FLOORING & PANEL

BUSINESS The wood and laminate flooring market is dominated by just a few companies: Armstrong with $450 million in revenue; Mohawk, $1.3 billion in wood and laminate (including some melamine faceboards, and specialty MDF for furniture); and Lumber Liquidators, which sources most flooring abroad, predicts U.S. sales of $995 million in 2013.

Specialty floor producer Connor Sport Flooring dominates a unique niche: basketball courts for NBA (it’s done 14) and NCAA Final Four (it’s the official floor company).

A number of firms also make other forms of panel products, and this segment supplies retailers. Panel Processing, Windmill, Shaw and Berkshire Hathaway are just a few.

DESIGN TRENDS Reclaimed wood, wide plank and rustic flooring styles are big, though installers say they are not always consistent. Also trending is laminate flooring, particularly with embossed and textured wood grains that simulate real wood species. Luxury vinyl and carpeting are gaining at the expense of wood.

PRODUCT LINES:

Laminate/Engineered Flooring
Hardwood Flooring
Wide Plank Flooring
Parquet Flooring
Cork Flooring
Slatwall & Panels