Hicksville, N.Y.—In the world of resilient, first it was linoleum that ruled the category; then there was vinyl; now it is fiberglass, limestone and a myriad of other components manufacturers can think of that will add value to the overall product. Vinyl is still the undisputed king of the resilient market and figures to remain so for the foreseeable future, but it has not stopped mills from seeking alternatives. This is being done from both a manufacturing and marketing standpoint.

Dennis Jarosz, Congoleum’s senior vice president of sales and marketing, along with other mill executives say the shift in thinking came a little over a decade ago when laminate flooring arrived. “Laminates represented a new hard surface category and it awakened the perception that other materials can be used to create hard surface flooring. Ever since we have looked at resili ent differently.”

On the manufacturing side, different materials can help add benefits which consumers will feel good about. On the marketing end, these substances give mills something else to promote and talk about to end users. “There are more options today than ever before,” said Alan Cubell, Armstrong’s vice president of resilient product management. “But, we’re not sure if any one of them is good for all scenarios; each has its own strengths and weaknesses. The goal is to create products—regardless of what they are made of—that better meet the needs of both the retailer and consumer. They always need to have more positives than negatives.”

“Manufacturers are looking for new things to make dramatic improvements because this is a mature category so you need to do something significant and important for consumers—and retailers—to recognize,” said Tarkett’s Mark Brown, director of marketing for its residential business operation. “But,” he cautioned, “we can’t just change for the sake of change. It has to be only if it provides an incremental change—improvement—for everyone, especially the consumer. For example, getting asbestos out of the product was a fundamental change.”

Dennis Jarosz, Congoleum’s senior vice president of sales and marketing, agreed: “We are working with a number of alternatives, but we need to show the benefits before we can start running them through the manufacturing process. “In some cases,” he continued, “vinyl is more costly compared to other ingredients, but can they match the benefits vinyl gives is the question. And, in other cases, the different materials may perform better than vinyl but cost more. So the question that must be answered in this case is whether the performance is enhanced enough to justify the extra cost.”

In recent years, mills have successfully introduced products containing different materials, though, in truth, many of these are not necessarily new for the category, they are just used in different proportions or advances in manufacturing technology having allowed companies to create products unheard of a decade ago. Congoleum, for example, has just added four designs with 19 colorations to its DuraCeramic line, bringing the total to 14 designs and 62 colorations.

Along with its sister product, DuraStone, the lines are marketed as limestone-reinforced high performance flooring because of their limestone composite base which resists breaking and cracking. Limestone is not new to resilient flooring, in fact it can be found in almost 80% of today’s VCT products, and even sheet vinyl contains a decent portion of the mineral. In Congoleum’s case it found a new way to incorporate the limestone and other polymers and beyond just developing products it created a different marketing approach.

“We were the first to not call vinyl vinyl, Jarosz said. “Today, vinyl is not perceived as the darling, even though as much square feet is sold as all the other hard surfaces combined. “Therefore,” he added, “we need to change the jargon because vinyl is not doing it; it’s not in vogue. So we need to create enough new products so the first-line customer—the dealer—doesn’t call it vinyl, or even linoleum because of the connotation each has. And, as they change it will flow to the consumer.”

Domco and Tarkett have taken a different route by using fiberglass. Already an established popular form of flooring in Europe, the concept was once tried in the U.S. but went nowhere. That was then. Today, the product offered by the two companies are among their most successful offerings. So much so, that Tarkett is investing millions of dollars to bring the manufacturing technology to its plant in Farnham, Quebec, Canada. Stephan Guindon, Domco’s vice president of sales and marketing, said,

“The glass-backed segment will continue to grow and gain share. The category will spawn new and unexpected styles and colors, which, in turn, will shorten the replacement cycle. By using color, design and technology to both attract a new consumer base and to speed-up the current replacement cycle, we will be able to reinvent the segment and grow sales at the same time.” “We’re really pushing the concept,” said Brown, “and believe the category will eventually shift to this type of platform. It will not happen immediately, but we’ve made significant investments in-house and in the marketplace to be at the forefront.”

Manufacturing advances have also helped mills reinvent the category by allowing them to develop products that have the look and feel of other hard surfaces. “This is more than your grandma and grandpa’s vinyl,” Jarosz noted. “Today there are many unique styling characteristics in texture and color.” “Whether it’s evolution or revolution,” Guindon said, “the products we have today show very little resemblance to products marketed even 10 years ago. Construction and finishing technologies have enhanced our ability to create both unique and realistic products.”

Armstrong’s Cubell pointed to the mill’s latest introduction, Natural Fusion, which builds off its popular MasterWorks Technology with a patent-pending process called Variable Texture Technology (Vtx). “It’s the new definition of affordable luxury for any lifestyle,” he said of the seven designs in 35 SKUs. “The net result is wood that looks and feels more like authentic wood and stones that look and feel like natural stones.” As each mill executive noted, despite the increased costs due to vinyl’s dependency on oil, it is not a bad product.

“It’s a very good ingredient,” Jarosz said. “We don’t want to run away from it,” Cubell said. “We believe it is the best of all the products because of its total value for the dollar Which is why we have an internal debate about its perception. Is it bad or is it something else? Consumers buy vinyl products all the time—siding, glasses and dishware, etc.—and, sometimes they pay extra for it.

“So vinyl can be the right choice for most people,” he added, “which means we have to change the perception with new products that outperform and outstyle what people think of when they hear vinyl flooring—a black-and-white floor that dents and tears easily.” Regardless of whether it is vinyl or some other ingredient, Guindon said “manufactures will continue to develop new constructions and new finishing techniques to improve our products.

“But,” he concluded, “the bottom line is, consumers shop for color and design first. In today’s world, easy care and high performance are a given, while soft ness and comfort underfoot, as well as easy installation are expected.”