Laminate flooring

Laminate flooring has really been in the United States and Canada for about 11 years, but what a ride it has had.

Pergo was first introduced through Colortile roughly in 1996 and shortly after that mainline retailers began to carry the line. Around 1997-1998 the laminate category really picked up steam when companies that traditionally made counter top laminate like Formica, Wilsonart, Pickering and other flooring companies like Mannington, Armstrong, Mohawk and others began to market laminate flooring in a big way.

Today there are a number of changes. Many companies have left the laminate flooring business like Pickering and Formica both of whom terminated the flooring business after an initial great period of business followed by years of hypercompetition.

Today there are lots of names some familiar and some not. Pergo remains an important brand and Shaw and Armstrong both have nice shares in the market and seem to be growing. Other brands like Wilsonart, Mannington, Alloc and BHK struggle to find a place in the market. Newer brands like Quickstep (now owned by Mohawk) and Westhollow have emerged as leaders in various parts of the market developing unique looks and styles that are really popular. Formica has been reborn as a licensed name to Krono-tex which is a good move to capitalize on the strength of the Formica brand name.

The flood of Chinese imports have slowed recently since Unilin was sold to Mohawk which enable them to use the ITC to stop any non-licensed clicks from being imported. However, I have noted recently that cheap imports especially some of those being sold online are being marketed using improper specification claims. They claim E1 – when the core is E2 or higher. (this means there is too much formaldehyde in the core). They claim AC4 wear rating which would be capable of commercial level wear resistance and upon actual testing the product didn’t pass AC1. With or without a license this is perhaps one of the most critical areas where the buyer must beware!

Lots of things happening in the laminate flooring market. Sometimes it is hard to keep track of!