Articles
Soft Surface Struggles in 2022
After a robust year in 2021, 2022 was a tough year for soft surface flooring. Carpet and area rug sales could have declined by 2.6 percent in dollars and 11.1 percent in square feet in 2022, pushing sales down to $12.7 billion and 11.5 billion square feet, according to Catalina Research. Read More
The Comeback Continues
Laminate dollar, square footage sales see uptick Although square footage sales were somewhat sluggish in contrast to the previous couple of years, the laminate flooring category benefited from rising prices as well as product innovation in 2022. According to Catalina Research, laminate flooring sales could have increased by 9.7 percent to $1.2 billion, while square footage sales ticked up by 0.3 percent to 978 million. Read More
Tile Top Performer
According to Catalina Research, total dollar sales for ceramic and porcelain tile in 2022 could have increased by 14.2 percent compared to the previous year. Aside from LVT, tile is the only category to see double digit gains from 2021. Catalina Research estimated that tile accounted for 12.1 percent of all floor covering sales in 2022, earning approximately $4.8 billion in sales. The natural stone category too saw growth this year and earned $2.1 billion in sales, Catalina reported Read More
Hardwood Hangs Tight
At first glance, the hardwood numbers in this year’s Catalina Report appear to indicate a softening in the wood market, with square footage sales declining a reported 4.5 percent to 1.6 billion in 2022 despite dollar sales increasing 7.3 percent to $4.6 billion. Read More
Resilient’s Reign Continues
As the industry growth leader for several years now, resilient flooring’s sales continued its upward trajectory in 2022. The category was further innovated with new technology during the pandemic and, as consumers remodeled their homes, resilient was in high demand because of its easy installation and DIY capabilities. As well, advancements in technology and design along with its price point continued to resonate with consumers, making the luxury vinyl tile (LVT) category specifically the second largest flooring segment after carpet at 28 percent of total dollar sales. Read More
2022 marketWise Report
2023 started as simply an extension of 2022. The industry could do no wrong. And then the industry had no answers for fixing how wrong the industry was. For the first time in years, the sales at manufacturing were not the perfect barometer as to how retailers did. Thousands of shipping containers stuck offshore in 2022 were finally delivered just as demand slowed down. Distributors who had been chasing stellar sales with built up inventory suddenly found themselves with way too much inventory for the second half of the year. Read More