Hardwood Floors Oct/Nov 2019

DISTRIBUTORS

2020

NWFA distributors that responded to our 2020 Industry Outlook survey revealed mixed responses to the state of the economy. Distributors mentioned competition from wood- look products and a slowing economy as top concerns. Looking ahead to next year, NWFA distributors expect wood-flooring sales to be about the same as this year. One distributor cited a “softer real estate market” than in previous years, and said pricing competition continues to be a challenge. One distributor mentioned commodity-level pricing is being driven by “thinner top-faces and cheaper core boards.” For distributors that sell non-wood flooring products, about half reported that their wood-flooring sales are growing more slowly than the non- wood flooring sales. About a quarter of the distributors that responded only sell wood flooring products. Many distributors said that competition from wood-look products has negatively affected their real-wood product sales, with LVT identified as the biggest long-term threat. But as one distributor commented: “Wood-look is cheaper than hardwood with the look of hardwood, but hardwood will always be the original and most valuable, especially when selling or buying a house. It’s still the top product.” Steven Suntup, a representative of Elastilon in Holland, echoed these thoughts when asked about competition from wood-look products. “There

NWFA distributors see their top two opportunities going into 2020 as product diversification and geographic expansion. Their two biggest concerns are the economy and manufacturers selling direct.

geographic expansion. Their two biggest concerns are the economy and manufacturers selling direct. One distributor’s strategy moving into the second half of 2019 and 2020 is to “align ourselves with manufacturers that support the distribution model and who actively partner with us to grow our territories.” Most distributors feel that continuing to offer training for their customers on the products they sell is important, with nearly a third saying it is “extremely important” and just over a half of respondents view it as “somewhat important.”

are two reasons I think they'll make inroads,” he said. “One is on price, because it's obviously a lot cheaper than a hardwood floor, even an engineered hardwood floor. And second, it's very difficult these days because there are such good copies out there of the real thing. But the real thing will always be the real thing. Everything else will be a copy, but they are copied so well that it almost looks like the real thing, so even a professional can be fooled sometimes.” NWFA distributors see their top two opportunities going into 2020 as product diversification and

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