Articles

Floor Focus’ Survey 2023: What the Retailers Think, in the July 2023 issue of Floor Focus, shows flooring category trends among independent retailers over a five-year period. Read More

"Wall Street is more convinced than ever that inflation is subsiding,” reports the Wall Street Journal. Read More

Consumer sentiment rose 12.7% to 72.6 in early July, according to preliminary results from the University of Michigan Survey of Consumers. Read More

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) released its NAHB/Westlake Royal Remodeling Market Index (RMI) for the second quarter, posting a reading of 68, edging down two points compared to the previous quarter. Read More

Imports of vinyl flooring saw a decrease in May, down 6.7% year over year, but this follows a notable increase of 28.9% year over year last month, reports Truist. Read More

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) rose 0.2% in June on a seasonally adjusted basis, after increasing 0.1% in May, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. Read More

In the first five months of 2023 total U.S. imports of ceramic tile were 74.6 million square meters, a decline of 6% from the same period in 2022, according to Grosser Consulting. Read More

The momentum that the U.S. laminate flooring category generated in late 2020 and throughout 2021 continued to positively impact segment sales in 2022. Floor Covering News research shows the U.S. laminate flooring market generated approximately $1.382 billion in sales last year at the first point of sale—an uptick of 6% over the year prior. In terms of volume, the category grew at a slightly slower rate (4.5%), reaching roughly 1.098 billion square feet. The disparity in growth rates, industry observers say, can be attributed to slightly higher costs related to production/shipping, as well as more of an emphasis on better quality goods—those in the 10mm to 12mm range versus activity at the opening price point associated with 7mm products. Read More

What makes generations tick Consumers do not shop as a monolith. What drives an 18-year-old is far different than what drives a 60-year-old. Understanding what motivates different generations on their path to purchase is a crucial element to marketing to them. Read More

For the second year running tile flooring experienced sales growth after its 2020 decline, which had been the category’s first decrease in several years. Tile flooring was up mid-double digits in dollars in 2022 compared to 2021’s high single-digit increase. However, while dollar sales were up, much of that came from price increases and inflationary pressures. Volume experienced a slight decrease overall. Read More