Strategic Exchange: Q1 travels indicate industry optimism – Feb 2026

By Kemp Harr

It was great to see everyone during our January travels to the regional markets, the CCA Global meeting in Denver and Surfaces in Las Vegas. The best part is that the mood is positive. The consensus among the industry leaders we’ve polled as to whether we’ll see steady demand in the flooring business in 2026 is an optimistic yes.

Granted, the noise out of Washington is not helping the consumer feel good about spending money, but as ITR’s Connor Lokar reminds us, the best strategy is to tune that noise out. In fact, in his mid-January presentation (at the CCA Global Meeting), he pointed to existing home sales and the ITR Remodeling Market Index as the closest correlating statistics for forecasting retail flooring sales. Fortunately, existing-home sales surged 5.1% in December to 4.35 million, the highest level in nearly three years. And ITR’s Remodeling Market Index is also positive with the latest statistics calling for an 0.6% increase.

CCA GLOBAL MEETING RECAP

This group has continued to evolve, and several news items deserve mention from its annual winter meeting. The members who attended represent roughly 1,200 retail stores-so this is, by far, the largest buying group meeting in the flooring industry.

For 2025, initial estimates are telling us that the residential replacement business was down 4% to 5%. But at the meeting, data was presented that showed growth among the members was about 1%. So collectively, the members took share in the market last year.

On the first day of the meeting, the group hosted 43 education classes on a wide range of topics. Not surprisingly, the classes that were standing-room-only were focused on how to integrate AI into a retail operation. Two sessions were hosted by an outside expert named Ford Saeks, and his knowledge and advice was spot-on about areas where retailers should be integrating AI to improve the level of interaction they have with consumers. A third session on AI allowed a few members to share how they were using it to position their operation on the internet and answer online reviews.

From an in-store merchandising perspective, CCA continues to build on its Retail 2.0 program. In fact, I invite you to listen to an interview I did with Theresa Fisher, SVP of merchandising and brand, to learn more about how the group plans to stay ahead of the competition and focus on making sure the consumer’s shop-at-home experience matches the in-store experience. This new Retail 3D program has been developed in partnership with Roomvo and is being tested in a few stores, and it will be the solution for how the group adds the tile category to their stores without adding clutter.

During the three-day meeting, which culminated with an evening with comedian Jay Leno, more programs were rolled out than I can cover in this space. I should mention that the group is introducing a garage floor program in the interest of giving the members more products to sell to homeowners. It’s also tweaking its consumer finance program.

CCA AWARDS

During the meeting, several people were recognized for their achievements., the most notable of which was Charlie Dilks, CCA’s chief product officer, who was awarded the WFCA Hall of Fame Award. This is the flooring industry’s most prestigious award and is well deserved by Charlie, who has devoted his entire career to raising the bar within the industry.

A new award, called the Howard Brodsky Legacy Award, was given to Bill Kerns, whose family is one of the founding members of Carpet One. Bill, whose father and predecessor in the business, Pat Kerns, passed away in December, has not missed a single Carpet One meeting in his 42 years in the industry. Bill’s business is Kerns Carpet One in Brookfield, Wisconsin.

The Alan Greenberg Award was given to Bonnie Fenwick, who runs Best Buy Floors in Jacksonville, Florida, which was started by her dad, and who serves on CCA’s board of directors.

And lastly, the Wally Hileman Award was given to Brent Posusta of Custom Interiors in Hutchinson, Minnesota.

CARPET ONE CONSIDERING NAME CHANGE

When Carpet One was founded 42 years ago as Carpet Co-op of America, 70% of revenue came from carpet sales. Last year, that number dropped to 35% on a national average, so the group is currently investing in consumer research to determine if it should change its store names to Floor and Home by Carpet One. At this point, no final decision has been made, and some members who have invested heavily over the years in consumer advertising, feel this might be a mistake.

Board member Drew Barber, who co-owns a chain of Carpet One stores in Spokane, Washington and who also serves on the CCA Board, has already moved to this brand strategy for his stores. n

For comments on this column, email kemp@floorfocus.com.