively focused on hardwood. The show is the one-stop-shop for the hardwood flooring pro, whether he’s a contractor, retailer, distributor or manufacturer.”

Gerry Schappell, vice president of Cikel America’s wood flooring division, believes the NWFA show is a great event to meet distributors. “From our logistics position at Cikel, we cannot service any account unless they have a loading dock and forklift. So, the flooring contractor has to be serviced by one of our sub- distributors, such as Metro Floors and KO Supply, which specialize in logistics for job-site deliveries.

“Our intentions at the show are to get distribution that will specialize in serving the contractor directly, i.e. Wood Pro. We hope to meet distributors who are looking for a company they know they’re getting an excellent product from—a company they can trust and not have [to worry about concerning] illegally imported products.”

Shappell concluded that the NWFA convention has multiple benefits. “The contractor will be well served by attending the training seminars on how to better manage their profits and the potential in buying product from the most reliable sources. And they get to meet manufacturers and vendors directly, something they usually don’t have access to during the normal business day.”

Several of the show’s exhibitors and their products are listed below. For more information on NWFA and its convention, call 800.422.4556.

Cikel

Having just unveiled its Vila Velha collection of exotic engineered Brazilian cherry hardwood flooring to the U.S. market at Surfaces, Cikel America— the only wood supplier totally FCS vertically integrated, Schappell said—will again show off its wares at the NWFA Expo.

The handscraped Vila Velha line is highlighted by a rotary cut wearlayer and is offered in 4- foot planks with a 5-inch width. The collection comes in three colors: caramel, tobacco and coffee. Vila Velha can be floated or glued down directly on, above or below grade and features eight layers of oxide protection.

Cikel is now offering a quick ship program for its exotic wood flooring products, more than 40 SKUs in both unfinished and prefinished. These products consist of engineered and solid exotic hardwood flooring, and because Cikel’s green efforts are globally recognized, we feel we are the responsible choice for exotics.

For more information, call 800.971.7896.

Elegance

Coming off a strong 2008, Elegance will be showcasing its new 9/16-inch handscraped, 100% premium hardwood vintage product. Featuring a thick wearlayer, the product comes in five colors. Also from Elegance is its soft-scraped, millstone-look offering in six colors, which is also offered with a smooth finish in seven colors.

Next, the mill will showcase Everyday Elegance engineered floors. The line features a broad selection of exotic, maple and oak floors offered in varying widths, colors and choices of handscraped and distressed looks. Also on display is Exotic Elegance, its line of solid products featuring a variety of wood species from exotic locales. All offerings come with an aluminum oxide finish.

For more information, call 909.980.5066.

Johnson

The company will have ForeverTuff on display, its new, high-performance prefinished line. ForeverTuff combines superior wear resistance with an ultra-clear elastomeric coating. The ½-inch engineered line utilizes an exclusive 17-step finishing process that adds resistance to every layer and is suitable for both commercial and residential use. ForeverTuff is available in a 43/4-inch width and is offered in Brazilian cherry, Brazilian oak, Brazilian walnut, rosewood ruby and Santos mahogany. Johnson will also be showcasing its Carnaval, Renaissance and Value collections.

For more information, call 800.910.3047.

Mercier

The mill will showcase two new stain options from its Generations line: Eclipse, a grey-toned stain that lends itself to more modern aesthetics, and Arabica, a pure brown color designed to enhance the natural warmth of the wood. “Both stains have been selected to complete the Mercier spectrum of colors as well as answer a market demand for new trends,” said Barbara Manivet, marketing coordinator. Both colors are also available in the mill’s Heritage line, which is now offered in a 41/2-inch width, in addition to the 31/4-inch offering.

Mercier will also show off its new Heritage Stairway Display, a system that holds the complete range of MercierHeritage products and acts as a separate merchandising tool.

For more information, call 866.448.1785.

Mullican

In addition to its ¾-inch unfinished solid wood offerings, the mill has launched new prefinished solid and engineered products to be be featured during the NWFA expo. With a focus on the environment, Mullican’s new Green Haven line is a prefinished solid product available in 3- or 5-inch widths in red oak natural, white oak natural, hickory natural and maple natural, as well as 5-inch hand-sculpted hickory Tuscan brown and maple copper.

Also new from Mullican is Mountain View, a 3/8-inch engineered product offered in 5-inch distressed walnut cabernet, maple sienna, maple mocha, hickory suede and walnut coffee, as well as a handsculpted, 5-inch walnut mocha, cherry nutmeg, hickory sunset brown, cherry cognac, maple bronze, hickory cashmere and maple sierra sand.

For more information, call 800.844.6356.

Preverco

The mill will showcase several new colors and designs in regular and wire-scraped, a new 7-inch width for its engineered hardwood products as well as new SoundLoc and SoundGenius acoustical underlayments.

The company has also unveiled a new green policy and FSC certification. Under the policy, the mill vows to “follow guidelines to reduce its environmental impact and ensure its activities and products are environmentally sound.”

For more information on Preverco, call 877.667.2725.

USFloors

The mill will showcase Natural Bamboo Wovens, an innovative assortment of oil-finished strand woven bamboo floors, which it introduced at Surfaces. The company puts a new twist on popular strand woven bamboo floors with the infusion of cork strands in the weave of bamboo strands to add improved sound reduction properties, and a truly unique and distinctive surface visual, noted Piet Dossche, CEO. “This assortment features a designer color palette suitable for residential and commercial applications, and is backed by lifetime residential wear and structure warranties as well as a 15-year heavy commercial warranty.” The floors are manufactured in USFloors’ new facility in Dalton.

In addition, the company has expanded its Navarre oil-finished hardwood collection with a more extensive and refined color palette. These products can be merchandised in the company’s new Masterworks display. Navarre features engineered oak planks in a range of widths from 3½ to 10¼ inches. Navarre is finished with natural oils, which moisturize and enhance the woods’ natural grain and impart a patina that becomes richer with time and use.

For more information, call 706.733.6120.