By Steven Feldman
CHICAGO—By all accounts the commercial market is alive and well, but manufacturers admit there are some blips on the radar screen. While the contract industry has been riding the crest of a wave for the last few years, a slowdown is forthcoming although not to the degree that has plagued its residential counterpart.

Against that backdrop, two major themes resonated throughout the showrooms and temporary spaces of the 60-plus flooring exhibitors at this year’s NeoCon: the ever-increasing growth of modular tile and what has become requisite environmental initiatives.

Glenn Hussmann, president and CEO of Tandus, noted that the $3 billion commercial carpet segment, currently up mid single digits over 2007, is being driven by new construction as well as renovation. But like everyone else, he thinks the market is going to start to experience the economic slowdown being seen in the retail and financial segments. “I think we are seeing some design firms slowing down and some with more work they can handle,” he said. “We are seeing some projects on hold.”

Hussmann was touting a program called In Unison— the coordination of performance, design and sustainability under modular, 6- foot and broadloom. “We listen to our customers and give them a value proposition that makes sense,” he said. “Designers, end users and specifiers want fit-for-purpose performance and well-coordinated design, not a one-size-fits-all. Our 6-foot product with its welded seams makes it completely impermeable to moisture. It’s great for high-traffic areas, classrooms, corridors and healthcare facilities. And we can coordinate it with other areas where modular works best.”

To that end, Tandus introduced the Suzanne Tick-designed Manufacturing Landscape, which is available in 6- foot or three separate modular tiles that can be installed in a non-directional pattern.

The company at NeoCon was also trying to accentuate its product brands under the Tandus umbrella. Monterrey is the higher-end broadloom with an emphasis on design; C&A spans the entire price range and contains all modular systems and 6-foot, while Crossley is the meat and potatoes broadloom.

Mohawk Commercial

The Mohawk showroom, which for the first year housed the Lees brand, was focused on rebranding and repositioning its entire commercial division, going from six brands to four (Mohawk Commercial and Durkan Commercial were rolled into Bigelow and Karastan Contract, respectively) so each is more clearly defined to its customers.

“During the last year our ambition was to not lose ground while evolving every aspect of the business,” said Greg Wittlinger, senior vice president of marketing. “We evolved our environmental initiatives, dramatically evolved our technology to help end users better visualize both their 2D and 3D environments, and dramatically evolved our product line more than at any point in our history.”

Growth for Mohawk beginswith corporate, which accounts for the company’s largest segment. Wittlinger was attributing much of that growth to the introduction of Encycle, Mohawk’s non-PVC backing system that contains 35% pre-consumer recycled content, 2% renewable bio-based material and can be recycled back into itself in one process.

“Sustainability is very important, and we are very well positioned,” he said. “People want to build environmentally conscious facilities. We are seeing a lot of LEED projects, where people want products manufactured in a responsible way, with a move away from PVC.”

Mohawk is also a dominant player in education through all its brands. “Education is performance driven,” Wittlinger said, pointing to the new Endeavor Collection by Lees, which comes in three patterns in varying scales, all in the same coloration. Hallmarks include bright colors, Duracolor stain-resistant technology and the Unibond RE backing system with 20% post-consumer content.

Like other mills, Mohawk is dealing with the misperception that carpet is not a good floor source because of indoor air quality and mold/mildew issues. “We have to deal with that,” Wittlinger said. “We are working closely with CRI, trying to educate customers and sharing with them independent studies.”

With healthcare still vibrant, Mohawk targeted this segment with the introduction of Modern Organics into the Lees brand. Inspired by the rhythm and movement of the outdoors, the line is comprised of three patterns and tonal colors. “The idea was to create a relaxing, healing environment,” Wittlinger said.

Mohawk is also the dominant player in the hospitality segment through its Durkan brand. New for this sector is one process and one product. Synthesis technology is a textured pattern layered print process where pattern is created not only with the overprint but with the carpet itself. The new product is a four-pattern collaboration with Todd Oldham called TODD.

