Carpet Poised for a Comeback: Some retailers are sensing a pick-up in residential carpet sales – May 2026

By Jessica Chevalier

Some U.S. retailers have taken note of a renewed interest in carpet by retail consumers. This isn’t based on a single factor but several: the fact that low-end carpet is often the cheapest way to cover a floor, improving technology that has led to more appealing product, and flooring retailers trading stocked area rug inventories for bound-and-serged offerings.

To be clear, this trend isn’t a tidal wave. It’s a measured increase, but for some retailers in some areas, it is noticeable. “Last year, our retail business was up in both dollars and feet in carpet,” says Justin Linington, vice president/national sales director for Brewer Carpet One, with 34 locations, split among the CCA brands (Carpet One, Flooring America, ProSource and Floor Trader) in Oklahoma, Missouri, Texas, Illinois, Iowa and Florida. “It has been a slow move-up, but it has been gaining some share.” He notes that while the bound-rug business is part of that, it’s a relatively small part, with the greater point of influence that some consumers who have previously installed LVT in their bedrooms found they prefer carpet underfoot in those spaces and are returning to the material. 

Bo Perkins, sales manager for Broadway Carpets & Flooring in Knoxville, Tennessee has also sensed an upward shift. “We saw it starting last year,” he says. “There are a couple of different customer groups choosing carpet: consumers building forever-homes or second homes and consumers flipping a home and looking for a flooring that will enable them to get the house on the market fast. It’s also a quick fix if a floor isn’t level.”

“Our numbers are up 3% to 4% on carpet sales from a yardage standpoint,” says Ryan King, president of National Design Mart. “We separate builder and retail. On the retail side, the average product cost is up 7%, as it’s the consumer with money who is spending, and they are buying a nicer product. On the builder side, carpet is up 4% to 6%. The average cost hasn’t changed, but usage is up.” National Design Mart has two locations in Ohio (Medina and Wooster) serving the retail, builder, commercial and multifamily markets, and two additional locations (Cincinnati, Ohio and Charlotte, North Carolina) serving the builder, commercial and multifamily markets.

Marc Martorano, buyer for Avalon Flooring, has seen some positive signs for carpet but no real signs pointing to the fact that the category is on a substantial upward trajectory. January sales were decent. February and the first half of March weren’t great, but then the company held an annual carpet promotion, which did fairly well with a small increase over last year’s event. Avalon has 17 locations across Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware.

COLOR & STYLE

While carpet products make a lot of promises around performance these days, interviewees agree that color and styling remain significant drivers around what soft surface product is chosen. 

In terms of what customers prioritize, “Color is always first,” says Linington. “It’s such an important part of a space. The color has to be right.” 

In this area, manufacturers have stepped up, and that may be helping to re-attract customers to the soft side. “Carpet has gotten pretty again, and that helps the whole category. Patterns are pretty, and the pieces aren’t boring,” says Perkins, who notes that innovation in style isn’t just relegated to the high end. “We are seeing more style into the lower and middle of the market, more color. This is a fashion industry. And, if you look at the category as a whole, you see more inexpensive products made to look like they are expensive.”

FEATURES & BENEFITS

Perhaps it was LVT’s claim of being waterproof that awakened the consumer to asking what their floor could do for them rather than simply what they could do to maintain their floor, but, at this point in time, it is firmly entrenched in the consumer’s mind that flooring should make their lives easier, not harder. 

Carpet manufacturers have responded to that desire with products that are more cleanable and less stainable than prior versions—traits that are especially compelling for the active and pet-friendly households of today. 

Perkins points to Shaw’s LifeGuard backing and its R2X stain and soil-resistance technology as features that provides “peace of mind” for consumers. “Those are the things that are really important to the buyer,” he explains. “Maybe they went to waterproof LVT last time and found it oversold. So, this time, they look at carpet with a backing that is amazing.”

Products with technologies oriented toward pet owners are also influential in closing sales. “Pets come into play a lot,” says Perkins. “Shaw’s Pet Perfect is phenomenal.”

Martorano also believes that products marketed toward pet owners carry weight with consumers. In fact, he finds that Avalon’s carpet customers are highly influenced by factors around ease of maintenance and stain resistance. The company recently had a Mohawk rep demonstrate to Avalon’s retail sales associate (RSA) team how even red wine could be easily cleaned from its SmartStrand products, and Martorano considered how the Avalon team might do a similar demonstration for retail customers, noting that even witnessing the demonstration gives his team a greater ability to speak to the product’s attributes to consumers. 

