Articles

Vinyl flooring imports saw a sharp decline in units in March, down 48.1% year over year (YOY), compared to only a 4.8% YOY decline in the prior month, according to Truist Securities. Read More

Outpacing all other flooring categories, ceramic tile grew 14.2% in dollars in 2022 though overall units dipped slightly. Read More

After weeks of counting down, we’re thrilled that Coverings — the most important event of the year for the tile and stone industry — is finally here! Next week, industry professionals ranging from manufacturers and distributors to architects and designers will gather in Orlando. As in previous years, attendees will watch presentations to learn about new industry standards and innovations. But our favorite part of the event is seeing all the new products on display. These past eight weeks, we’ve covered each of the trends we expect to see. With emphasis on timeless luxury, health and wellness, sustainability, and outdoor living, these trends highlight the impact tile can make not only on interior decor, but on mental, physical, and environmental health. Read More

In the first three months of 2023, total U.S. imports of ceramic tile were 44.8 million square meters, according to Grosser Consulting, a 4.6% decline compared to the same period in 2022. Read More

Floor & Décor reported a net sales increase of 9.1% to $1,122.1 million in Q1 2023, compared to $1,028.7 million in Q1 2022. Read More

Mohawk reported net sales of $2.8 billion for Q1 2023, a 6.7% decline compared to sales of $3.0 billion in Q1 2022. Read More

After more than a decade of continuous growth, annual spending on improvements and repairs to owner-occupied homes is expected to decline by early next year, according to the Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity (LIRA) released by the Remodeling Futures Program at the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University. The LIRA projects that year-over-year expenditures for homeowner improvements and maintenance will post a modest decline of 2.8 percent through the first quarter of 2024. Read More

Supported by gains in the U.S. construction and housing markets and robust overall economic growth, U.S. ceramic tile consumption increased for the first time since 2018, according to the Tile Council of North America (TCNA). At Coverings 2022, TCNA Executive Director Eric Astrachan reported that total U.S. ceramic tile consumption in 2021 was 3.11 billion sq. ft., up 9.9% from the previous year. Read More

With the U.S. residential sector slowed by rising mortgage rates and inflation, supply chain issues, and labor shortages, the U.S. ceramic tile market experienced a slight downturn last year, according to the Tile Council of North America. The U.S. Census Bureau reported new home starts declined for the first time since the beginning of the Great Recession. The 1.56 million units started in 2022 were a 2.9% decrease from the preceding year. Hindered by rising mortgage rates and record-high average sales prices, new single-family home sales fell for the second year in a row. The 644,000 units sold in 2022 represented a 16.4% decline from the previous year. Read More

Construction is one of the most fragmented industries in our economy. Although there are almost eight million construction workers nationally, the average size of a construction firm with payrolls is less than a dozen employees, and that figure doesn’t factor in that more than 20 percent of construction workers are self-employed. This fragmentation can be beneficial for the flooring industry because the scale of the customer base means that few have enough purchasing power to negotiate meaningful concessions. The flip side, however, is that it creates a sales and marketing challenge to reach all these potential customers. Read More