Roger Farabee, vice president of marketing, for Quick•Step, shows the Exotics line

By Matthew Spieler
Las Vegas—At the turn of the new millennium, a European study showed that laminate flooring features numerous environmentally friendly qualities inheritantly built in. So while the general overall theme at this year’s Surfaces was on the environment and the industry, those in the laminate sector tended to focus on how today’s products are not just more realistic than ever before but fashionable enough for any consumer lifestyle.

With sales last year up 8% from the previous 12 months, based on figures supplied by the North American Laminate Flooring Association (NALFA), and overall prices holding relatively steady, mills had good reason to stress how their products are designed to meet consumer expectations.

“The quality of designs keep getting better,” said Bill Dearing, NALFA’s president. “And there are more choices for the consumer as the product continues to expand from the kitchen to virtually every room in the house.”

Some manufacturers took this message to new levels as they demonstrated to dealers their commitment to create products that are not only stylish but desirable in all areas by end users.

“Our focus for 2007 is design,” said Claes Wennerth, president of Alloc. “We’ve always put an emphasis on fashion, but now we want to be a leader, not a follower.”

To get there, the mill consulted with top designers to create different lifestyle motifs to show how its products fit in with them. Alloc’s Meghan Patterson, who was promoted to director of marketing just prior to the show, explained the concept was to ask “How does the floor match the countertops consumers are selecting? How does it match the carpet in the living room? and so on through the overall house decor.”

The idea is, she noted, to give dealers a fashion story to better help sell the product. “We don’t want to simply say, ‘here is a nice looking hickory.’ We want to show how this particular floor which just so happens to be hickory blends into a particular lifestyle setting.”

To make sure its product lineup met each lifestyle, Alloc added a variety of decors to existing collections, with many of them featuring innovative finishing techniques including bevels and embossing.

“It’s more than just the authenticity of our finishes,” Wennerth said. “Our plank configurations, embossing, beveling and handscraping techniques really bring style and fashion to the category.”

Formica, which was making its debut under the Kronotex USA banner, did like Alloc in taking its product focus to another level. “With the resources we have in Kronotex,” said Ken Peden, COO, “our company can manufacture as good if not better than anyone.”

Like many of the laminate companies exhibiting at the Sands Expo & Convention Center, he noted Formica used a combination of fashion-forward thinking and advanced technology to create its newest products.

“We’ve tried to do things the competition doesn’t do,” Peden explained. “Something a dealer can sell and be profitable without it being a me-too kind of product. And, as we go along, we plan to dramatically increase the design concept—from surface techniques and textures to widths and exotics that are not readily available.”

And, because Formica is part of Kronotex, the company and its customers are protected from being sued or having products removed for patent infringement. The Krono Group has licensing agreements with both Unilin and Välinge for use of their patented mechanical locking systems.

Sitting at the top of its product line is Quintessa, a 12mm thick plank measuring 7-1/3 inches wide that carries a lifetime warranty. With six exotic designs—Hawaiian Koa, Zebrano, Rosario Palisander, African Wenge, Dalarna Birch and Valhalla Birch—and Formica’s FormiLock Plus locking system, “We’ve created the finest laminate flooring collection in the market,” Peden said.

Quick•Step, combined with its parent Unilin, was already one of the category’s best known brands and largest entities prior to being purchased by Mohawk Industries over a year ago, but now that it is part of the industry’s biggest company, its resource base is that much greater.

That was evident at its exhibit space as the company continued to push both design and technology to new heights. In doing so, Roger Farabee, vice president of marketing, said the goal is to allow salespeople to focus more on emotional selling.

“Consumers purchase flooring based on their feelings for its style, not on the technical stuff,” he explained. “At Quick• Step, our position remains the same: we don’t refer to our floors as being simply laminate. We try to give the consumer a choice in creating the type of living environment that suites her tastes.”

While Quick•Step is part of Mohawk which also sells laminate under its own brand, Farabee was quick to note “97% of the Mohawk line is unique to Mohawk, and Quick•Step is its own as well. We work hard to keep the two separate and go after different types of audiences. There is always going to be a little overlap as there is only so much one can do with an oak.”

An example of how the company is separating itself from its parent is with the new Versailles plank and Versailles Medallion for those consumers seeking the Old World look and feel of a French chateau. At 24 inches square, the Medallion is inspired by antique parquet flooring and can be installed in numerous patterns and configurations to offer a distinctive look.

Mannington is taking a two-step approach to its 2007 introductions—its first entry into the ‘modular’ format with Revolutions Tile, and a major expansion of its Revolutions Plank. Both feature the company’s award winning creative capabilities, noted Al Boulogne, product manager.

The new tile initially features one pattern and four SKUs. Created from actual quartzite stones, Adirondack has five unique planks per color with various sizes mixed into each plank so “there is no way it will look like a repeat once installed,” he explained “When it comes to laminate, the difference is in the detail,” Boulogne added, “and the more realistic we can make the product look, the more a consumer who can’t afford to use real tile will use laminate.”

In Revolutions Plank, two collections have been added—Exotics and Cherry. Exotics features three patterns, including the best selling exotic species and the third best selling overall in Brazilian Cherry. The others, Acacia and Burlwood, offer consumers unique looks at prices they can afford. The Cherry line comes in two patterns—Harvard and Heritage—and six SKUs. The three unique colorations offered enhance the difference in these products.

“Consumers are willing to try different wood looks in laminate,” Boulogne noted, “because it’s something they can’t easily get in the real thing.”

Faus Group, which last year emerged from being just a supplier of technology to laminate mills to a full fledged manufacturer catering to the specialty dealer, continued to expand upon its Fausfloor program with unique designs and exclusive innovations.

With its latest introductions at Surfaces, the Fausfloor line now has more than 75 products in four collections.

Juan Flores, Faus’ president, said the company’s objective is to supply dealers with exciting products featuring value-added benefits that consumers can relate to in terms of how they live everyday.

Its newest products, such as those in its Really Exotic Collection which was launched last fall, feature two of Faus’ newest surface technologies—UltraClarity for a clean, clear look at the actual design, and DualFinish, which allows the mill to mix two types of gloss levels on a single plank to create a unique, yet stylish effect.

(Editor’s note: With so many laminate introductions at Surfaces, FCNews will go into greater detail about what the various companies had to offer in the next issue.)