Hicksville, N.Y.—Sales of resilient flooring may not be blowing anyone away, but due to a wide range of technological advances, the category is quickly regaining the prominence it lost in the late 1990s when many proclaimed the segment “dead.” “The category has had many challenges in recent years,” noted Stephen Guindon, vice president of sales and marketing for Domco, “but everyone seems to have learned and we have gotten over the hump and are moving in the right direction with great visuals and durable products that are easy to install.” “If anything,” noted Kim Holm, president of Mannington Mills’ residential business, “the segment has more exciting things happening in terms of innovation than any other category.”

“When you look at resilient’s performance attributes,” added Frank Ready, president of Armstrong World Industries’ North American Floor Products, “this is a terrific category.” Gilles de Beaumont, president of Tarkett’s North American Commercial Business, explained, “The resilient category continues to be healthy, thanks to manufactur ers who have done an excellent job of educating endusers about the features and benefits and how the products are an economical option from installation through the entire lifecycle.” “Consumer preference has shifted,” added Jan Lembgrets, president of Tarkett’s Residential Business, “but due to the innovation brought to the category it is very encouraging. Resilient is a strong category with unique selling propositions and consumers are seeing that.”

“Additionally,” Beaumont noted, “constant improvements provide end users with tremendous ease-of-maintenance and lower product lifecycle costs. And, as long as mills continue to provide innovative products with aesthetically pleasing visuals at an economical cost, the category will remain competitive.” Resilient’s turnaround may be credited to the use of new technology to make more realistic designs and products stronger, but it could not have happened without each player doing its part to advance the category. And that, said Ed Duncan, Mannington’s senior vice president of residential marketing, has happened in a big way. Pitching In “Everyone is doing their part to pump life in the segment and allowing it to hold its own,” he explained.

“While Mannington has helped lead the way through innovations such as the Artisan Collection launched in January and the incorporation of Stainmaster in resilient flooring, the other major players have done their part to keep the category viable. This includes tough wearlayers and surface visuals, using 3M’s Scotchgard, Tarkett’s Fiber-Flor and so on. There is a lot of great stuff to once again create energy and excitement. Though the category has been given a second chance, most execs felt the segment over the first half of 2004 reacted in the same manner as the rest of the industry, in that the year started slower than anticipated but as each month passed, business picked up.

There was a slight dip in June, but based on how the first two weeks in July went, the momentum is once again building. And, while most felt the segment grew during the first half compared to the first six months of 2003, it did not grow as much as the rest of the industry. It is true that some parts of the category remained flat or grew slightly, while others grew at a quicker pace. Taken as a whole, estimates are resilient sales grew between 3% and 4% during the six-month period while the industry’s growth was in the high single digits. As with every flooring category, resilient has been under a great deal of pressure when it comes to maintaining prices as large increases in raw materials, energy and transportation have taken their toll. And, the segment’s pricing problems were added to earlier in the year when a key raw materials facility operated by Formosa Plastics blew up ( FCNews, June 21/28).

This has forced manufacturers to look internally and figure out ways to reduce costs because they do not want to repeat one of the mistakes that ultimately helped lead to resilient’s demise in the ’90s—making the product so expensive it equalled that of wood and ceramic, making consumers opt for the ‘real’ thing. From Armstrong, Mannington, Tarkett (Domco), Congoleum and others, the one comment echoed by all has been “we have taken aggressive steps to both cut costs and improve our manufacturing efficiencies.” While every mill experienced cost pressures and had to deal with them accordingly, some had other issues to deal with, not the least of which has been the asbestos cases that have forced both Armstrong and Congoleum into Chapter 11 status in order to allow them to continue to operate.

And, while Congoleum appears to be ready to exit the Chapter, Armstrong is still having to deal with the lawyers and courts for what appears to be at least the rest of the year. Tarkett, along with its Domco subsidiary, each had their own challenge as the company kicked off the year promoting a new corporate identity as well as a new direction for the Domco brand (FCNews, Jan. 26). “Rebranding was a big issue for us,” Lembgrets explained, “as we had a lot of projects to be coordinated simultaneously. From product and display launches to getting customers to understand our new strategy and focus, it was a huge effort that had to be coordinated on a global scale as our parent company also underwent the change.” “The biggest thing,” added Guindon, “was getting out on time. The only way for us to reaffirm our message was to make sure we delivered what we said when we said.”

“Thanks to our distributors and retail customers,” Lembgrets continued, “who all got behind the effort as they could see the value in it, we managed to kick off the year with a splash and based on our performance over the second quarter and beyond, the momentum has continued.” He cited Tarkett’s latest innovation, FiberFlor as a key reason for the company’s success over the first six months. “As of July 4, our sales surpassed our projections for the entire year. What this tells us is that consumers want sheet flooring that is easy to install and is extremely comfortable underfoot.” More Technology While FiberFlor has been a big success, Lembgrets said Tarkett is readying to launch its second generation by combining the mill’s exclusive TruTex embossing technology.

“We’re adding new price points and visuals to help round out the collection.” Armstrong’s Ready said it is these types of innovations that will keep the category healthy: “We established a new benchmark in design with or new Masterworks technology which is the next generation of print capability by combining photgraphic imaging with embossed texture to achieve a greater clarity and fidelity to the floor. Also, our new Designer Solarian line with revolutionary Inlaid Color Graphics is hot news. Realism is the new buzzword, not only in visuals, but also in terms of texture and depth. “Remember,” he continued “when you have a product like vinyl that has been stagnant in the marketplace, manufacturers must find ways to advance it and make it new again. We need to continue to to emphasize true product innovation, not just marketing innovation, to change the perception of dealers and consumers. Because without true product innovation, the category will degrade like any other to be a commodity business and we are committed to keep that from happening.”

Mannington’s Duncan and Holm agreed but noted while there is always room for durability and style improvements, the category has advanced extremely far. “It’s not like we’re at the 50 yard line; we’ve gone 90 yards and are at the 10 yard line so there is not much more that can be done. “The job now,” they said, “is to communicate the values and benefits to dealers, distributors and, especially, consumers. Because when they see what there is to offer, the day will come when the category is once again thriving.” Domco’s Guindon concluded, “Resilient is still the best value out there in that it is the most versatile of all the categories, from installation to design to quality. Now, we need to make sure the dealer knows this and can talk about it to the consumer. There is certainly more room to grow and only opportunity lies ahead.”