Shaw Contract Group

Business is strong for Shaw Contract, Patcraft/Designweave and Shaw Hospitality. “Our goal is to be up five points over the industry, and we exceeded that,” said Tim Baucom, vice president, commercial division.

Corporate: With major products continuing with enthusiasm, Shaw targeted the segment with Essay of Clues, a collaboration with William McDonough that takes the cradle-to-cradle concept into broadloom. “We think it’s approachable design in that it has some sophistication at a very popular price point,” Baucom said.

Healthcare: The idea here is to combine the hospitality look with institutional function. To that end, Shaw believes it has two breakthroughs. “Eco-Worx broadloom offers a high level of performance in terms of moisture management but is also flexible enough to have aggressive styling,” Baucom said.

Graphic Nature, a Best of NeoCon Silver winner, was introduced with EcoWorx, which in addition to being cradle-to-cradle is flexible enough so the company can be “aggressive” in patterning. “We’ve done a good job of using coloration to give the appearance of texture, but the product is flat enough to have nice roller mobility.”

Education: Shaw is seeing carpet tile moving into the classroom. “We are aggressively communicating that carpet tile is a great choice because of sound absorption, value, and students learn better when there is better noise control,” Baucom said.

Beaulieu Commercial

When it comes to environmental initiatives, James Leslie, president, believes Beaulieu has the simplest message of any mill: “100% of our products have recycled content. All our plants are run by renewable energy, and we have Puralex, which takes odor out of the air.”

Like every mill, carpet tile is the hot button for Beaulieu, which Leslie attributes, in part, to the Nexterra backing system. “Once designers specify it, they come back. It probably has the highest recycled content of any tile backing in the industry of which we are aware. It contains 85% post-consumer content. It’s a great story for the environmentally conscious.”

Leslie also pointed to education as a growing segment for the company, particularly higher education. “As colleges compete for students, they try to make sure they have a great environment because they are really marketing toward the parents. With that in mind, we are seeing a demand for Puralex, which is a big thing for dorm rooms.”

The big introduction at NeoCon for Beaulieu was the Mindscapes Collection. “Everyone sees something different,” Leslie said. “It’s very three dimensional; there are no set patterns. Everyone can interpret it in their own way.”

Mannington Commercial

Jack Ganley, president, said company business was up a few points over the industry as a whole, which he pegged at 5%. “We have an innovative synergy between hard and soft surface,” he said. “We have the ability to innovate between the two platforms, which gives us a big advantage on the environmental front.”

On the carpet side, tile remains strong. “Our Infinity RE backing with 10% post-consumer content takes whole carpet tiles, grinds them up and puts them in the backing in combination with drywall. Carpet and drywall are two of the biggest contributors to landfills.”

On the resilient side, Mannington captured a Best of NeoCon Silver for the Create Collection, a new concept in LVT created in conjunction with HOK Chicago, the company said. “It’s not trying to be wood or stone but rather has a unique textile quality to it with depth,” Ganley said. “The tiles come in different shapes to allow the designer to create multiple configurations so each space can be designed unique.”

Also new for NeoCon were the Runway Collection, a sophisticated, luxurious, textural pattern designed for the high-end corporate market in big cities, and the Viewfinder Collection, a tile/broadloom line. “We are seeing the education market wanting to utilize more carpet tile,” said Natalie Jones, vice president of commercial marketing and carpet product. “Viewfinder offers large-scale patterns for corridors.”

Armstrong

Green was the story for Armstrong, which offers a number of products that meet the needs of environmentally conscious designers. But it was Migrations Bio-Based Tile that was becoming the shining star.

“We introduced it in February and are now seeing specifications grow,” said Kent Claussen, general manager, marketing. According to the company, Migrations offers greater indentation resistance than VCT, five times greater impact resistance and 2½ times more resistance to cracking as a result of subfloor imperfections.

