Friday, July 31, 2026 from Floor Covering Weekly

Sourcing & domestic production offset troubles
By Ryane DeFalco

The resilient category continued its tradition of seeing growth in 2025. According to Catalina Research, LVT sales (including WPC, SPC, and hybrid floors that are primarily comprised of vinyl) could have increased by 2.7 percent to $7.6 billion in 2025. Other forms of resilient flooring including sheet vinyl, VCT, rubber and linoleum among others could have accounted for an extra $1.4 billion in sales as well, bringing the total resilient flooring dollar sales close to $9 billion in 2025.

“The resilient flooring market in 2025 demonstrated resilience despite ongoing macroeconomic headwinds, including elevated interest rates, sluggish existing home sales and a cautious remodeling environment,” said Jamann Stepp, senior vice president of hard surface, Stanton. “Consumers remained focused on durability, ease of installation and overall value, which has favored resilient products.”

Roderick MacLeod, Shaw’s resilient and laminate director, considered 2025 to be a stabilizing year for the mature resilient category. “This year, the most significant challenges have stemmed from tariff impacts, creating complexities in pricing and cost management. Navigating these pressures has been difficult, but the category’s overall strength underscores its enduring appeal.”

Al Boulogne, senior vice president of residential product and marketing for Mannington, explained, “The market faced all kinds of head winds in 2025” from geopolitical issues to stagnancy in builder projects. Still, Boulogne called 2025 a “great year for Mannington. Our growth outpaced our estimates of the market.”

Sarah Duncan, senior product manager, residential resilient, Mohawk, detailed that the resilient market “largely mirrored the broader housing and remodeling market in 2025. Lower existing home sales and high interest rates reduced overall flooring demand across retail, home centers and new construction as consumers delayed purchasing decisions.”

Offered HMTX CEO Imran Ahmad, “I’d define 2025 as a year of resilient stabilization. High interest rates and cautious consumer spending made it a tough macroeconomic environment for residential remodeling. However, resilient lived up to its name. While other flooring categories saw steeper declines, resilient held its ground, largely driven by steady demand in specified commercial sectors like healthcare and education.”

Rotem Eylor, founder and CEO of Republic Floor, called the resilient category, “one of the strongest performers in flooring throughout 2025. While the broader industry continued to face pressure from slower housing activity and cautious consumer spending, LVT and rigid core products continued to gain share because they address what today’s customer is looking for: durability, realistic visuals, ease of maintenance and value.”

Noah Fulton, CEO of Karndean Designflooring, shared, “Resilient continued to outperform the broader flooring market, but growth slowed as high interest rates, a soft housing market and uncertainty caused by tariffs weighed on demand. The result was a stable but competitive market, with continued consumer preference for luxury vinyl.”

According to Jason Andrews, MSI’s director of sales, national marketing, “The resilient market in 2025 was defined by disruption, but also by opportunity. The broader home improvement environment remained uneven, and the category had to navigate sourcing shifts, cost pressures and changing consumer expectations. At the same time, customers who focused on fresh designs, better specifications and upgrade-oriented offerings were able to gain share.”

Steve Ehrlich, Novalis vice president of business and operations, defined the resilient market of 2025 as “solid, but very competitive. It wasn’t an easy year for flooring overall, but resilient continued to show why it has become such an important part of the industry. The category held its position well because it gives the market a lot of what it is asking for right now: performance, design, waterproof features, ease of maintenance and value.”

Titan Surfaces “enjoyed strong growth in 2025, particularly in the WPC segment,” shared president Kelly Williams. “In this super competitive market, dealers count on a smooth process from product marketing and customer service to availability and on-time delivery. Our team continues to focus on the fundamentals.”

Amy Tucker, director of hard surface for The Dixie Group, told FCW, “Continued premiumization of the category” helped resilient remain strong this year. “2025 reinforced the resiliency of the resilient category,” she emphasized. “Despite ongoing pressure from elevated interest rates, softer housing activity and cautious consumer spending, resilient flooring remained one of the most dependable segments in the industry.”

Travis Cramer, vice president and general manager, Tarkett Home, said that while consumers were more cautious about discretionary spending, “Resilient flooring has earned its place as a long-term category, not a temporary trend. Ultimately, the resilient category is well positioned because it continues to evolve alongside changing consumer priorities. The brands that will win are those that successfully balance performance, design and value while helping consumers create spaces that truly feel like home.”

LVT Stays on Top

Even with slight gains, LVT continued to be the long-standing darling of the resilient flooring category. LVT represented roughly 84 percent of all resilient sales in 2025, according to Catalina Research. Rigid core accounted for more than three-quarters of LVT sales compared to flexible LVT (which includes gluedown and looselay constructions). As for total floor coverings in 2025, the total LVT category accounted for 24.4 percent of dollar sales and 29.3 percent of square footage, Catalina Research found.

“LVT continues to perform because it has become one of the most practical answers to what the market needs right now,” said Ehrlich. “Consumers still want the look of wood or tile, but they also want something that is easier to live with, easier to maintain and well suited to their lifestyles. Flexible LVT and rigid core give the channel options … That is really the strength of the category. It works in a lot of places, at a lot of price points, without asking the customer to give up design or performance.”

