For many U.S.-based floor covering retailers and distributors, the COVID-19 pandemic served as a jarring wake-up call. As bottlenecks at many of the country’s shipping ports became commonplace, that forced many specialty flooring retailers and wholesalers to explore alternatives to resilient products that they had long sourced, reliably, from Asia and other parts of the world.
The primary beneficiary of that large-scale pivot was laminate. “Domestic laminate manufacturing has served us well for many years,” said John Hammel, senior director, hardwood and laminate, Mannington. “It allowed us to service our customers over the fluidity of the last few years at a time when others struggled. Since the beginning of 2022 we’ve been able to consistently service all orders within three weeks.”
Another upside to domestic production for Mannington— whose laminate flooring manufacturing operations are based in High Point, N.C.—is the relative proximity to its corporate headquarters in Salem, N.J., where most of its design team members are located. This, according to Hammel, allows more seamless collaboration between different departments. “Our style and design team continues to develop in-house designs that lead the industry in their realism,” he explained, citing Mannington’s TruDetail Digital print technology, which enables more unique EIR planks and, by extension, more appealing installations.
Not to be outdone, Mohawk—with laminate plants in Thomasville and Garner, N.C.—ccontinually leverages its capabilities on both the manufacturing and design fronts. Whether it’s Wet-Protect, the latest click system or advancements in digital printing (i.e., Signature Technology), the goal is to continue to build upon its signature RevWood laminated wood line as interest in home-grown laminate remains high.
“We’ve always been, from a feature and benefit perspective, positioned at the ‘better’ and ‘best’ part of the market,” said David Moore, senior product director, Mohawk. In particular, he cited the various RevWood tiers that provide retailers with trade-up opportunities. And it’s all made in the U.S.A. “That’s really where RevWood has made a name for itself. And then we’ve continued to expand that with our Pergo Elements products.”
The list of advantages of domestic laminate flooring production don’t end there—not by a longshot. Major homegrown suppliers of the product—both branded and private-label suppli-ers—also cite the benefits of having production facilities that are near to their customers.
“There are certainly advantages to being close to the market,” said Kyle Brown, executive vice president of Barnwell, S.C.-based Swiss Krono USA, which is estimated to service anywhere from 25%-30% of the North American laminate market. “Obviously, with domestic manufacturing and warehousing we can offer very quick response times. In fact, for most of our retail partners, we’re just a drive down the road. That’s especially helpful when you’re working on forecasting, product development, etc., because you’re not trying to coordinate across different time zones.”
Even laminate brands that source some of their products from overseas locales see the upside to obtaining some product locally. Case in point is Eternity, which works with laminate flooring producers from multiple locations, including Spain, China, Portugal and, of course, America. The objective is to provide both a robust and redundant source of supply. “U.S. Mills is our partner on the waterproof laminate line that we’re marketing here in the States,” said Isaac Lee, director of marketing, Eternity, headquartered in Pacoima, Calif. “They’ve been a very consistent, high-quality supplier for us.”
That dependability is due in large measure to U.S. Mills’ infrastructure, experience and advanced capabilities. With a state-of-the-art operation in Clarion, Pa., U.S. Mills has the means to service a wide range of clients across various formats. But perhaps it’s the supplier’s clients that stand to benefit the most from being close to their partner’s manufacturing base. “By working with a domestic supplier like us, there’s an overall reduction in the need for retailers to stock inventory,” Swiss Krono’s Brown added. “If you’re a retailer ordering by the container load, you’re buying FOB and loading up working capital and tying it up in inventory and long lead times. Right now we’re working off a mix between make to order and make to stock. Most of our business is make to stock, so we hold inventory here domestically to make sure it’s in the right place at the right time for our commercial partners.”
Ripe for investment
With the suddenly resurgent U.S. laminate flooring market showing no signs of a slowdown, suppliers are doubling down on their investments in stateside manufacturing plants and operations. This includes new equipment and machinery to render more realistic visuals, to processes designed to boost automation.
“During 2020, 2021 and 2022, we were making as much product as everyone wanted,” Mohawk’s Moore said. “The investments that we’ve made in our factories—as well as just some changes that we’ve made internally—will put us in a great supply position for the foreseeable future.”
Ditto for Swiss Krono, which since 2020 invested $400 million in capital equipment to vertically integrate MDF production in its Barnwell facility. “The overall market’s down right—we all know that,” Brown said. “But I think when the market springs back, it will return to where it was pre-COVID. And we feel it’s going to come back domestically faster than the imported business.”
