Chicago—NeoCon 2025 was held here last week with optimistic undertones as the commercial design community focused on the future—“Design Ahead” being the optimal theme for this year’s event.
Attendance at NeoCon 2025 was on par with last year’s show according to pre-registration numbers. “We had 52,000 attendees last year and we expect that same number this year,” Byron Morton, vice president and co-head of leasing, NeoCon, told FCNews. “Every showroom was busy [on Monday]. But I always say it doesn’t matter what I say, it’s about the experiences of [the exhibitors and attendees], and those experiences have been very good.”
Flooring exhibitors, like AHF Products, touted the traffic and upbeat vibe on the 7th floor. “We’re really happy with how our booth turned out,” Fred Reitz, vice president of sales-commercial, AHF Contract, told FCNews. “The audience that we get here and the traffic right off the elevator—from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. we are just shoulder to shoulder in the booth.”
The truth is that there is another show in town that could have lured attendees away from NeoCon 2025 and toward Fulton Market: Design Days. Morton asserted, however, that that wasn’t the case. “I think there’s room for both shows,” he said. “Fact of the matter is people come to Chicago in June for NeoCon. And we monitor attendance throughout the show and traffic has been solid. We still have a strong flooring presence on all floors. Honestly, I think a number of those companies just see the allure of a new neighborhood, but they still feel like they need a showroom, and the reason they need a showroom is because NeoCon is here in June.”
Commercial segments
The commercial market is on the mend after its tenuous few years post-pandemic. Economic factors do continue to influence each market segment with some weathering the storm better than others. In the end, many suppliers noted an unexpected uptick in business either Q4 2024 or in the first five months of ‘25.
“It’s been a really strange year, actually,” said Ian Burt, director of sales and marketing at Aquafil USA, makers of Econyl. “[Our partners] have been doing well, which is good news for us. And then somebody used the word tariff in January and a whole bunch of customers decided to pull demand forward. And so we’ve had a very strong first half in the states. A very, very strong first half. But it’s also been a really challenging first half from a supply stand.”
For many, education and healthcare have seen the greatest improvement. “We see tremendous growth in both the education/institutional markets, as well as healthcare for the next five years,” Rusty Joyce, president of Tarkett Commercial, told FCNews. “Corporate/workplace remains relatively flat but is still a meaningful part of the Tarkett business strategy.”
Christi Hitch, vice president-Americas, Milliken agreed. “The education and healthcare segments are doing well,” she told FCNews. “In the education segment, we see institutions prioritizing solutions that are comfortable, durable and provide effective sound absorption to help create environments conducive for learning. In the healthcare segment, we see facilities looking for durable and comfortable solutions that meet stringent standards while supporting both patient and staff well-being.”
There’s another segment that was on the tip of everyone’s tongue at this year’s show: corporate. Perhaps one of the most heavily hit segments in the market in the face of the pandemic, it seems corporate is clawing its way back to black.
“Corporate continues to recover, to try to come back from where it was [prior to the pandemic],” Kent Clauson, Patcraft’s director of performance markets, told FCNews. “People are still trying to catch up. They’re still trying to get people back to the office, but that’s accelerating without a doubt—it’s slow but steady.”
Jeff West, VP of marketing, Shaw Contract, agreed, noting the continued improvement of the corporate segment. “Corporate in the last quarter of 2024 started to make an improvement and we’ve seen that continue a little bit in ‘25. I mean, the space is not [growing via new construction] but because maybe there’s been some ownership changes there does seem to be more activity in the corporate renovation arena, and we are starting to see that in growth.”
Commercial product
Exhibitors at NeoCon 2025 touted a surge in product innovation meant to welcome those in a variety of commercial spaces. Health and wellness remains a driving force behind product design as well as newer concepts like neurodiversity and mainstays like sustainability. Drilling down to more specific trends, there was a clear focus on color—from bold plums to comforting greens and blues—this year. Nostalgia, too, seemed to inform a number of new collections across brands.
Color came across in a bold way at the AHF Contract booth where it showcased its Kaleido collection. An LVT product that can take many forms—about 500 to be exact. With 28 colors and three sizes and a variety of installation methods, Kaleido was a beauty to behold. Whether boldness in color or comfort in its unprecedented carpet emulation, the product took design innovation to the next level. “I think it’s the most creatively liberating program we’ve created,” Oxana Dallas, AHF’s principal designer, told FCNews. “I think this is innovation, but of course there is a trend in commercial flooring to become braver, but I think we are pushing this father—I think we are breaking the rule here.”
AHF Contract also launched its Armstrong Flooring TimberTones Densified Hardwood product into the commercial market. Made from 100% real hardwood, TimberTones uses a patented process that applies heat and pressure—without acrylic fillers or chemicals—which densifies the wood by closing the open cells, densifying the veneer not the core, resulting in a wood floor that’s 6x more dent resistant and 4x more scratch resistant than traditional wood.
Daltile, too, which has its Design Studio just feet from the Mart’s doorstep for NeoCon 2025, focused on color at the show. “Our Colorology program is a new color coordination guide,” explained Hilary Frank, vice president of commercial sales and business development. “It takes a lot of our different series and helps tell the story on how color coordinates between them and can also be used both in coordinating and pairing fashions.”
Another major trend found at the show this year was “old meets new.” This concept was found across a variety of new product launches. Mannington Commercial, for example, unveiled its Dapper Dialogue—a Best of NeoCon award winner—which took the concept of menswear and ran with it. The showroom exhibited a large “mood board” that showcased inspiration for the line, which included nostalgia-inducing items. “Mid-century modern is always in, right? But I feel like there’s almost a little seventies vibe coming through as well,” said Cindy Kaufman, vice president, marketing. “I think nostalgia is something that resonates. People feel comforted by it—and especially something that’s this textural, you want that sort of comfort underfoot.”
