Las Vegas—Mill executives are fond of saying: “This is not your grandmother’s carpet” when discussing the newest introductions. It’s certainly a true statement. From yarn coloration to intricate patterns and textures, today’s technology has transformed the soft surface segment.
At Surfaces, mills touted their technology enhancements in a way that stood out to retailers. In the case of Shaw Floors, for example, its booth was a testament to innovation. Rather than show new products, it highlighted various innovations at its museum-gallery-themed space.
The company invested $1 billion in the last year to enhance the capabilities of its state-of-the-art extrusion facility, with the goal of providing the styling that will lead it into the future. “We’re doing a lot more work to get insights from consumers and dedicating resources searching out consumers,” said Bob Hardaway, vice president of carpet. “We’re really capturing consumer insight.”
Consumers are drawn to color; to that end, Shaw’s ColorClarity integrates a new proprietary process technology with state-of-the-art extrusion equipment. ColorClarity uses dyeing technologies that transform yarn coloration, delivering crisp, vivid pencil-point color definition in hues that stay sharp and brilliant. With pattern carpets and organic, tactile visuals and textures trending with consumers, NaturalTwist, another innovation, creates a broader range for style differentiation using mixed luster and variations in texture with a single yarn.
“Showcasing our innovation was the goal at this show,” Hardaway said. “We want to bring to the industry all the innovations we have. We believe we are bringing out the best.”
Being innovative and sustainable are core principles of Continuum, Mohawk’s bottle reclamation process that is used in its EverStrand carpet. Mohawk is adding 10 new products to EverStrand this year while continuing its “A Step in the Right Direction” marketing campaign to highlight key selling points.
“In addition to promoting EverStrand through the campaign, we are also updating the Continuum messaging to make the process more relatable to today’s consumer and make it easier to use as a tool to help sell,” said Denise Silbert, Mohawk’s vice president of marketing, soft surface and Builder + Multifamily. “Mohawk reclaims 6 billion plastic bottles on average each year through Continuum. These bottles are cleaned and made into PET chips. The PET chips are extruded into the fiber used to create carpet such as EverStrand and PETPremier.”
At Surfaces Mohawk erected a display showing the step-by-step process of Continuum. Several flooring dealers expressed interest in having such a display in their showrooms to better tell the story of Continuum and sustainability. Mohawk executives have found that younger consumers are more likely to buy carpet with a sustainability story behind it.
Color continues to flourish
The abundance of color was a major headline at Surfaces 2024; some mills were still pushing that storyline this year as well. That group would include The Dixie Group. Its Fabrica brand, for example, showcased 50 colors made possible by its beck dyeing process. Fabrica can produce greens, blues and other colors through beck dyeing. “We’re in-tune with what’s happening in the market,” said Jared Coffin, senior vice president of product marketing.
Phenix was at Surfaces to reaffirm its position as a supplier of better goods leveraging its solution-dyed nylon. As Quentin Quathamer, director, residential carpet for Mannington Mills said, “Ever since Stainmaster left the market, people stopped talking about nylon. But there’s a place for nylon. Solution-dyed nylon is our differentiator.”
Phenix showed customers a display wall demonstrating how carpet fared when put through a commercial test. The results: SD nylon was completely clean at the end of the process while “competitive PET” showed wear and tear—and, in some cases, stains. “Our solution-dyed nylon and, for that matter, our solution-dyed polyester, won’t fade,” Quathamer said. “SD nylon puts us a notch above the competition. Think of it this way: You can buy steak, and you can buy Kobe beef. Both are great but Kobe beef is better. We’re the Kobe beef.”
Phenix will continue to move into the higher end of better goods going forward.
In fact, the high-end/luxury goods end of the market is proving to be a safe haven for carpet mills during what has been a tough two years for most. Not Prestige Mills, however. It finished 2024 with very high single-digit gains in sales, according to Peter Feldman, president. “Our product range is high-end niche,” he said. “A lot of our customers—the mid- to high-end retailer—were not complaining last year. Our clientele has the money; they get their statement from Merrill Lynch showing the gains they made in the stock market and then decide to go out and do their bedroom. Our customers are not afraid to commit to new purchases.”
Couristan, under new president Len Andolino, also plays in the top 1% of the market. However, he said the housing economy, with stubbornly high mortgage rates, has hurt business for everyone. “We’re all held hostage by 7% mortgage rates,” he said. “We are in absolute stagnation now and it’s going to take time. Once the rates come down it will be the golden age for luxury goods.”
Some think that golden age is right around the corner. Joe Young, vice president of product development for Engineered Floors, said momentum is at the company’s back after a strong end to ’24. “I’ve not been this positive for the coming year (2025) in a while,” he said. “We’ve had strong bookings right out of the gate. We started seeing an uptick mid Q4.”
Among its Dreamweaver standouts was Prismatic, a high-def, 100% solution-dyed yarn with new colors and a bright future. “It’s next generation,” Young said.
Olefin, which is made from polypropylene, is certainly not a next generation fiber. But Southwind is using it to develop a new value-oriented carpet tile. “We’re the last folks in Dalton doing olefin,” said Drew Hash, president of Southwind. “We believe in it from a performance standpoint.”
As Southwind revamps its carpet portfolio, it plans to freshen its colors and make the lines sellable to the end user. “I want us to be known for high style but, more importantly, value,” Hash said. “Whether it is our 80-, 70-, 60-, 50- and down to 40 ounce, our sweet spot, it comes down to service for us. We’re proud of our ability to respond to the service needs of our customers.”
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