Flooring News

Unexpected drop in sales for carpet retailer

01/02/2012

Despite the positive messages from the flooring sector for the year ahead, a leading carpet retailer has already been forced to issue another profit warning.

Early indications have given a hopeful outlook for the year ahead in the flooring industry with forecasts for increasing sales and flooring awards being received by many companies.

However Carpetright has had to issue a further profit warning after takings dropped over the three months up to mid-January.

This is bad news for the firm as last year’s profits were low for most high street at this time as consumers chose not to brave the adverse weather conditions.

Analysts had to amend the predicted yearly profits for the carpet retailer after the latest warning but the firm’s chairman remained upbeat after seeing improvement at renovated stores.

The hopeful start to the year within the flooring industry was unaffected by gloomy predictions of a potential double dip recession.

However the effects of the economic climate cannot be underestimated for many retailers in the current market.

Carpet as artwork in Australia

31/01/2012

An Australian contemporary artist has created a work of art which incorporates the unusual component of flooring tiles.

The carpet tiles are arranged in a platform style to allow artist Pipilotti Rist’s work to be seen from the optimum angle.

The artwork is currently on display in the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, where visitors to the gallery can recline on the carpet tiles to view the artist’s work.

From the floor visitors will see projections of light and colour across the walls and ceiling of the Melbourne museum so the work itself covers all four walls, the ceiling and the floor.

It is not unusual for flooring to be used as a base for unconventional artworks, and many of these pieces are entirely based on the floor.

The carpet tiles which are used are manufactured by Desso, an international producer of commercial carpets which is known for its creativity and functionality.

The creativity and design aspect means that the manufacturer was an ideal choice to use as part of the art work and the functionality is necessary within the busy museum setting.

Predicted upturn for US flooring sector

30/01/2012

A boom in flooring sales in America has been predicted by a professional flooring industry analyst, who claims that 2012 could be the most successful of recent years.

Analyst Stifel Nicolaus believes that this year could be the best for US flooring sales since 2006 thanks to a large number of renovations.

The amount of new homes which are built and the number of homes which undergo remodelling has a huge impact on the flooring market but Nicolaus believes that it will be renovations which will help.

The conclusions were made after the Surfaces trade show, which helped the industry analyst to assess the short term future of the flooring market.

Amongst other causes many homeowners will have put off purchasing new floors because of the current economic climate but it will be increasingly important to replace old floors.

Replacing old or unwanted flooring is a huge share of the market in flooring sales so, although the new-build market is less likely to pick up, there could be a major positive for 2012.

The upturn would be a major positive for the US flooring sector if predictions are correct, and there would be an international impact as well.

Award for UKFD laminate floors

27/01/2012

A prestigious award has marked the start of the year for UK Flooring Direct, where the next twelve months is expected to be just as successful.

The Series Laminate range won an exclusive award in the Tomorrow’s Flooring Product Awards 2012 after competing with other laminate ranges for first place.

Series was described as a laminate range which combines, ‘style, quality and value’ and was praised for versatility as it can be used in the home or commercial settings.

The range is only available through UK Flooring Direct and includes a fantastic variety of shades and styles and good value prices.

Each product is simple to install through innovative click system technology and there are a selection of widths and thicknesses to suit any preference.

The flooring retailer ended 2011 with a place on The Sunday Times Virgin Fast Track 100 for the second year running and can now start 2012 with the acclaimed laminate award.

Awards were given to 50 recipients for standing out from the crowd over the course of 2011, although the overall winner will not be chosen until April.

Steady flooring sales for 2011

26/01/2012

Despite dire economic news throughout 2011, new figures reveal that it was actually a relatively stable year for wood flooring purchases across Europe.

Sales on the high street were certainly hit hard throughout the last year and the flooring industry was certainly hit hard by the declining sales figures.

Despite the gloomy news we’ve all heard there is a positive to take from the situation as members at DOMOTEX in Hannover suggested that, compared to 2010 it was actually a stable year.

This is despite constant changes in the economy across Europe in general, and there was even market increase in some countries including Germany and Sweden.

There were still several flooring businesses which could not cope with the strain as several announced that they had gone in to administration and others made significant cutbacks.

However, it is certainly good news that, far from the plummeting sales figures expected, the year was reasonably balanced in the flooring sector.

With recent reports of a possible double-dip recession flooring suppliers and other retailers will be hoping that this year figures maintain the stability of last year.

Irish flooring industry faces end of year difficulties

25/01/2012

The Irish flooring industry was one of the hardest hit sectors in the run up to the Christmas period with constantly low sales figures causing a difficult time for businesses.

Despite a boost for the economy as the festive season approached the Irish retail sales were still down during the last three months of 2011.