Randy Gablehouse, general sales manager for commercial North America, said Armstrong is seeing an increased focus on green in the healthcare segment. “Here we see the increasing popularity of our Bio-Based Tile, and that segues into linoleum. We have also seen an uptick there because of the coating.”

Gablehouse noted Armstrong’s commercial division was up about mid single digits in 2007. Driving that growth was commercial sheet, LVT, linoleum and VCT. “We were up in every category,” he said. “A lot of that had to do with healthcare, which is a strong commercial sheet segment. Linoleum was strong because of the continuation of the green trend, and VCT is the old standby.”

Wilsonart

As one of the few laminate flooring manufacturers at NeoCon, Wilsonart is quickly entrenching itself with the A&D community. In fact, according to Randy Phillips, national sales manager, commercial, business is up 20% from the same period last year. Why? “First and foremost, we have the Wilsonart name. Second, we have a great distribution network. Third, we are building on the success we’ve had with the product. We generated a lot of excitement last year with our first dedicated commercial line with dedicated visuals.”

Retail and hospitality is driving the business, Phillips said, and the company is making significant progress in residence halls. Interestingly, Wilsonart’s three bamboo visuals have been doing extremely well, each among the top 10 sellers.”

Antron

The big story this year was a redesigned showroom. The space has been opened up, creating an inviting, modern and fun area. “From an architectural standpoint, the space is incredibly versatile and designed to be interactive and engaging,” said Melissa Noebes, director of marketing. “It’s light, bright, minimalist and functional.”

Functionality is the key as Antron targets new designers. “It becomes a learning lab,” Noebes said. “We will bring in 15 to 25 design professionals and explain the features and benefits of our Antron offering. We will also educate them as to where they can find our offering. In addition, we teach them how to write a specification, then have them go on a scavenger hunt to our mill partners’ showrooms to find a product that meets that spec.”

Beyond the renovated showroom, the two buzzwords at Antron are innovation and sustainability. Bobby Berrier, vice president, commercial interiors, noted how the company is continuing to drive the breadth of its color offering. “This year we added 25 colors to Antron Lumena,” he said. “We continue to provide customers with the aesthetics they need. Those new colors— purples, blues and greens—are very in-fashion, and firms and our customers continue to ask for them.” In addition, Antron is converting 50 existing colors in Lumena to contain a minimum of 25% pre-consumer recycled content.

Finally, Antron’s green story is the position that sustainability begins with carpet that lasts. As an example, Noebes cited a carpet that was on the floor in an elementary school media center for 35 years. “The carpet looks like new. It’s the durable fiber performance. That’s what we offer: a carpet that will perform over the course of its lifetime.”

Berrier noted it has to do with innovation in fiber engineering. “We engineer performance into our products though certain additives that ensure soil and stain protection, and soil-hiding capability.”

Amtico

Over at Amtico, Tyrone Johnson, general manager, North America, told FCNews the LVT market in North America grew at a rate somewhere in the neighborhood of 8% to 12%, and the company is maintaining if not gaining share. “We think our designs, particularly the Amtico line, are the best in the industry. “We believe we’ve introduced more new products over the last several years than any of our nearest competitors.”

Johnson said two segments are hot for LVT: retail and healthcare, with hospitality coming on strong. “Retail is doing well because of style and design, and healthcare is doing well because of an aging population. We feel like we have a portfolio of products for the healthcare community. Whether it’s the Stratica, Amtico or Spacia lines, we can offer something creative, innovative and fun. And from a structure standpoint we can provide the right product for their needs.”

Amtico at NeoCon was featuring a darker tile collection called Back to Black. “This is a visual we saw at the Milan Furniture Fair,” said David Voll, director of marketing. “Black is back in. It’s elegant, chic, classic and classy. We have four colors and offer it in plank and tile form. The product can be made into inlays, borders, feature strips, practically anything. We think this is a trend a lot of people will be jumping on very quickly.”