FLOORtalk

Doug Chadderdon, president and CEO of Great Floors, a chain of 22 retail and commercial showrooms across the Pacific Northwest, talks about efforts to build traffic and how media expenditures have changed with the bulk of budgets going towards digital advertising.

Tom Jennings, vice president of development for World Floor Covering Association (WFCA), talks about the importance to retailers of having salespeople with a working knowledge of installation. Jennings also discusses preparing customers for the installation process while on the sales floor.

Lew Migliore, the industry’s trouble shooter, president of LGM & Associates Technical Flooring Services, discusses one of the most prevalent problems in the industry, concrete moisture and those with moisture vapor retarders. He reviews a situation he was called on where the architect made the decision to value-engineer the project and eliminate the moisture retarder.

George Celtrick, president of Whitewood Products, talks about the quiet comeback exotic wood species are making. Celtrick also discusses the future of the hardwood sector, saying there will be an improvement in the market’s higher end with the lower end of the market being plagued by budget issues and by the performance of LVT.

Michael Zmijewski, president of Mr. David’s, discusses the growth of this flooring contractor over the years and the factors that are taken into consideration by the company when expanding into new markets. Zmijewski also shares his views on the installer shortage

Scott Levy, president of Arley Wholesale, talks about the growth of ceramic tile in the U.S. and the U.S. consumer’s inclination to buy more tile in the future. Levy notes that ceramic growth in the U.S. has moderated with the growth in LVT. He also discusses the mindset of many consumers affecting their floor covering expenditure as he shares and his expectations for ceramic sales in 2019.

Nyle Wadford, president of Neuse Tile Service, Youngsville, N.C., talks about the pros and cons of installers being able to install hard and soft floor covering products from a variety of categories. He talks about the ongoing training required to gain proficiency in a number of categories and the new technological developments inherent in all industry groups.

Stuart Hirschhorn, research director for Catalina Research, looks at the housing market and shares his expectations for the future, saying that it will remain weak going forward and noting that declines in interest rates are offset by increasing prices. Also discussed is activity in the renovation sector, which was strong 2010 - 2018, but began to decline as a result of declining home sales.

John Simonson, president of Webstream Dynamics and Five Star Store Reviews, talks about the likelihood of floor covering retailers getting into e-commerce and selling products online. Simonson notes that a number of larger flooring retailers are now selling online but he also he notes that offering floor covering online is more involved and costly that many other products. Also discussed is online marketing, including pay-per-click advertising as well as the support and the logistics factors involved.

George Celtrick, president of Whitewood Products, talks about selling hardwood against wood lookalike products. Celtrick suggest that rather than focusing on the price per square foot, focus on the total price of the installation and not trying to be the low-cost provider as he offers ideas on dealing with this situation.