“Cleanability is huge,” says Linington, “and the brands that have leaned into products clearly meant for active families with pets—that’s a really big thing.” 

Mohawk’s recent announcement that its SmartStrand with Pur-Ease carpet styles had earned Asthma & Allergy Friendly Certification is another development that Perkins believes could carry weight with consumers.  It’s a common misconception that hard surface flooring is a better choice for asthma and allergy sufferers than carpet, but science has not supported that, as carpet traps allergens until vacuuming, rather than allowing them to rise into the air, as they do on a hard surface floor. While Perkins and his team have been working to re-educate the consumer about this reality, he believes that the certification will help in supporting that re-education.

Linington adds, “With the SmartStand Colorwall products now being certified asthma and allergy-friendly, that could be a really big deal. As an industry, we need to do a better job at talking about carpet being better than hard surface for allergies. Often, misunderstanding, people rip out carpet because of allergies.”

King believes that what it’s really going to take to move the needle on the allergen debate is scientific research outside of the industry—perhaps a healthcare organization leading the charge rather a certifying body or anyone who could be seen as benefiting from the results. 

That said, what most of today’s customers don’t care to discuss is fiber. “Ten percent care about fiber; 90% don’t care about it at all,” says Perkins. “Five years ago, I would have argued until you weren’t my friend anymore about the importance of discussing fiber with consumers, but I have learned that lesson the hard way.”

The National Design Mart team has a preference for polyester carpet, but the team sells the fiber around its features. “The consumer’s number one question is how it cleans up and then how it wears, which are both loaded questions because if they aren’t properly maintaining the product, it doesn’t matter how we answer,” explains King. “However, we sell on value first, and we like polyesters because we think the technology is superior to nylon and because of value for affordability. Right now, even people with money are still looking for value.”

THE HIGHER END

Martorano believes that carpet consumers continue to buy carpet, and, often, these are older and more established consumers. He says, “I look at our specialty business with Stanton, and that is pretty healthy. It’s the people with money who are buying at that level.” 

The improved styling of products today has a great deal of appeal for higher-end consumers who want a higher-end look. Further, many of these high-style products are well-suited to consumers who want custom-made area rugs through bind and serge programs offered by both retailers and manufacturers. These programs, which many retailers have opted for in favor of stocked area rug programs, enable consumers to get a rug to their exact specifications and tastes. 

THE LOWER END

As we see right now in so many flooring categories, with the challenging economics of essentials squeezing non-wealthy consumers, it’s the low end and high end of carpet performing best, while the middle of the market struggles.  

However, when it comes down to simply getting something on the floor, a base-grade carpet is often the most economical choice. “We do a fair amount of restoration work and often hear, ‘We need the flooring ripped out, and another put back down,’” says Linington. 

Linington reports that, across Brewer’s range of retail locales, a base-grade installed LVT is generally $2/foot more expensive than a base-grade installed carpet, and a base-grade installed hardwood is often $2/foot more expensive than a base-grade installed LVT.  

While carpet can be a cheaper choice than LVT, that isn’t always the case. Says Perkins, “If you buy nice carpet, nice cushion and install it, you can sometimes get LVT cheaper because carpet often has waste.” 

King points out that poor-quality, base-grade products installed by builders in new construction often cause consumers to disregard carpet as a quality choice down the road when they are purchasing flooring. “Many builders put a 25-ounce product on the floor. I wish they would make the standard a 32-ounce because that extra seven ounces of material makes a big difference,” he explains. “We have to really educate consumers about carpet construction. The builder market doesn’t do retailers any favor when we are trying to resell a consumer carpet.”

QUALIFYING THE BUYER

Interviewees agree that, as with any flooring, qualifying the buyer is key for an installation to be ultimately successful. Linington says, “We ask, ‘Do you have kids or pets? Tell me about the space.’ If it’s a high-end room more focused on fashion, we take them to one section. If it’s a bonus room for a family with kids and dogs, we take them to another display.”

Martorano believes that proper qualification is key to eliminating dissatisfaction, which can be financially devastating for the buyer and a long-term headache for the seller. “Our sales team does really well with qualifying people,” he says. “We do a better job than most with training.” n