Hardwood Floors April/May 2019

By Bruce Zwicker

Association of Home Builders (NAHB) states that one of the top 10 features homebuyers want in a new home is hardwood ooring. In 2017, the NWFA partnered with Public Opinion Strategies on a survey of 1,000-plus homeowners across the United States that revealed that two-thirds of homeowners say they would have wood oors in their dream home. Wood remains a lifetime product, a real natural product that gives feelings of warmth and comfort, which will always add value to a home or property. e question is, how should you position your business to address this new shi caused by At the risk of telling you what you already know since you have addressed shi s before, here are some thoughts to consider. First are strategy, mission, leadership, and culture. Know your market and buyers and aim directly at them. Know what is important to them and provide it be er than anyone else. Adopt a strong drive to change and compete with a laser focus on what your business can do well. Make sure your people are on board; otherwise, it won’t happen. How a leader behaves is the key. e leader’s job is 24/7 with lots of energy needed. Realism is essential, as are vision, con dence, and competence. Homework and an open mind are needed. Find out what’s out there. Challenge your own beliefs. Don’t be afraid to change some things or maybe almost everything. In particular, you may need more or di erent talent. Maybe family members in the business are not as capable as they need to be. Di cult people choices are pivotal and hold most companies back. And those things described above are just the basics. Regarding strategy, determine which real wood o erings you can excel at if you adapt your business. Perhaps it will be one or more of these: custom nishing, solid wood in the right markets, middle- and high-end engineered wood, ultimate wood mimics? Your role

Shi s occur in any product category because consumer tastes evolve and the consumer accepts new things. Mega-retailers and online commerce give consumers more choices and lower-cost alternatives. Global trade encourages lower-cost imports, and lower U.S. economic growth makes low price more important. Not to mention that technology makes new things possible in products and the customer experience. Technology and design In the wood ooring industry, we have seen changes in technology making wood ooring easier to install and enhancing nishing processes, and species providing more style choices and be er performance. We’ve also seen changes in design trends with open oor plans leading to all wood on the rst oor of a home, and even replacing carpet Economic factors also have had an impact, such as the rising cost and lower availability of lumber a er the Great Recession. Scarce skilled labor adds higher cost and createsmore di culty. ere is still uncertainty surrounding ooring products imported fromChina. Imports also create pressure on the average selling price andmargins. Mimicry Suppliers are promoting new products that mimic wood (tile, laminate, and LVT/MLF). And some wood-mimic products are promoting a “waterproof ” bene t over real wood. Mega-retailers are driving lower price, and the internet is making alternatives to wood ooring and the mimics more visible. Online sale of ooring, while not a boom, cuts into share held previously by traditional retailers. The good news All of these changes aside, multiple research studies show that real wood remains the top aspirational ooring choice for homeowners and remains the most beautiful and natural ooring in most spaces. Recent research released by the National in the bedroom. Economics

the magazine of the national wood flooring association

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