Flooring was singled out along with jewellery as the industries which suffered the most from a decline in sales figures.

November is often one of the busiest months for companies in the floor sector so the fact that sales remained low is likely to be a substantial blow for Irish firms.

Some flooring companies were delighted to post sales figures with huge growth on previous years’ figures in the final three months of last year.

December can be a quiet month in some sectors as consumers spend money on gifts and items for Christmas so often good sales figures leading up to this are essential.

Although the surge in sales figures in December did not affect the flooring industry it is a small positive for the Irish economy in general, which will need to improve before flooring firms are likely to see large improvements.

Wood flooring produced through prison labour 'broke laws'

13/01/2012

Flooring which had been partly produced by U.S. prisoners was found to be breaking Canadian import laws by shipping the products in to the country.

Prisoners in America are often used by manufacturers to complete certain tasks and with flooring this often includes scraping wood to create the popular distressed or rustic wood flooring look.

Although the news has created a lot of controversy it is entirely legal to use prisoners for work as it will form part of the rehabilitation programme.

The problem was that these floors were then exported to Canada, which the country prohibits in legislation and many other countries, including America use, have similar laws to prevent potential exploitation.

Shaw Industries Group Inc. were the company responsible for exporting the wooden floors but were said to be unaware of Canada’s laws against the practices.

The company were one of several U.S. flooring firms accusing Chinese flooring imports of breaking American laws last year in the engineered floors scandal.

Fortunately the firm do not anticipate any penalties and hope to continue exporting to Canada once the offending products – suspected to be only a small number – are replaced by floors which weren’t produced through prison labour.

Extensive rug collection to be previewed

12/01/2012

A massive new rug collection will go on display at Surfaces 2012 with 200 new designs being unveiled for the very first time.

The new rugs are described as ‘innovative’ and only a handful of the designs have been seen as part of a preview to the exhibition.

The rugs are manufactured by Surya, an American company which also produces a range of other accessories for the home, including pillows, throws and wall art.

As with all products manufactured by the company, the key ideology was to make each rug stand out for its relevance as well as a timeless quality.

It is an optimistic time for the rug manufacturer for various reasons, one of which is the slow improvement in new home sales in the U.S.

Rugs also allow homeowners to bring a splash of colour in to a room, which is a big flooring trend for this year, without having to commit to the new style.

The new rugs will be available in stores in time for the 2012 Spring and Summer season but those in the industry will get a preview this month.

The rugs are on display at Atlanta International Area Rug Market today and they will then be seen in Las Vegas at the end of the month.

Vinyl recycling scheme brings home the bacon

11/01/2012

Bacon sandwiches have helped a vinyl floor recycling company recruit many more flooring distributors to use their successful scheme.

Recofloor collects and recycles unwanted vinyl flooring and allows manufacturers and suppliers in the flooring industry to take more responsibility for what happens to the flooring.

By using the scheme those vinyl flooring retailers are making the vinyl floors they sell to customers in to more eco-friendly flooring options as they can be recycled rather than thrown in a landfill.

The bacon sandwiches were brought in as a novel way to attract attention from distributors and Recofloor set up meetings with individual companies and discussed the benefits over the food.

The initiative meant that many firms which were unsure about what participation involved could discuss all aspects with the Recofloor representatives.

As an award-winning scheme it was unsurprising that the company signed up 75 new members through the bacon sandwiches campaign.

Further roadshows are planned for the coming year in the hope that more companies will sign up to the vinyl flooring recycling scheme which was originally founded by Altro and Polyflor.

The vinyl recycling firm arranges for collections and recycling of vinyl from hundreds of members as well as the waste vinyl from large construction projects, particularly in the commercial industry.

Exclusive leather belt floors

10/01/2012

A flooring option made entirely from leather belts has caught the interest of the flooring market with an attractive appearance and exclusive style.

The floor has not been created by flooring manufacturers or suppliers but rather a design company which produces luxury products from fashion to interior design.

The company is TING, established by Inghua Ting, and it is based in London and Los Angeles.

Within the Home category there are handmade cubes made from seatbelts and cushions in a variety of styles and shapes.

However it is the flooring which is produced with a selection of leather belts which really catches the eye and the imagination.

Each floor is a bespoke design and was created for only ‘premium environments’, although the flooring tiles can also be used for walls or table tops.

Each of the tiles produced for a floor like this is unique as TING design the vintage belts to an exclusive specification to ensure each floor is truly one of a kind.

Belts are locally-sourced where possible and is likely to appeal to consumers looking for an unusual flooring design as well as those who appreciate eco-friendly floors.

The floor is described as ‘hardwearing’ and rugs are also available if a full floor produced with these vintage leather belts is not suitable in a certain area.