Las Vegas—Hardwood flooring suppliers are tweaking their respective product lines to reflect more natural wood colors and softer hues—a move away from the heavily textured and darker tones seen in the past. In terms of species, European white oak continues to reign supreme, although hickory is making a bigger play. Suppliers are also applying special finishing treatments to red oak to mimic the visual characteristics of white oak to accommodate for the high demand for European white oak.
Following is an overview of some standout products unveiled at the show.
AHF Products
Pine is a much-desired visual for hardwood enthusiasts, but its soft wood qualities don’t exactly make it suitable for high-traffic applications. After experimenting with different processes, AHF Products said it has come up with a solution for that shortcoming.
“Pine is one of those species typically not used very often in wood flooring for a variety of reasons—either it’s soft or it’s expensive,” said Milton Goodwin, vice president, AHF Products. “But we utilize a proprietary process that’s 100% natural that makes the product six times more scratch-resistant and four times harder than regular wood. It’s called Seaboard, and it’s available in our Robbins line. It’s a 7 ½-inch-wide product offered in an AB grade. It’s a premium 4mm veneer and it comes in a variety of trendy colors.”
Seaboard, according to Goodwin, targets those customers who want a select grade of wood without all the knots and character marks. “That’s what you’re going to get with this product right here,” he said.
Bjelin
Bjelin, which utilizes technology from its sister company Välinge Innovation to produce the core material in its engineered wood lines, is expanding that technology to include non-wood visuals. “Here we are introducing a new product category, Nadura, which is a wood product but it looks like slate or stone,” said Hannes Lindblom, director of sales and marketing, surface technology, Välinge Innovation. “Although the core material is the same as Woodura, the difference is Woodura has a wood veneer. On Nadura, we only press it directly on the wood powder, so we can do pretty much any design in any color. The benefit is, of course, that it is 100% wood and it is sustainable.”
Hardwood enthusiasts need not feel overlooked, however. For this cohort, Bjelin is highlighting its new RiftCut collection. As the name implies, the real wood veneer utilized in this line boasts a rift-sawn plank visual, which is a highly sought-after look for customers shopping for real wood flooring.
“This is a product that is developed specifically for the American market,” Lindblom explained. “We’ve received feedback from architects and designers that they want the clean grade, and they want the look that they can somehow get in the rift cut on traditional wood products. But in traditional wood products, the rift design can be very expensive. When we slice the logs, we can slice it in a different way to get the same visual but for lower cost and much better yield.”
Johnson Hardwood
When Johnson Hardwood first previewed its mammoth, 12-inch-wide x 7-foot-long Olympus hardwood line at Surfaces last year, it showcased what Jon Ousley, VP of sales and distribution, called a “trial balloon” of four colors. “It was a very big success—so well received that we decided to add two more colors and do a larger scale rollout this year. In fact, that’s what you’re looking at installed throughout the booth.”
Not only does the new Olympus collection satisfy consumer demand for the most popular colors in wood today (it comes in four oak looks and two hickory visuals), but it won’t necessarily break the bank, accordingly to Ousley. “When you ask a retailer, ‘Hey, are you selling much 12-inch product?’ Usually the feedback is, ‘Well, no, not really,’ but for those 12-inch products they’re paying $10-$12 a foot wholesale. So we thought, let’s slim down the wear layer, let’s make it smaller, bring the price point lower and make it at a more affordable, everyday type price. And the feedback has been phenomenal.”
Mannington
In its wood programming for the new year—especially the second half—Mannington is focusing more attention on its premium product offerings. Specifically, the company is adding new design elements to top-selling collections. As John Hammel, senior product director, wood and laminate, explained: “We’ve taken Provence Hickory, Maison Provence, which is one of our top-selling products that we have in our wood line, and we’re adding a full width, 7 x 35-inch format herringbone design to that. The products come from our Central American supplier, and these are all hand stained. There’s no milkiness in the finish, it’s not covered up. It’s just beautiful.”
The new herringbone design will be offered in two colors: Champagne and Blanc.
Mohawk
Mohawk’s popular engineered TecWood hardwood line is getting an upgrade via the addition of a new performance tier: TecWood Enhanced. TecWood Enhanced makes its debut with Madera Trace, which comes in five colors and is crafted from European white oak for a timeless yet modern contemporary look. In addition, the line extension features a Uniclic locking system, making installation easier than ever, and an enhanced Wet Resistance Warranty protects floors from topical spills for up to 72 hours.
“The reason why it’s Enhanced is because we have a product line that has additional features and benefits beyond just looking really great and looking like natural wood,” said David Moore, vice president, product management. “The product is built on a block core, kind of a piano key core, but it has the Uniclic locking system; Uniclic on the long side and Uniclic Multifit on the short side. That means you can float it, or you can do a full-spread glue.”
MSI
MSI’s goal to be recognized as a more recognizable player in the U.S. wood flooring market gained steam at Surfaces last year via the official launch of its high-end W line, which features eye-catching collections such as Ladson and McCarran. Now the company is looking to raise the stakes even higher by expanding the offering to include new trending designs.
“We’ve added a 5 x 25 herringbone pattern in our top three selling colors in McCarran,” said Jason Andrews, director of sales, national marketing. “We originally launched the line with 10 colors, and last year at this show we added three blondes. Those have all done really well.”
Moreover, the new herringbone design and expanded colors aim to give MSI retailers greater profit opportunities. “One of the things that motivated us to add the herringbone is, as a company, we’ve always been sort of known as a commodity player,” David Raymond, senior director, national accounts, explained. “With wood we’re moving up market into more of a higher-end product.”
Urbanfloor
Whoever said bigger isn’t necessarily better probably hasn’t seen the massive new boards in Urbanfloor’s Timbertop Signature Series. The larger-than-life 15 ¾-inch-wide x 13-foot-long planks were designed to make a dramatic statement in the home while expanding profit opportunities for retailers and distributors. “This product is designed for high-end homeowners who don’t have to worry about price,” said Jimmy Setiawan, Urbanfloor president and CEO.
Displaying the product on the show floor did much more than garner attention; it actually helped earn the company a Best of Surfaces Award in the Hardwood Category.
(Look for more Surfaces wood coverage in upcoming editions of FCNews).
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