Top 250 Design Survey 2006 - October 2006

By Maurie Welsh O'Neill

When times are good, people don’t complain as much as they do when times are bad. The nation’s Top 250 designers are certainly more content this year than they have been for a long time. If there’s a single point they agree on these days, it’s that the last year has been another strong one for the commercial market.

The commercial market is back from the deep depression that followed 9/11, but the designers also agree that today’s marketplace is far different from the fast and fabulous pre-2001 era, when big corporate projects dominated their work and most top firms barely dabbled in markets like healthcare, education, hospitality and residential.

The results of this year’s Top 250 survey certainly back that up. While the number of corporate projects survey respondents are involved in has increased since the sharp downturn in that sector five or six years ago, total growth in the Fortune 500 and big corporate projects remains close to last year. On the other hand, we’re seeing steady, even rapid growth in non-corporate jobs, and perhaps even more importantly, a steadily climbing interest and enthusiasm on the part of the designers for more products appropriate to those newly growing non-corporate markets. Corporate is no longer the undisputed king of the design community.

The Top 250’s commitment to work in these newer markets is, in fact, one of the big themes in this year’s survey. This was evident not only in the continued strength of markets other than corporate in our tally of Top Projects, but also in the healthy increases in those newest markets the designers reported they’re working in, particularly healthcare, which passed corporate for the first time in the designers’ top projects. Education projects remain prominent and upper end residential gained dramatically.

For the complete survey results, see the October 2006 issue of Floor Focus Magazine.

BEST OVERALL BUSINESS EXPERIENCE
When a customer can say he or she had a great overall business experience with a company, all the details pale in comparison. Once again, the Top 250 survey respondents picked their favorites for Best Overall Business Experience in both the Carpet and Hard Surface categories, and once again InterfaceFlor and Shaw Contract finished nearly in a dead heat in the Carpet category. Among hard surface manufacturers, though, Armstrong replaced Dal-Tile in the top spot, followed by Johnsonite, which also came in second last year. Dal-tile finished third this year. The survey respondents rate the manufacturers using these criteria: Very Satisfied, Moderately Satisfied, Good for Certain Jobs Only, Never Worked with Them, Never Heard of Them, and Dissatisfied. The companies listed are chosen by the number of Very Satisfied votes they receive. In case of a tie, we also weigh the Moderately Satisfied votes.
HARD SURFACES				CARPET
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18.	ARMSTRONG JOHNSONITE DAL-TILE CROSSVILLE ROPPE MANNINGTON COMMERCIAL FORBO AMERICAN OLEAN NORA RUBBER AMTICO TARKETT FORMICA (KRONOTEX) AZROCK FLEXCO TOLI GRANITIFIANDRE ABET LAMINATIE ECOSURFACES	2006 73% 69% 62% 58% 53% 53% 45% 43% 42% 38% 29% 29% 25% 25% 24% 24% 22% 20%	2005 60% 65% 70% 54% 52% 47% 47% 51% 27% 18% 28% -- 19% 31% 22% 23% -- 19%	1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18.	INTERFACEFLOR SHAW MANNINGTON COMMERCIAL BENTLEY PRINCE ST. ATLAS INVISION MASLAND COMMERCIAL DURKAN COMMERCIAL LEES MONTEREY MOHAWK COMMERCIAL J&J C&A KARASTAN MILLIKEN DESIGNWEAVE PATCRAFT DURKAN PATTERNED	2006 60% 60% 55% 49% 49% 45% 42% 38% 36% 36% 35% 33% 33% 31% 29% 29% 27% 27%	2005 57% 49% 47% 49% 36% 33% 39% 42% 39% 28% 33% 35% 33% 43% 29% 27% 31% 23%

