Luc Robitaille, vice president of marketing for Mirage

By Louis Iannaco
Las Vegas—As time and technology march on, hardwood flooring manufacturers are not only discovering new finishes, more species and additional looks, they are also coming up with new and better ways for installers to lay down their products. Glueless click and lock systems, which invaded the laminate segment just a few short years ago, may have gotten off to a slow start in hardwood, but now have seemingly caught on in a big way. As a matter of fact, in the future, 2007 may be looked upon as the year glueless hardwood came into its own.

Not only have the innovative glueless systems helped industry professionals and installers increase their bottom lines by completing jobs at a faster pace, end users looking to save money now have the option of putting floors down themselves. No where was this trend more evident than at Surfaces 2007, where wood mills showed off their latest wares.

“We are always on the cutting edge, trying to come out with innovative products,” said Luc Robitaille, vice president of marketing for Mirage Pre-finished Hardwood Floors. “Technology has evolved in recent years. This has helped us come out with different products we could not have come out with five to 10 years ago.”

One of these technological innovations, he noted, is Mirage’s new 3-ply lock product. “It has a 2mm top with an HDF core and a solid wood backing. It also has locking ability so it can be floated. A novelty to this product is, there’s no click to it. It’s strictly a lock, so one individual can install it without wedges, on his own.”

Robitaille also noted how the technology inherent in Mirage’s locking system “will bring hardwood into areas where it was not previously. We see this as more opportunity being out there, and this is why we’ve come out with this product.”

Michael Kearins, president and owner of hardwood flooring manufacturer Pinnacle, who saw the company’s exhibit space almost double over last year, was pleased with the way the mill’s new merchandising system was being received. Pinnacle’s new Innovations display system, designed to show as much product as possible without taking up too much retail space, was a feature several wood producers highlighted in their booths at Surfaces.

“We’re getting strong reviews on it,” he explained. “The reaction has been phenomenal. People are buying it at a rate far in excess of our expectations. The panels we are able to show we believe are the largest by any manufacturer on a display, 21 X 28 inches. It allows the consumer to get a feel for the floor’s pattern.

“As wide plank floors get more popular,” added Kearins, “and we now offer 7-in. wide planks, it’s increasingly difficult for the consumer to make a $15,000 to $20,000 buying decision from a small, 6 x 8-in. sample. This allows her to feel more comfortable and helps facilitate the sale for the retailer, as well.”

Aside from wider planks, Kearins noted the desire by the consumer to have more unique floors in her home. “More than exotic, more than handscraped, she is looking for something unique in those segments. A company has to offer a variety of specific looks because end users are willing to buy into sub-segments. She’s not content in taking something that’s close, she wants what she wants, so your offerings have to have depth to them.”

Another one of the companies offering quite a large breadth of colors and species selection at Surfaces 2007 was Preverco. The company’s new Exotic Series brings species from areas of South America and Africa, including Brazilian Cherry/ Jatoba, Santos/Cabreuva, Sapele and Tigerwood. “These four species of wood are rich in tone and provide a warmer, cozier ambiance to any setting,” said Jean-Sebastien Roy, marketing manager. The series is available in 3-1/4 inch widths in both engineered and solid, and a 3/4 inch thickness for the solid hardwood. The Sapele species is available in engineered flooring only.

Preverco also announced that oil finishing for its hardwood floors will be available in the spring and boards for its Original Series have been extended to five inches. Preverco also offers a pre-lock glueless installation system. “It’s going to save installers so much time,” said Roy.

One of the event’s major highlights in wood flooring was the growing number of companies exhibiting from China. Approximately 100 firms made the trip, showing an increasingly wide range of product. While the country may have had a reputation for exporting poorer quality merchandise in the past, according to some in the industry, its quality of product is on the upswing in recent years.

Led by companies like Guangzhou Fnen Wood Flooring, a member of the National Wood Flooring Association ( NWFA), China’s presence in the U.S. market is growing by the day. Established in 1995, “we’ve grown to our current size and success by putting our customer’s needs first and adapting with times to include the best equipment and tools available to make sure our products are better than the customer expected,” said Shirley Liu, export executive.

According to Bruce Hammer, director of business development for Scandian Wood Floors, “We had customers in our booth at 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday morning, the first day of the show.” The growing company enjoyed great success with its Bacana and Solid collections, along with its new Bonita offering.

“Bonita is what we’re launching this year,” said Hammer. “It’s coming from a brand new facility recently constructed in Brazil. Bonita is with two distributors right now, one in Florida and one in Southern California. We want to get it completely rolled out by the middle of the year.” Bonita is a premium sawn-faced, top-wearlayer product. It features a total of eight different species. Bonita’s Silver Series is 3/8 inches thick and three inches wide with a cross ply constructon 2.5mm top layer.

The collection’s Gold Series features a 1/2 inch thickness, both 3-1/4 inch and 5 inch widths, with a cross ply construction, 3.6mm top layer. The collection has a tongue-and- groove system with a 25-year finish warranty.

As wide planks and exotic species continue to grow in popularity, Foresbec, makers of Fores-Floor, was ready for the challenge. “That’s why we came up with our five-inch plank to meet that market,” said Sylvain Masson, sales director, hardwood flooring. “We’ve changed some of our colors as well, to go along with the trends. One is Cherry Spice, a very popular dark brown-reddish color shown for the first time at the show which we’ve received some very positive comments on.” Foresbec also featured its exclusive Moisture Guard Protection by actually installing a portion of product upside down in its booth so people could see it.

Award Floors received quite a reception at Surfaces as well. The company featured its new Patina Relics Collection, an offering inspired by the floors of French farmhouses and rustic mountainside retreats.

(Editor’s note: Look for more detailed wood flooring coverage from Surfaces 2007 in our upcoming issues.)