Shaw Contract launched its Coexist carpet tile collection, which took inspiration from both traditional and modern Japanese culture. “Our designers took a design journey to Japan and really immerse themselves in the culture—the traditions, the history, and then also the modern pieces of Japan and how the old meets new,” explained explained Carey Stevens, director of hospitality + multifamily marketing.
Patcraft’s Material Collection grew with the addition of new lines like Block + Blend, which adds a new twist to the classic Parquet. “The inspiration behind Block + Blend was parquet flooring, and we looked at all of the traditional parquet methods—like chevron and herringbone—but we’ve found that people are really interested in seeing new twists on woods. So an otherwise really ordinary, traditional, safe visual like a wood parquet, but adding an unexpected edge or twist to it.”
Interface, too, turned to nostalgia with the launch of Dressed Lines, a carpet tile collection. “’Design That Defies Time’ is our overall arching theme,” said Kelly Simcox, head of global design. “So the first collection, Dressed Lines, is here at the front of the showroom and it really celebrates post-war modernism—so when design was really reemerging and we’re seeing pattern, in particular high contrast patterns, coming back.”
Of course a staple in commercial design, sustainability has long since broken out of its “trending” label and has settled firmly in “cost of entry” for any commercial producers. Every flooring supplier at NeoCon and even Design Days touted its sustainable attributes, whether via product innovation or manufacturing or a combination of the two.
Econyl, for example, showcased its new Bespoke collection, which offers rich nylon yarns tailored for carpets and rugs and is created using more responsible manufacturing practices and backed with the performance and durability of Econyl regenerated nylon 6.
And then we’re also highlighting our new Ecno bespoke is a synthetic take on natural looks, if you will, specifically for rugs,” Burt explained. “There’s been a lot of demand, especially out of India because a lot of our customer stateside bring product in from India, so it was an opportunity to get the sustainability message of Econyl into that product line as well because there is demand for it.”
Parador, a new entrant into the U.S. commercial market—but with 50 years of global excellence in the flooring industry—brought several lines to the show, including its Modular ONE, a PVC-free resilient flooring. Parador’s new 30,000 square meter solar system enables the company to generate a large proportion of its energy from renewable sources. By the end of 2025, its production sites are expected to be carbon neutral. “Those who know our brand, they know it for design, they know it for innovation—and you have to earn that. And Parador has about 50 years of earning it, and we feel like we’ve got a good foundation we can bring into the U.S. market,” Neel Bradham, CEO, told FCNews.
New to the Mart for NeoCon 2025 was MSI, which unveiled the beginnings of its new design center on the 1st floor. The company is a mainstay in the residential market, offering products across categories, but is now looking to further break into the commercial market. “We’re bringing our entire product line, so whether its high-end engineered wood or tile, multifamily, etc., we’re a one-stop shop. Builders will love us, developers will love us—we’ve got everything, and we’re able to put together more of a package for them,” said Mitchell Gomez, sales director.
Design Days
Over at Fulton Market several flooring brands have taken residence with new showrooms that housed their latest and greatest during this year’s Design Days show.
Mohawk Group, for example, hosted its first Design Days attendees at its new permanent showroom on Fulton street. Mohawk’s theme this year was Shared Senses and that came through via its many new product launches. “This is all about the sensory experience in the built environment,” explained Royce Epstein, senior director of design insights. “So how can we create spaces that are havens for people, where they feel engaged and connected to each other and the location but really through our senses? And we need that today because we’re living in a time where we’re disconnected from nature, we’re indoors 90% of the time. We’re looking at devices, touching glass, we’re lacking that sensory, textural experience.”
Mohawk’s MultiSensory line offers a breadth of carpet styles that are designed to invite relaxation, provide emotional warmth and contribute to comfort and wellness. These textures are earthy, grounded and ensure tactile interest.
Milliken also focused on a need for textural experiences with its Open Studio soft surface line. “We’re seeing a lot of need for texture out in the market residentially as well as in commercial,” Hitch said. “So the Open Studio collection really is enveloped around texture— the brush marks, authenticity of artwork, and bringing that into our product. We’re excited about that.”
Lost Languages from Bentley also taps that “timeless with a twist” trend that is so popular this year. The collection is a broadloom and carpet tile collection manufactured with Bentley Premium Nylon, made from Econyl regenerated fiber.
“Lost Language is really about acknowledging that designers very often work with patterns that are familiar—from our past, from our history, from long ago—and they pull them forward and rework them to be current and resonate now,” explained Vicki deVuono, VP of product and marketing.
Tarkett tapped the need for more comfortable, experiential spaces—especially as it relates to the corporate segment—with its new Resonant Spaces line. “Resonant Spaces focuses on the positive energy and the emotional connection that is really invoked from the designer’s perspective when they’re creating a space,” explained Omoleye Simmons, vice president of design. “We’re celebrating that energy that’s created when the right elements are in a space to evoke that mood or those feelings in the visitors of the space. So we took inspiration from that energy, even though it’s something you can’t see or witness visually, you feel it. So we interpreted that through our pattern development and showed how that energy could be illustrated.”
Another major design trend at the show was the reinterpretation of terrazzo. From inspirations in vinyl to color pops in new and unique shapes, terrazzo was a major focus for many commercial flooring suppliers.
J+J, for example, launched its Modern Utility line, a terrazzo-look LVT in three unique visuals. “What we’ve done here is add a little splash of color with the aggregate,” explained Brian Johnson – director of business development. “One of the most impressive looks is First Class. Terrazzo has always been standardized as being very random—this has a lot of movement in it. This gives you that movement in a specific way that is very usable day in, day out. But it gives you a different visual than any other type of terrazzo visual that we’ve had. So that’s the most exciting.”
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