The performance and visual appeal of LVT kept the product as a consumer favorite, Boulogne explained. “The category continues to be ripe with opportunity. Even in a slow / down market. The customers that are out there buying today seem to be buying better goods (i.e., hardwood or WPC constructions in resilient). So, with the proper training/education of the RSA and the right, differentiated product in the store, there is money to be made with those customers.”

Said Andrews, “Flexible LVT and rigid core continue to perform because they solve practical needs while continuing to improve visually. Waterproof performance, durability and ease of installation remain important, but the category’s biggest advantage is how closely it can now replicate natural wood and stone. Consumers want realistic visuals without the maintenance requirements of natural materials.”

Ahmad attributed LVT’s growth to three things: “innovation, versatility and value. No other category solves as many problems for the retailer, installer and end-user.”

Adjusting Inventory & Combating Challenges

According to Catalina Research, imported resilient flooring products increased in value to an estimated $5.2 billion in 2025.

Sales of rigid core were driven by a 7.5 percent increase in dollar imports. As well, Catalina confirmed that Vietnam outpaced China as the leading supplier of foreign made rigid core products.

Eylor considered the uptick in imports to be a bright spot, noting, “The increase in imports reflects continued demand for resilient flooring as well as manufacturers’ ability to adapt and remain competitive. The industry has learned how to operate within an environment where trade policies can change. Companies are making more strategic sourcing decisions and balancing inventory more carefully than in the past. Ultimately, customers continue to demand innovation, and global supply chains remain critical to delivering that innovation.”

But, according to Mohawk’s Duncan, “The uptick is more of a strategic supply chain decision than an indication of stronger market demand.” Tariffs appeared to be the reason for the rise in imports as “many companies increased inventory as a hedge against future tariff uncertainty,” she explained.

Ahmad agreed, attributing the spike to “inventory front-loading early in the year. Distributors and retailers, anticipating aggressive new tariffs, intentionally pulled their orders forward to lock in lower costs while they could.” He added that looming tariffs “forced a massive geographic reshuffling. The days of relying on a single country of origin for resilient flooring are over.” HTMX depended on geographic diversification of the supply chain to ease the troubles and expanded its manufacturing “outside of traditional hubs into countries like Vietnam and Mexico to insulate our customers from tariff shocks,” Ahmad recalled.

“Many distributors and manufacturers entered 2025 with lean inventory positions,” said Stepp. “As service levels improved and demand stabilized, companies became more comfortable, increasing inventory investments to support customer needs and product launches.”

Karndean’s Fulton reported, “Tariffs had a ripple effect across the resilient category in 2025, driving inflation, pricing volatility and shifts in consumer behavior. While overall demand held firm, the timing of the demand became far less predictable.”

Tariffs that resulted in price increases throughout the year inspired Mohawk to “continually adjust its plans to keep products flowing to customers,” Duncan shared. “The company took a proactive approach by working closely with its manufacturing partners and carefully managing inventory levels to minimize supply disruptions and maintain product availability.”

Ehrlich explained that Novalis has spent years focused on long term solutions to ease the tariff struggles. “We began making strategic changes to our supply chain during the first Trump administration, and over the past decade we have continued building a broader manufacturing footprint across the globe. That has given us more flexibility to support customers based on their specific priorities.” Since this will continue to be an ongoing concern in the market, “I think the bigger takeaway is that the supply chain is not one-size-fits-all anymore,” he said.

Offered Boulogne, “We managed to increase pricing only once last year because of tariffs. We held off until all of them were negotiated and ‘settled’. In the meantime, we absorbed some of the costs without a price increase for a few months. Our supply chain partners on the resilient side did a remarkable job of supporting our growing business.”

Some manufacturers have combated potential supply chain issues by investing in domestic solutions. Armstrong Flooring (a brand of AHF Products) upped its resilient production in 2025 by purchasing a facility in Cartersville, Ga. Jennifer Zimmerman, chief commercial officer for AHF Products, told FCW, “We can now produce 200 million square feet of our rigid core annually,” thanks to the purchase. “94 percent of all of our resilient LVT is now produced in the United States.”

Rather than supply chain reliability, James Lesslie, president and COO of Engineered Floors, found that “tariff uncertainty made customers concerned over ‘what’s next?’ We are seeing increasing numbers of customers who like the reliability of domestic LVT supply.” This strategy has worked to EF’s advantage as Lesslie said, “We have seen significant growth in our digital print domestically produced LVT.”

MacLeod explained that Shaw tackled 2025 challenges proactively by “staying focused on disciplined execution and strategic flexibility.” This included “leveraging a balanced sourcing approach to navigate tariff pressures, maintaining close alignment with customer demand and continuing to invest in product and operational capabilities to ensure consistent supply, competitive positioning and long-term growth.” As well, Shaw continued investing in domestic manufacturing through its resilient operations at Plant RP in Ringgold, Ga.

Tucker said that as suppliers expanded sourcing techniques in 2025, “the overall resilient supply chain remained far more stable and adaptable than many anticipated.” She referred to the resilient category as “one of the best opportunities for flooring retailers,” and remains optimistic about the category in the year ahead. “While overall flooring demand will continue to be influenced by broader economic conditions, resilient flooring remains uniquely positioned to meet consumer expectations.”

If ongoing oil issues and gas prices see resolution, “flooring (including LVT) should show improvement over 2025,” Lesslie predicted.