By Louis Iannaco
In a world where the natural look is in, flooring has no better category that demonstrates how to bring nature indoors than the hardwood segment. The hottest, current best sellers run the gamut from traditional oak to smooth, contemporary textures to rustic, antique looks. As the industry’s major players prepare for the fall selling season, their hottest sellers lead the way to what the mills hope will be a successful year.

Armstrong

In solid hardwood, the mill’s Bruce Dundee line continues to be the most popular product in the market, according to Daniel Call, vice president, wood product management. “It holds that position because of its classic visual, superior quality and competitive value. Dundee is an oak product available in the widest range of colors in its class, maximizing its visual appeal. Its quality earned it a number one ranking in a respected consumer magazine. It is extremely popular with builders, and this in turn drives strong interest in the renovation market. With its recent expansion from 2-1/4- and 3-1/4- to a 3-, 4- and 5-inch offering, this product’s appeal will continue to grow.”

In engineered hardwood, the Bruce Turlington Oak and Turlington American Exotics collections continue to lead the category, he noted. First introduced in oak six years ago, this collection “has grown in size and variety to stay ahead of design trends.” The collections now include a wide variety of colors and domestic exotic species. Turlington offers a fully filled aluminum oxide finish and micro-bevel edges, which makes this product ideal for new home construction and residential remodeling. “Consumers continue to choose Turlington products over others in the market for its superior quality, varied style, species options and competitive pricing.”

The new Global Exotics collection from Armstrong Hardwood Floors also is a top seller. Beautiful species from around the globe have been gathered in different product structures and price points under one single brand name to help dealers leverage the breadth of the product line, Call noted. “Unique species are distinguished by their origin, color and sophisticated grain. In addition to striking elegance, these premium hardwoods possess superb hardness and inherent durability. Available in 3/4- and 5/16- solid and 5/8-, 3/8-, and 5/16-inch engineered constructions, these floors fit any consumer’s need.”

Boa-Franc/Mirage

Being very popular from the launch, the Sweet Memories series by Mirage is renowned for its refined antique styling, noted Luc Robitaille, vice president of marketing for Boa-Franc, the parent company of Mirage hardwood floors. “With its rich and pronounced colors and subtle nuances, its natural imperfections and its unique variable staining process, Sweet Memories floors recreate a real old-fashioned look without altering the smooth quality of the finished product.

People are looking for floors displaying more color variations and character while loving a smooth but durable finish, he explained. “The delicacy of the wood and the uniqueness of the process are what differentiate Mirage Sweet Memories from the other antique looking hardwood floors.” Sweet Memories is available in maple with a 5-inch width in Mirage’s Cashmere low-luster finish.

Another hot seller/feature for the mill, Mirage Lock is made of an authentic hardwood top layer for a rich and natural look and an ultra-rigid high-density fiberboard (HDF) core for maximum stability, noted Robitaille. “Mirage Lock was developed with an environmental approach in mind.” The support layer is made of fast-growing wood species that represent an easily renewable resource. The HDF used for the core contains up to 90% post-industrial recycled material. Finally, the finish is made of products that do not include any CFC, VOC or formaldehyde. “Now that’s a real green product.

“Mirage Lock provides the same impeccable quality and design for which Mirage is known in a floor that is less expensive and much faster to install because nailing or gluing is not necessary,” he added. “The versatile Mirage Lock also offers consumers the option to move the flooring anywhere they wish for the Mirage look that looks great wherever they choose.” Mirage Lock is available in the most popular colors, wood species and glosses, Robitaille added.

Mohawk

From Mohawk’s top selling engineered offerings comes Santa Barbara, the best handscraped visual and value in the marketplace, according to Dennis Szczybor, director of product management.

Marbury is a value-driven engineered hardwood, he noted, which brings profits to the retailer, while Zanzibar is a “beautiful collection of handscraped exotics and reclaimed offerings. Sheridan is the best value-driven engineered product, offering a domestic and import exotic, and Queenstown is a rustic visual without the scraping.”

From the solid side comes Woodbourne, a builder-driven solid base. This traditional oak features eased square edging. Rivermont is a “more rustic, value-driven solid retail product,” Szczybor said, “while Belle Meade is another builder-driven, solid base product with eased edging in traditional oak.”

Shaw

Shaw’s two hottest styles are: 1) Symphonic Epic in 3/8- x 3 1/4-inches (also available in 5-inch width). The red oak product is available in Natural Red Oak and comes in five stains. 2) Vicksburg is a 1/2- x 5-inch engineered handscraped hickory offering available in four stains.

“Vicksburg is a beautiful hickory handscraped product with hand-applied chatter marks available to consumers at a reasonable price point,” said Jean Pinson, Shaw’s hard surface marketing manager. “It is available in popular dark stains and the popular 5- inch plank. It’s a product that has it all from styling to pricing to durability.

“Additionally,” she continued, “the floor was featured in Shaw’s national advertising campaign and appeared numerous times in major consumer shelter publications.”

Symphonic is a smooth, furniture finish product that is both neutral and traditional making it a perfect fit for any home, she noted. “Also, the product has a powerful green story as it utilizes up to 50% recycled content.”