By Sarah Zimmerman
On the heels of a year filled with hardships—a recession, the housing slump, a credit crunch, low consumer confidence and several legal and moral allegations/radifications in the category—hardwood mills came to Surfaces ’09 surprisingly refreshed. Focused heavily on constant and continued innovation, exhibitors showcased everything from top fashion trends—wider, longer planks; rustic and handscraped façades, and a plethora of daring colors— to eco-friendly expansions including an increased engineered assortment, domestic exotics and literature touting third-party certifications and best practices.
Bakers CreekCliff DeLoach, vice president of sales, said Bakers Creek had “a very positive Surfaces” this year featuring its new Recrafted line. The collection, launched in Vegas, prides itself on “strength, stability and elegance teamed with recycled, old world charm,” he said. “And, our proprietary lineal production line easily accommodates longer lengths and wider widths common with historic woods.”
The line features 100% reclaimed wood faces and is available in heart pine, oak and wormy chestnut.
For more information, visit www.bakerscreekfloors.com.
CikelCikel America launched its Vila Velha collection of exotic engineered Brazilian cherry hardwood flooring to the U.S. market at this year’s show. The line features handscraping and a rotary cut wear layer, and is offered in 4-foot planks with a 5-inch width. Available in three colors—coffee, tobacco and caramel—Vila Velha can be floated or glued down directly on, above or below grade and is extra durable with eight layers of oxide protection.
The line is available for immediate shipment via Cikel’s innovative Quick-Ship program.
The company also focused on its environmental story, noting its ongoing commitment to making technological advancements and investments to “total quality control from forest to the floor,” and uses only FSCcertified forest products.
For more, visit www.cikel.com.
EarthWerksLooking to fill the gaps of its successful 9/16-inch product, Prestige, and 3/8-inch product, Durango, EarthWerks introduced a ½-inch collection at this year’s show. The new line is both handscraped and hand stained, which gives it variation in the market, said Jonathan Train, product manager.
The mill also expanded Prestige’s offerings with a selection of birch and hickory, and introduced a new hardwood display system to showcase its growing category.
“We doubled our business in hardwood, which is a growth category for us, and expect the same in 2009,” Train explained. “We are lucky to have the ability to focus specific attention on this category, and therefore we will remain successful in the marketplace.”
The new display features a 20 x 20 wing and board sample format.
For more information, visit www.earthwerks.net.
EleganceAnother company touting a growth year in ’08 is Elegance, and it only expects that trend to continue this year. “We’re in it for the long haul,” said Lukasz Piatek, regional sales manager. “We had our best year ever in ’08, and we will have our best year ever in 2009, too.”
Piatek named the company’s small size and financial backing as two pluses in the market, noting its ability to constantly produce, grow and change—and at a rather rapid pace. “Our differentiator is our people,” he explained. “We are small enough to focus on personal growth and have that carry through in our product and practices. And the financial sustainability of our parent company is also a great help.”
So, what did Elegance bring to the table at Surfaces? A new 9/16-inch traditional handscraped, 100% premium hardwood vintage product with a fat wear layer in five colors—which Piatek said its customers determined.
The company also launched a soft-scraped, millstone looking product in six colors— also offered with a smooth finish in seven colors.
For more information, visit www.elegancewoodflooring.com.
JohnsonFacing a less-than-desirable market, Johnson took the meaning of “tough” to a whole new level with the introduction of ForeverTuff. The high-performance prefinished line combines superior wear resistance with an ultra-clear elastomeric coating. The ½-inch engineered line utilizes an exclusive 17-step finishing process that adds resistance to every layer. And, it is suitable for both commercial— 10-year warranty—and residential— 50-year warranty—use and is available in a 4¾- inch width. ForeverTuff is offered in Brazilian cherry, Brazilian oak, Brazilian walnut, rosewood ruby and Santos mahogany.
For more information, visit www.johnsonhardwood.com.
Max WindsorAfter going national just a year ago, Peter Spirer, marketing director, said the goal for 2009 is to continue to “roll out in the retail and distribution arena with exclusive, meaningful partners without sacrificing any quality. And, that’s just what we plan to do.”
