NWFA Expo 2024: This year’s wood flooring expo saw the biggest crowds in two decades – May 2024

By Darius Helm

The 2024 National Wood Flooring Association (NWFA) Expo, held at the New Orleans Convention Center from April 16 to 18 with the theme of “Raise the Bar,” officially launched on the first afternoon with the “Big Easy Kickoff” general session, led by NWFA outgoing chair Julie Russell and president and CEO Michael Martin. According to Martin, attendance was the highest it’s been in 20 years.

The kickoff event featured a report on the state of the wood flooring industry, which included a sales chart indicating that growth is anticipated in 2024, following two years of losses, as well as survey results showing that only 19% of respondents anticipate a down year against 47% who expect gains-33% think wood flooring sales will end up flat for the year.

The kickoff also included Wood Floor of the Year awards (see FloorDaily for the complete list), as well as an emerging leader award for Carlos Mongalo, program manager at National Flooring Contractors Apprentice Program. In addition, Jon Roy Reid of Trinity Hardwood Distributors and Chris Zizza of C&R Flooring were inducted into the NWFA Hall of Fame, and, toward the end of the event, Russell passed the baton to incoming chair Steve Brattin of SVB Wood Floors in Kansas City, Missouri.

NWFA also offered a comprehensive education schedule across the three days, covering everything from managing the business, building A&D relationships, marketing and using digital tools to new technologies, jobsite tool repair hacks and cutting-edge efficiency improvements. There was also a special session for inspectors.

“It’s really a one-of-a-kind show,” said Dan Natkin chief commercial officer for Boen and Somerset, “the only show truly dedicated to wood flooring and all of the related activities. And it’s not just a show; it’s an opportunity to learn and network, as well.” Several attendees on the show floor cited the education sessions as a big reason for attending the expo, but for most, it was about supporting the NWFA, connecting with partners and forging new relationships.

This year, there were about 200 exhibitors at the expo. Most were producers of solid and engineered wood flooring, along with machinery firms, producers of adhesives, abrasives and applicators, technology firms, business services and much more.
Next year’s show will be held in Charlotte, North Carolina, April 15 to 17.

WOOD FLOORING TRENDS
Two strong trends stood out at this year’s show. In terms of color, wood flooring exhibitors showed a much stronger turn toward rich, warm midtones than was evident at Surfaces earlier this year. Gone are the whites, by and large, though pale colors are still strong, particularly natural tones, but warm gold, caramel and gunstock hues were prominent in most displays.

The other big trend was de-pinked red oak. Many of the leading firms, including AHF, Kährs and Lauzon, offered red oaks with finishes that successfully eliminated the pinkish hues as an alternative to white oak. Should this trend find traction, it would be transformative to an industry that until recent years was heavily dominated by red oak.

For one thing, white oak capacity in the U.S. is under a lot of pressure to keep up with demand, with wood flooring producers often competing against barrel producers for products like bourbon and wine, driving up prices. However, red oak is abundant in the U.S., so a shift from white to red would be a huge boon to wood flooring producers. Wood experts note that, while red oak does not have characteristics like medullary rays to the same degree as white oak, rift and quartersawn cuts, typical white oak constructions, elevate red oak from the traditional and dated plainsawn look.

Also, it’s worth noting that red oak (quercus rubra) is unique to North America, with northern red oak more highly prized due to its tighter graining and less pink coloration than the southern woods. Red oak has a strong tradition in American culture and tradition, and now that it’s being updated in more fashion forward colors and cuts, it could be primed for a renewal.

ON THE SHOW FLOOR
Mullican used the show to launch two new products, including some white oaks with low key character. New to the market are the Haven and Serenity collections of 7” wide hickory and white oak in 3/8” engineered constructions.

Pat Oakley, who was promoted to president at the beginning of the year, succeeding current chairman Neil Poland, noted that the firm has been focused on completing three capital projects-two related to milling lines at Johnson City, Tennessee engineered facility and the other a process improvement project at its Norton, Virginia production facility-adding, “And we just completed implementation of SAP companywide, so it’s been a pretty busy six months.”

