Every year when we announce the winners of our coveted Awards of Excellence, I always like to dig into the results. We only honor the winners, but that doesn’t mean other companies didn’t perform well in the voting. Some suppliers performed much better than prior years, which says they are on the right track in helping retailers. So let’s look at the results category by category.
Carpet: Every year it is a three-horse race between Engineered Floors, Anderson Tuftex and Karastan. And every year Engineered Floors wins by a percentage point or two. This year was no exception with EF and AT combining for 67% of the vote. In the B category, Tarkett has won three years in a row, increasing its share of the vote from 29% three years ago to 34% the last two years. Bearing mention in this category is Southwind, which constantly gets 23% to 25% of the vote. Lastly, illustrating the ultimate model of consistency, Stanton has captured the Decorative category these last three years with the same 48% share of the vote. 1866 by Masland has been the runner up each year, garnering between 17% and 21%.
Area rugs: Karastan and Stanton battle in this category each year combining for 60% of the vote.
Resilient: COREtec is the reigning champ and seems impossible to knock off. But after earning 30% of the vote for two years, this year that advantage increased to 39%. In the B category, no one seems to be able to touch Karndean, a winner for six consecutive years at least. Another model of consistency, either Korlock or Art Select gets 20% of the vote every year. In the C category, kudos goes to upstart Canopy. Two years ago it mustered only 10% of the vote; this year the number ballooned to 24%. The Dossches are obviously working hard to create a viable brand in their second lives. In that same category, Cellar House from Johnson Hardwood grabbed 16% of the vote. They weren’t even listed in the category last year. Lastly, in the hybrid category, we are watching a company grow before our eyes. HF Design has gone from 7% of the vote to 16% to 35%. Aquaproof has obviously attracted the attention of retailers.
Ceramic tile: Daltile gets 75% of the vote every year. They simply dominate the category. The B section is a bit more random with Marazzi, Emser and Florida Tile taking turns every year. No rhyme or reason here. They each always get between 23% and 28% of the vote.
Hardwood: It’s been pretty steady the last few years with Anderson Tuftex, Mirage, Hallmark and Kährs taking home top honors. But let’s give a shout out to Mercier for increasing their share of the vote from 21% to 28% in the Canadian category.
Laminate: Group B is always among the most competitive categories with six or seven suppliers consistently getting between 11% and 14% of the vote: Audacity, Bruce, Cali, Inhaus, Johnson, MSI and Tarkett. Johnson got a narrow win this year, increasing their share from 7% two years ago to 13%.
Main Street Commercial: Philadelphia and Aladdin battle it out every year. This time around, Philadelphia finally broke through with 42% of the vote, up from 29% and 30% the previous two years, respectively.
Cushion/underlayment: Two years ago Leggett & Platt won by three votes. Last year it was 55%-45% and this year it was 56%-44%.
Technology: Since we split the category into two divisions—flooring solutions and a grouping of software providers/room viewers/AI/lead-gen programs, Unilin has earned a greater share of the vote than its flooring solutions competitors combined. This year Roomvo eclipsed the combined total of Cyncly and Broadlume. And if you add QFloors to Roomvo’s total, that’s 50% of the vote.
Moldings: We have run this category for three years, and Versatrim is undefeated, increasing its share of the vote from 62% to 75%. I wonder if this is reflective of their actual market share in the accessories category.
Finally, just a quick word about Best Overall. Shaw took home top honors for the first time since 2020. I know they were impacted by UFLPA issues, logistical issues post-COVID-19 and some internal issues these last few years, but they seem to have gotten past that in the eyes of their customers. Meanwhile, I know Mohawk had some technological issues that temporarily disrupted business. What role any of this had in the voting is pure conjecture, but at the end of the day, the retailers have spoken.
See pages 28-29 for the award presentations.
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