While the industry is turning the page on a new year, there are still lingering issues that stand to impact the flooring industry. For example, what’s going to happen with interest rates? How will new policies affect the manufacturing sector, labor and the economy as a whole?
FCNews rounded up industry executives representing different product categories to identify the issues, challenges and concerns on their minds.
“Two major issues are troubling me as we look into 2025. The biggest is the risk in the global supply chains. Tariffs, port labor strikes and general global unrest all feel fragile as we look into the future. Having a flexible, diverse supply chain will be more important than ever. The second is the timing of the residential market rebound. I think we are looking at 2026 before any real bounce at this point but getting the timing and positioning of that will be tricky but extremely important.”
— Jimmy Tuley, president Mannington Residential Business
“I think there’s still going to be challenges in the hardwood market, specifically a lot of pressure on pricing. We’re not really getting any help from the economics, the macroeconomics, with regards to interest rates. I certainly don’t see a massive recovery.”
— David Moore, SVP, product management, Mohawk
“Interest rates, inflation and supply challenges have been headwinds. However, we see monetary policy continuing to ease through 2025, which will stimulate existing home sales. A globally diversified supply chain positions the company to effectively meet customer demand amid economic or other changes. Our strong partnerships, flexible sourcing strategies and advanced global sourcing capabilities are foundational strengths that help minimize disruptions for our partners and customers.”
— Josh Martenn, VP hard surface products, Shaw
“Fighting to grow in less-than-optimal market conditions. Additional competition, supply chain issues or other disruptions could present challenges.”
— Bill Anderson, CEO, Karndean Designflooring
“Extreme differences in our political landscape impacts our ability to get things done for everyday consumers. We need inflation to come down, congressional cooperation for the betterment of America so people can improve their wages, educate their children, afford housing and have discretionary income to upgrade their living conditions. Everyday consumers cannot afford or will not choose to make big purchases in this climate, and thus remodel will stay slow.”
— Jamie Welborn, SVP product management, soft surface, Mohawk
“Over the past few years, TDG has survived some pretty dramatic events … a global pandemic, a ransomware attack, our primary fiber source abusively exiting the market, and 40-year record high inflation … so there have been plenty of sleepless nights! It has been difficult to know when the tough market conditions will improve. Hopefully with the election behind us and the optimism we are seeing and hearing, brighter days are coming sooner than later. I do continue to be concerned about the level of global unrest in our world today. If some kind of major global event happens, business conditions may be the least of our worries.”
— T.M. Nuckols, president, residential division, The Dixie Group
“Two things really keep me up at night: regional importers because they’ve got very low overhead so the barrier to entry is very low. That brings competitive pressures in terms of pricing. Second, wood-look alternatives such as laminate and resilient are going to put more pressure on the hardwood category as a whole.”
— Kyle McAllister, director of hardwood, Shaw Floors
“Global unrest and international import tariffs could disrupt rigid core imports, driving prices higher and causing severe supply shortages. Wellmade stands poised and ready to supply our customers with premium U.S.-made rigid core vinyl products regardless of tensions that may arise around the world.”
— Dick Quinlan, VP of sales and marketing, Wellmade
“Uncertainty is definitely a theme, but that’s nothing new for this industry. Cali has weathered challenges by staying versatile and offering curated, diversified collections. We lean on strong relationships, uphold strict quality standards and provide a range of ‘good, better, best’ options to suit any customer or project. By staying adaptable and strategic, I’m confident we’ll navigate what comes our way and make 2025 another successful year.”
— Doug Jackson, CEO, Cali
“What keeps me up at night is ensuring Shaw stays agile in an ever-changing landscape so we can consistently meet and exceed our customers’ expectations. Challenges like housing affordability, labor shortages and potential policy shifts can disrupt the industry, but our priority is understanding how these issues impact our customers and proactively delivering solutions that add value to their businesses and lives.”
— Tim Baucom, president, CEO, Shaw Industries
“I believe there will be a lot of supply chain uncertainty in the category to begin the year. Potential strikes at the East Coast ports, looming tariffs and other global disruptions will all affect the [industry].”
— Jason Surratt, president, Tarkett Home
“We have seen shrinkage in the industry in soft surface since 2021. The real question is will we start ‘bumping along the bottom’ in 2025 or start a period of growth again.”
— James Lesslie, COO, Engineered Floors
“The thing that concerns me is that tariffs and duties will be higher over the next 10 years than they were in the previous 10. Freight will be more volatile. We have geopolitical uncertainty with America in the Middle East, Russia, Asia. We have less wherewithal to keep all the shipping lanes open, which is going to bring more freight disruptions and higher costs.”
— Brian Carson, president & CEO, AHF Products
“Trying to keep ahead of the geopolitical issues to keep our customers’ supply chain competitive and ahead of the game. That’s one thing that keeps me up at night no matter what the political view is. Geopolitical events seem to happen every single year. We haven’t had a break, whether it’s the Ukrainian war or tariffs. So for me, it’s geopolitical. Novalis can handle the market dynamics of the category, but we don’t have any say on the geopolitical movements of the world.”
— Steve Ehrlich, VP business & operations, Novalis
“Loss of market share for hardwood. There is a widespread lack of awareness in the marketplace about the true value of hardwood floors compared to look-alike alternatives.”
— Jerome Goulet, marketing director, Mirage Hardwood Floors
“We see a continued difficult market for housing starts and repair & remodeling activity; and thus the demand for flooring in general.”
— Derek Welbourn, CEO, Inhaus
“The ongoing sluggishness in the residential flooring market and uncertainty about the strength of a comeback in the second half of 2025. It feels like we have been waiting on this to happen forever. Of course, interest rates, inflation and geopolitical events will certainly have a say in consumer behavior and market conditions.”
— Quentin Quathamer, director of residential carpet, Mannington
“I would say there are two areas there. One, obviously with the potential for tariffs to come on for ’25, that’s something that the industry will have to navigate. We’ve navigated it before when it came on in 2017, but it’s always one that you wonder how it will play out.
And then the other one is just what’s the next thing? The resilient category has seen a slew of innovation literally from the beginning. So we’re always looking for what is that next thing that we’ve got to jump on early, given all the pace of innovation in this category.”
— Adam Ward, vice president, resilient, Mohawk
“The unknown factor is what keeps me up. What is the next thing that’s going to come at us that we have to make the adjustments for? What is the next white elephant? What are we going to face on top of what’s already happening around the world? That’s what’s keeping me kind of wondering.”
— Wade Bondrowski, director of sales, USA, Mercier Hardwood Flooring
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