Wholesalers ride WPC/SPC rigid core wave
Most would agree that year-over-year growth among flooring distributors isn’t what it once was, especially in relation to pre2006 recession rates. Today, distributors are eking out much smaller gains, around 3-5%, with those that choose the right product mix enjoying the most success.
“You could be doing all the right things, but if you don’t have the right product it does not matter—you won’t be successful,” said Jeff Striegel, president of Elias Wilf, Owings Mills, Md.“If you have been successful in recent years, it means you caught that LVT wave. Products are driving growth these days; categories are driving growth. If you are a distributor that does a lot of sheet vinyl and laminate, he will tell you the world is coming to an end.”
But the flooring distribution world is not coming to an end. In fact, it is growing and the LVT/WPC/SPC rigid core segment has much to do with that movement. Distributors have been retooling their portfolios to make ample room for this still-expanding category.
LVT/WPC/SPC rigid core has infiltrated all segments of the business and taken share from resilient sheet goods, VCT, laminate and other hard surface products. “What has been surprising is how LVT/WPC is taking share even from hardwood flooring,” said Scott Rozmus, CEO of Romeoville, Ill.-based FlorStar Sales, a top 20 distributor.
Others attest to the shift in demand. Wilf’s Striegel believes you will never make a wood customer a laminate customer, but you can make a wood customer an LVT customer. “It is impacting a wider breadth of products,” he said.
What’s fascinating about the broader LVT category, observers say, is there have been several iterations, from click LVT to WPC to rigid core. LVT was the hot product for a few years, and WPC, while it is still growing—led by USFloors’ COREtec—was the breakout star in 2016. Since then rigid core had made significant inroads. “The SPC rigid core flooring product is just getting started,” Striegel noted. “The potential for it is staggering.”
Industry in transition
It is estimated that Lumber Liquidators, long a bastion for hardwood and laminate, now does approximately 20% of its business in vinyl planks—something that was unheard of five years ago. Denver Hardwood, which at one time was nearly exclusively hardwood flooring, said WPC and SPC rigid core flooring experienced double-digit growth in every facility it managed in 2016. In fact, SPC rigid core flooring has been its strongest segment, led by the company’s private-label Neptune brand.
Many observers like to compare laminate’s growth in the early Pergo days to LVT/WPC’s current rally. However, laminate wasn’t used commercially back then. Furthermore, until a 12mm version came out, it was not used in the builder sector, either, making it almost exclusively a retail residential-focused product.
Meanwhile, LVT/WPC/SPC rigid core flooring products are crossing all barriers. “It’s huge in commercial, there are no boundaries by channel,” Striegel stated. “WPC is nothing more than LVT with a different core, if you really look at it. LVT is still coming out of its embryonic state; maybe now it’s a teenager.”
Part of that change is a transition in installation formats from LVT glue-down to LVT click, according to Striegel. “We will see a lot of the locking LVT go over to WPC. LVT will become mostly glue down as it fills a need for durable, waterproof flooring. From an installation point of view, LVT solved a problem. We will see several generations of this product develop. We will see different cores, gauges and thicknesses. LVT is the most versatile, diverse flooring I have seen in decades. I am seeing plenty of upside growth in this category.”
Others agree that healthy growth is likely to continue—albeit perhaps not at the astronomical levels seen in the last three years. Some say they are starting to see pricing pressure on the category, which, if it continues, could certainly put a damper on this runaway success story.
In Wilf’s Mid-Atlantic territory, there are 41 LVT lines available at last count. In its heyday, laminate peaked at 36 suppliers. “We have hit saturation,” Striegel stated. “Every commercial carpet guy has an LVT line now. You can’t even get distribution for some of the lines. I believe in the next 12 to 18 months we will see a clear separation from those committed to the category vs. those who are just participating it.
“You could be doing all the right things, but if you don’t have the right product it does not matter—you won’t be successful,” said Jeff Striegel, president of Elias Wilf, Owings Mills, Md.“If you have been successful in recent years, it means you caught that LVT wave. Products are driving growth these days; categories are driving growth. If you are a distributor that does a lot of sheet vinyl and laminate, he will tell you the world is coming to an end.”
But the flooring distribution world is not coming to an end. In fact, it is growing and the LVT/WPC/SPC rigid core segment has much to do with that movement. Distributors have been retooling their portfolios to make ample room for this still-expanding category.
LVT/WPC/SPC rigid core has infiltrated all segments of the business and taken share from resilient sheet goods, VCT, laminate and other hard surface products. “What has been surprising is how LVT/WPC is taking share even from hardwood flooring,” said Scott Rozmus, CEO of Romeoville, Ill.-based FlorStar Sales, a top 20 distributor.
Others attest to the shift in demand. Wilf’s Striegel believes you will never make a wood customer a laminate customer, but you can make a wood customer an LVT customer. “It is impacting a wider breadth of products,” he said.
What’s fascinating about the broader LVT category, observers say, is there have been several iterations, from click LVT to WPC to rigid core. LVT was the hot product for a few years, and WPC, while it is still growing—led by USFloors’ COREtec—was the breakout star in 2016. Since then rigid core had made significant inroads. “The SPC rigid core flooring product is just getting started,” Striegel noted. “The potential for it is staggering.”
Industry in transition
It is estimated that Lumber Liquidators, long a bastion for hardwood and laminate, now does approximately 20% of its business in vinyl planks—something that was unheard of five years ago. Denver Hardwood, which at one time was nearly exclusively hardwood flooring, said WPC and SPC rigid core flooring experienced double-digit growth in every facility it managed in 2016. In fact, SPC rigid core flooring has been its strongest segment, led by the company’s private-label Neptune brand.
Many observers like to compare laminate’s growth in the early Pergo days to LVT/WPC’s current rally. However, laminate wasn’t used commercially back then. Furthermore, until a 12mm version came out, it was not used in the builder sector, either, making it almost exclusively a retail residential-focused product.
Meanwhile, LVT/WPC/SPC rigid core flooring products are crossing all barriers. “It’s huge in commercial, there are no boundaries by channel,” Striegel stated. “WPC is nothing more than LVT with a different core, if you really look at it. LVT is still coming out of its embryonic state; maybe now it’s a teenager.”
Part of that change is a transition in installation formats from LVT glue-down to LVT click, according to Striegel. “We will see a lot of the locking LVT go over to WPC. LVT will become mostly glue down as it fills a need for durable, waterproof flooring. From an installation point of view, LVT solved a problem. We will see several generations of this product develop. We will see different cores, gauges and thicknesses. LVT is the most versatile, diverse flooring I have seen in decades. I am seeing plenty of upside growth in this category.”
Others agree that healthy growth is likely to continue—albeit perhaps not at the astronomical levels seen in the last three years. Some say they are starting to see pricing pressure on the category, which, if it continues, could certainly put a damper on this runaway success story.
In Wilf’s Mid-Atlantic territory, there are 41 LVT lines available at last count. In its heyday, laminate peaked at 36 suppliers. “We have hit saturation,” Striegel stated. “Every commercial carpet guy has an LVT line now. You can’t even get distribution for some of the lines. I believe in the next 12 to 18 months we will see a clear separation from those committed to the category vs. those who are just participating it.
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