Doubling its space at this year’s show, Max Windsor aimed to connect with a “tremendous amount of dealers from areas not yet familiar with the brand.”
It also focused on creating a form of “Max Windsor speak” for retailers to easily portray all of its product and practice attributes. “We want to create a vocabulary that could be applicable to other wood lines but appropriate it to the Max Windsor brand,” Spirer explained, pointing out one step in doing this is through merchandising.
So, the mill used Surfaces to showcase its new tower display, which has 30 racks but high lights up to 45 SKUs through detailed labeling that displays products not featured on the rack. It’s hoping to place 250 systems by the end of February and have 500 dealers set up by July. “This will become our front-of-store display,” Spirer said. “It gets our name out and associated with our benefits while giving our dealers’ sales reps a sense of expertise on our company and its products.”
Spirer also mentioned the importance of environmental responsibility, noting the mill is FSC certified and Lacey Act compliant. “We’re totally in favor of laws being put in place to put everyone on the same playing field,” he said. “We’ve also seen and are in agreement with the move to green, which will continue to accelerate.”
For more information,visit www.maxwindsor.com.
MercierFurther expanding on its already endless—1,000+ possibilities—Design+ program, Mercier introduced two new stain options to its Generations line. Eclipse, which is a grey-toned stain, lends itself to more modern aesthetics, said Barbara Manivet, marketing coordinator. Whereas she described Arabica as a pure brown color, enhancing the natural warmth of the wood. “Both of these stains have been selected to complete the Mercier spectrum of colors and answer a market demand for new trends,” she said.
Both colors are also available in the Mercier Heritage line, which is now also offered in 41/2-inch width, in addition to the 3¼-inch offering.
And, to highlight these new attributes, the mill introduced the Mercier Heritage Stairway Display. The system holds the complete range of Mercier Heritage products and acts as a separate merchandising tool that is both affordable and space-saving for the retailer, Manivet pointed out.
For more information, visit www.mercierwoodflooring.com.
MullicanBrian Greenwell, vice president of sales and marketing, noted the company’s excitement at Surfaces as the mill (known for ¾-inch unfinished solid wood) launched new prefinished solid and engineered products for 2009. “Our company has always kept the customer our top priority as we continue to develop and produce beautiful, high-quality flooring, and we look forward to providing our suppliers— and consumers—even more choices this year.”
Concentrating on quality, style and the environment, Mullican introduced its Green Haven line—a prefinished solid product—available in 3- or 5-inch widths in red oak natural, white oak natural, hickory natural and maple natural, as well as 5-inch hand-sculpted hickory Tuscan brown and maple copper. And, all products in the line are FSC Pure certified—indicating they are 100% made from wood or fiber originating from FSC-certified forests.
Also new to the lineup is Mountain View, a 3/8-inch engineered product offered in a 5-inch distressed walnut cabernet, maple sienna, maple mocha, hickory suede and walnut coffee, as well as a handsculpted, 5-inch walnut mocha, cherry nutmeg, hickory sunset brown, cherry cognac, maple bronze, hickory cashmere and maple Sierra sand.
For more, visit www.mullicanflooring.com.
PrevercoPreverco used Surfaces as a podium to celebrate and spread its new green policy and FSC certification. Under the policy, the mill promises to “follow guidelines to reduce the company’s environmental impact and ensure its activities and products are environmentally sound.” Examples include: purchasing environmentally preferred products, giving overall consideration to economic and social implications, and to pursue its eco-efforts throughout the entire life cycle.
The company also expanded its product and merchandising offerings at this year’s show, unveiling several new colors and designs in regular and wirescraped, a new 7-inch width for its engineered hardwood offerings, new SoundLoc and SoundGenius high-quality acoustical underlayments and a “dress-up kit” display option.
For more information, visit www.preverco.com.
(Editor’s Note: Look for further eco-friendly options featuring alternative hardwood suppliers in our next issue, as well as a more detailed report on recent legal and moral issues facing the category.)
