Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing If We Travel Back 25 Years in History

By Congoleum's Roger Marcus, president and CEO, and Dennis Jarosz, senior vice president of sales and marketing If we travel back 25 years in history, we find that what we now call resilient flooring was primarily called vinyl or, in the case of sheet, lino_ which stemmed from linoleum. The vinyl flooring industry in 1986 was just emerging from the use of asbestos as one of its staple ingredients and was on the way to being completely asbestos free. Sheet vinyl was primarily all constructed on felt back and ranged from inexpensive products intended for retail stock to very expensive high-end products constructed with inlaid vinyl chip wear surfaces coated with urethane. Much of the high-end sheet was sold in 6-foot widths although the overall market had pretty much gone to 12-foot widths by the mid to late '80s. There were even some commercial goods sold in 9-foot widths for hallways and corridors. With few exceptions, most residential tile products were 12 inches and sold with either a self-adhesive backing or dry back. The self-adhesive products were purchased by stocking retailers for sale to do-it-yourselfers while the dry back goods were sold by what we call today specialty dealers or those who both sold and installed the floor. In addition to residential tile, each manufacturer offered a commercial selection of what we now know as vinyl composition tile (VCT) in 12-inch size and in either 3/32- or 1/8-inch thicknesses. Back then at a flooring store, consumers, for the most part, could select from either vinyl or carpet. Very few retailers carried much, if any, hardwood or ceramic and laminate had yet to come on the scene. As we fast forward toward the present day, we have to examine construction changes, styling improvements, performance enhancements and competitive landscape changes on both the supplier and retailer side to fully understand the last quarter century. Style sheets In sheet vinyl, the major changes have definitely occurred on the styling and color side. Twenty-five years ago, designs were much simpler and color was very light, even pastel in many cases. Through the years, styling has evolved with ever more sophisticated printing techniques that allow for rich, saturated designs that duplicate the look of real stone, marble, etc. Color, too, has become richer, deeper and more saturated. For the most part, the standard width sold in North America is now 12 feet, albeit there are some imported products being sold in wider widths. The standard sheet product, which comprises about 75% of today's market, is still made in a felt back construction, though in recent years some advances have been made by fiberglass sheet. All the U.S. manufactured produced fiberglass sheet in the 1980s but withdrew from the market because of numerous "buckling" complaints. Today there are hybrid products in the market that incorporate the best of both felt and fiberglass resulting in flooring that can be installed in a variety of ways and in multiple environments without risk. Sheet wearlayers have improved significantly. The urethane wear surfaces have become very durable and easy to maintain. And, the addition of such items as aluminum oxide, nylon particles, anti-bacterials and special polymers to resist dirt and stains have made caring for sheet flooring easier than ever. In 1986, for all practical purposes, there were four producers of sheet vinyl recognized in North America: Armstrong, Congoleum, Mannington and Tarkett. Today, these companies all still exist, plus there are a number of import brands from Europe such as IVC and Beauflor, for example. The improvements that have occurred in styling and wear surface have happened as a natural evolution over the previous 25 years. Three tiles In order to properly address the tile part of the category, we now have to separate it into three segments_self-adhering DIY tile, luxury vinyl tile (LVT) and commercial or VCT. Starting with the easiest, commercial, there has been little change in VCT over the past 25 years other than changes in color to suit the taste of the times. Today, there is a minor presence of non-PVC product, but it accounts for a very small percentage of the market. DIY tile has largely become the domain of imported product, mostly from China, whereas 25 years ago most was made in the U.S. While a quarter century ago there were a number of flooring specialty retailers that stocked and sold DIY tile along with the emerging big box stores, today this product area is predominantly sold in the home centers. Styling, just as in sheet, has improved to fit the times. Most DIY tile is self adhering and 12 inches in size. LVT re-debuted, if you will, in 1986 with the introduction of a product called Classic Touch from Amtico U.S. (now a part of Congoleum) and has evolved to a category that includes product made by a growing number of domestic and import sources. Though much of this type is sold for commercial use a fair amount is purchased residentially as well. Styling in this category mimics natural woods as well stone and marble. The real hot growth area in LVT came after the millennium. First Congoleum introduced DuraCeramic to take things into the faux ceramic area, then Mannington's Adura brought the wood visuals to a new level. Today, the LVT concept has expanded into planks and, as a whole, is well represented from all the major producers as well as a growing number of importers. Basically, this segment gives the consumer the look of real ceramic tile, stone and wood with a product that, when complete, is difficult to distinguish in appearance from the real thing. However, it is much more comfortable underfoot, is quieter in terms of noise transmission and can be installed much more quickly and inexpensively. The latest LVT styles are incorporating mechanical locking systems brought over from the laminate category. This is the "darling" of the resilient tile market at the moment and has taken share from other categories such as ceramic and laminate. Luxury tile, planks and faux ceramic, just like residential sheet, have seen wear surfaces improve from the plain, smooth, vinyl surfaces of 25 years ago to mechanical textures that duplicate natural looks and urethane wear surfaces with enhancements that make them as easy to clean and care for as the best sheet products. In summary, much of the evolution over the past 25 years in both resilient sheet and tile has come on the residential side of the business with improvements in styling, color and performance that could only have been dreamed of a quarter century ago. Source: floorbiz.com