By Matthew Spieler
When it comes to combating shrinking sales, there is a beacon of hope for those in the laminate business as the high end of the category continues to attract consumers who are searching for products that can give them the most for their money.
“Even in these difficult economic times,” noted Al Boulogne, manager of
Mannington Mills’ laminate business, “upper-end laminate is still a growing segment. People still view it as a good value, so it’s been capturing market share.”
David Small, marketing director for
Pergo, added, “Premium products continue to be an extremely important segment of Pergo’s business and one segment of the category that is predicted to continue growing in the coming years.”
There are a number of reasons for this, he explained. “High-end products can be very advantageous for both the retailer and the consumer. For the retailer, they generate a significant percentage of profits due to higher margin structure; for the consumer, they provide the latest product innovations and technologies, assuring the best floor possible.”
With those statements in mind, combined with the facts spring has arrived and despite the downtrend in business there will still be consumers seeking to spruce up and redecorate their homes. The following is an alphabetical look at a few of the latest high-end offerings from some of the category’s leading suppliers.
AllocWith one of the most enduring laminate lines in the industry, products in Alloc’s Original collection— one of the category’s first collections offered to U.S. consumers—continue to “offer the most advanced style and strength in laminate flooring,” said Cindy Thornton, marketing manager. And its latest, Portland Oak, stays with that trend.
When it comes to performance, she noted like the other products in this line, Portland is commercial-grade. “The Original products sell very well residentially, as many discerning homeowners find the commercial- grade performance and properties very appealing. This line also features many modern finishes that tend to connect with very discerning clientele who have adventurous design sensibilities.”
As for looks, it features Alloc’s Wood Structure surface finish which follows the annual rings in a wood design. “Combined with beveled edges, the finish creates a natural looking, elegant floor.”
For more information on Alloc’s latest products, call 262.554.1541.
ArmstrongWhen it comes to the mill’s top-end Grand Illusions line,
Milton Goodwin, vice president of laminate and ceramic products, said the success is no fantasy. “This has been the most successful laminate product launch since Armstrong got into the category, which is why we will be adding some more SKUs to it in 2008 as part of our largest laminate launch ever.”
Featuring the company’s latest in technological advances, a number of exotic wood looks have been recently added, including tigerwood and afzelia. They join products such as walnut, cherry, Brazilian Jatoba, cabrueva, cherry bronze and Melbourne Acacia.
For more information on Armstrong’s latest products, call 717.397.0611.
FausThe company’s upscale Cosmopolitan and Really Exotic collections are just two of the high-end offerings where “luxury meets laminate,” said Ken Freedman, director of sales. “These are growing collections that bring unmatched sophistication and style with stunning wood patterns, rich tile designs and a glamour all their own.”
He called it the “ultimate in luxury. They are not me-too lines. Not only were they made for the savvy consumer, they allow dealers to differentiate themselves and make a profit over the long term. Not the pennies you put in your pocket with low-end products.”
Included in the new offerings are unique styles such as pear and olive, two types of wood that like a great deal of other species cannot be used as a real wood floor because they are either too soft or cannot be harvested. Beyond the wood styles, are options such as rustic porcelain and tiles featuring the rectified look.
For more information on Faus’ latest products, call 888.231.3287.
FormicaBellafina and Bellezza are the two latest examples “of our commitment to be a leader in style,” said
Ken Peden, COO of
Kronotex USA, Formica’s parent company. “People haven’t seen products like this before.” He noted the selling point for both of these lines—“and what makes them special”—is the highly polished mirror finish. “They have a very distinctive gloss to them which creates an unmistakable elegant brilliance.”
Peden said Bellafina’s wood grain patterns create the look and feel of exotic timbers, such as merbau, koa and pear, while Bellezza’s brick-like format features two natural stone looks in four designs.
For more information on Formica’s latest products, call 800.777.5145.
ManningtonBoulogne said when it came to expanding the company’s upper-end Revolutions Plank collection, it used several new technologies to achieve “an incredibly realistic hand-sculpted hardwood look” in the new Time Crafted Maple line. These innovations include Mannington’s exclusive Optic Edge technology, which provides a digitally-printed bevel; irregular edges that are “truly unique” on every plank; embossing in registration, and individual plank formats—versus plank-within-plank.
“We call these features ‘meaningful differentiation,’” he explained. “They’re tangible things that provide the retailer with a logical trade-up story at the point of sale.”
Those familiar with Mannington’s Inverness hardwood collection will recognize Time Crafted as it was modeled after the popular wood.
For more information on Mannington’s latest products, call 856.935.3000.
PergoBilled as “the next generation of super, premium laminate flooring,” David Small, marketing director for Pergo said the new Elegant Expressions collection “combines the very best performance in terms of wear and scratch prevention with the most realistic wood and tile laminate flooring designs.”
With 28 SKUs, he said the collection “was created to offer our specialty retail partners a comprehensive line of high-end laminate flooring that features some of our best selling and most popular décors.”
Along with all the bells and whistles associated with a high-end product—a premium attached underlayment, embossed in register textures, beveled edges and so on—Elegant Expressions features Pergo’s new ScratchGard Advanced. Small said the patented technology provides 30% greater scratch and scuff resistance and improved clarity for richer colors and more realistic floors.
“Elegant Expression is the best of the very best,” he added. It will be incorporated into Pergo’s current merchandising unit as the Vintage Home, Vintage Home Traditional Strip and World Traveler collections are being phased out.
For more information on Pergo’s latest products, call 919.773.6000.
Quick•Step Roger Farabee, vice president of marketing for
Unilin Flooring, said Quick•Step’s new Linesse line is “an industry-first collection that allows the consumer to ‘customize the stagger of a three-strip plank’ achieving a beautifully realistic hardwood strip look.”
Linesse features the company’s patented UniLink technology and is composed of three-strip planks. One of the strips, known as the stationary strip, stays in place while the other two moveable strips are shifted to create the desired flooring pattern. “The revolutionary new technology,” he explained, “produces the incredibly realistic hardwood strip look.”
The six-décor collection also includes Quick•Step’s Softboard attached underlayment that creates a natural hardwood sound and is significantly more authentic than competitors, Farabee said.
Linesse is Quick•Step’s latest premium collection, and is positioned between the Perspective and Elegance collections. “It was modeled on the most popular 3-inch hardwood strip flooring in the market today,” he concluded, “and was introduced to meet the consumer desire for an alternative to the high cost of hardwood strip flooring.”
For more information on Quick•Step’s latest products, call 866.220.5933.