Sweden’s Kährs, not only the inventor of engineered wood flooring but also a leader in design, came to the expo with a couple of new collections. The Estate collection, produced through a partnership with a U.S. producer, features maple and hickory, along with whitened red oak. And on the booth floor in Frosted Oak was Beyond Retro, a character grade white oak that comes in a 7-1/2” plank and in a three-strip (2-1/2”) format on a single plank. The character grade is particularly dynamic in the strip format.

Quebec’s Mirage showcased its full family of brands, including Vintage, which was acquired in 2011; Ten Oaks solid hardwood strip flooring, acquired in 2019; and Alexandria, a more contemporary line that the firm bought just last year. It also displayed herringbone and chevron constructions. The chevrons are new, currently offered in white oak in 5” widths on the firm’s 3/4” TruBalance platform. The firm, well known for its quality, is outpacing the market due to its focus on the upper end.

Brad Williams, Mirage’s senior vice president of sales and marketing, reported that the firm has successfully moved away from Baltic birch cores to SFP (spruce, fir and pine), all sourced locally.

Mannington’s booth included displays of both its higher-end Monogram line, which was installed on the floor of the space, as well as its affordably priced Riverwalk. Monogram is a lightly wirebrushed 9/16” engineered European white oak with fuming to elevate the wood grain; it comes in an 8-1/2”x87” format. And Riverwalk, in colors ranging from natural to a rich midtone, is an engineered white oak from the firm’s Cambodian manufacturing partner.

Lauzon, a leading Canadian firm located in Papineauville, Quebec, showcased its Pure series of select grade maple and de-pinked red oak. It also offered displays of its Expert and Lauzon Collection lines. Expert includes both solid and two-ply engineered 3/4” products. And the Lauzon Collection of engineered wood, which comes with its Pure Genius antimicrobial treatment, licensed through Välinge, is available in white oak, red oak, maple and walnut.

Bjelin, the Woodura hardened wood brand created by Välinge, displayed its Contrast collection of Croatian oak, and announced that later this year it would introduce a 5G click system for herringbone to its Woodura constructions. Next month, the firm will again exhibit at NeoCon, as it continues to work on building traction for its commercial offering.

AHF Products, the market share leader in hardwood flooring, announced at the show that it is expanding its offering to include unfinished engineered wood, targeting the $700 million unfinished wood market that mostly goes to high-end new construction and remodel.

The firm is also taking its Dogwood densified wood technology to the commercial market, showcasing its offering under the Armstrong and AHF Contract brands at next month’s NeoCon in a range of species, including pine. And it has extended its Hydropel water repellent technology to its entire engineered wood line. It also had a lot of trending colors on display, including on the show floor, most notably its warm naturals and mid-range golden browns. And its line of PureTone red oak is notable for its convincing white oak colorations.

Bauwerk’s Boen and Somerset also shared an exhibit space. On display were some of the most popular collections, like Boen’s Chaletino European engineered oak that comes in an ultra-large format-11-3/4”x9’. Also showcased was Euro Wide Plank, a brand-new Somerset hardwood engineered in Europe and finished in the U.S.

Natkin also noted, “We are working on some new finish technologies that will set us apart from a lot of the others.”

Maxwell is a leading producer of unfinished hardwood, ranging from 2-1/4” strip to planks as wide as 8” to 9”. The firm reports that its highest volume is in the 6” and 7” widths. Strip, which is mostly red oak, is still a big business for the company, but it’s getting smaller. Other species include white oak, hickory, American cherry and walnut.

Mercier, which is based in Quebec, introduced a couple of new products, including Stellar, a 5” wide European white oak, which comes in two grades: Distinctive has the clarity of a select grade, and Authentic offers more character. Both are available in 1/2” and 3/4” thicknesses.

Al Collison, president of MP Global, was on hand at the firm’s booth to talk about the various underlayment innovations he has created over the years, including several recent ingenious products. Collison started the firm in 1997.

The AquaLayer underlayment offers a unique moisture barrier that will drain standing water from above, where it spreads across a felted back, then migrates back up at a slower rate to dissipate the moisture. And then there’s NeueWood, that sandwiches a layer of PET with recycled content in engineered wood constructions for cushioning and reduced sound transmission.

Copyright 2024 Floor Focus

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