FAVORITE CARPET MANUFACTURERS
Competition amonth the nation's commercial carpet manufacturers seems to get more intense every year, and that's no more evident than in the results of this survey. Not too long ago, a handful of companies dominated the top spots in this survey, but this year we have new winners in four out of the five categories. Only in Service did Shaw and InterfaceFlor once again tie for the top spot. Quality seems to be a bigger issue than ever for designers, and Bentley Prince Street moved from second to first in that category. This year, Atlas came in tops in the glamour category, Design, just ahead of Interface, which was at or near the top of every category last year. Interface was still one of the most consistent manufacturers this year, though, tying for first in Service and coming in second in Quality, Design and Value. InterfaceFlor's sister company, Bentley Prince Street, and Shaw Contract were also prominent winners this year, as you can see from the list.
SERVICE		QUALITY		DESIGN
InterfaceFlor and Shaw Contract once again tied for first followed by BPS, which was also second last year. Masland jumped from fifth to third. Newcomers this year, that highlight the strength of the hospitality market, Bloomsburg, Fortune, Tai Ping, Couristan, Clayton Miller, Burtco and Design Origins.		Bentley Prince Street took the top spot away from sister company InterfaceFlor in this increasingly important category. InterfaceFlor tied with Lees for second. Karastan, Atlas and Shaw contract, all perennial leaders in this category, tied for third. Durkan, which wasn't on the list last year, was fourth		Atlas is always near the top in this hightly regarded category, and this year it edged past InterfaceFlor, which was just slightly ahead of Bentley Prince Street, Monterey and Shaw Contract. All the rest of the category winners were far behind the top three spots.
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.	INTERFACEFLOR SHAW CONTRRACT BENTLEY PRINCE STREET (BPS) LEES MASLAND ATLAS MOHAWK MANNINGTON DURKAN KARASTAN J&J INVISION MILLIKEN PATCRAFT MONTEREY	1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.	BPS INTERFACEFLOR LEES KARASTAN ATLAS SHAW CONTRACT DURKAN MANNINGTON MILLIKEN MONTEREY C&A PATCRAFT MASLAND	1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.	ATLAS INTERFACEFLOR BPS SHAW MONTEREY CONSTANTINE DURKAN MASLAND PATCRAFT LEES C&A MILLIKEN INVISION MANNINGTON BLUE RIDGE KARASTAN
Also mentioned: Bloomsburg, Fortune, Tai Ping, Couristan, Burtco, Clayton Miller, Design Origins, Beaulieu		Also mentioned: Burtco, Bloomsburg, Fortune, Couristan, Constantine, Beaulieu		Also mentioned: Stanton, Glen Eden, Fortune, Beaulieu, Design Origins, Bloomsburg, Fabrica, Tuva Looms
PERFORMANCE		VALUE
Lees dominated this category, virtually leaving all the other players in the dust. Bentley Prince Street and Shaw Contract, which were tied for third last year, moved up to second, along with C&A, which leaped all the way from sixth to tie for the second spot.		Shaw Contract, a consistent winner in this category, took first place alone this year. InterfaceFlor, which shared the top spot last year, was second this year, followed closely by Patcraft, which was tied for second last year.
1. 2. 3. 4.	LEES C&A SHAW BPS KARASTAN ATLAS MANNINGTON MASLAND MOHAWK PATCRAFT MILLIKEN INTERFACEFLOR MONTEREY	1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.	SHAW INTERFACEFLOOR PATCRAFT LEES BPS ATLAS MOHAWK DURKAN J&J C&A MASLAND
Also mentioned: Beaulieu, Fortune, Bloomsburg		Also mentioned: Milliken, Blue Ridge, Beaulieu, Karastan

FAVORITE RESILIENT & HARD SURFACE MANUFACTURERS
The designers are always looking for something new in hard surface flooring, so it isn't surprising to see some new players among this year's favorites. In fact, there were more players than ever--29--mentioned as favorites this year. Perennial leader Armstrong was once again at or near the top in four of the five categories. Consistent design favorites Amtico, Forbo, Crossville, Mannington and Johnsonite were joined by rubber manufacturer Nora this year. Last year we saw hardwood emerge as an important category, and that trend continued this year, as four hardwood manufacturers were named favorites.
SERVICE		QUALITY		DESIGN
Armstrong and Dal-Tile seem to trade the top two spots in this category on a regular basis, and they did so again this time. Johnsonite moved up from fourth to tie for third this year with Forbo and Mannington Commercial.		Forbo replaced Armstrong, which had been first the past two years, at the top of this key category. Mannington moved up to third behind Armstrong, while Nora Rubber moved into fourth, up from seventh last year.		Mannington, which was a consistent leader in this category years ago, moved back into the lead this year, ahead of Amtico and Forbo, both of which have held the top spot in the past. Crossville was tied for third with Nora.
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.	ARMSTRONG DAL-TILE JOHNSONITE FORBO MANNINGTON NORA CROSSVILLE AMERICAN OLEAN AMTICO TOLI CENTIVA	1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.	FORBO ARMSTRONG MANNINGTON NORA JOHNSONITE CROSSVILLE DAL-TILE AMERICAN OLEAN TOLI CENTIVA	1. 2. 3. 4. 5.	MANNINGTON AMTICO FORBO CROSSVILLE NORA JOHNSONITE ARMSTRONG TOLI DAL-TILE CENTIVA ANN SACKS STONE SOURCE ECOSURFACES
Also mentioned: Mullican, Wilsonart, Tarkett, Parterre, Junckers, Altro, Walker Zanger, Innovative Stone, Stone Source		Also mentioned: Mullican, Gammapar, Amtico, Altro, Junckers, Wilsonart, Stone Source		Also mentioned: Tarkett, Mullican, GranitiFiandre, Parterre, Plynl, Altro, Halo
PERFORMANCE		VALUE
Armstrong took first place in Performance for the second year in a row. Mannington was once again second, while Forbo, Crossville, Johnsonite and Nora tied for the third spot.		Armstrong, which is always near the top in this category, was an overwhelming winner this year. The nation's largest vinyl producer replaced Dal-Tile, which slipped to third this year. Mannington was once again in the number two spot.
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.	ARMSTRONG MANNINGTON FORBO CROSSVILLE NORA JOHNSONITE DAL-TILE CENTIVA TOLI ECOSURFACES AMERICAN OLEAN MARAZZI LONSEAL	1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.	ARMSTRONG MANNINGTON DAL-TILE CROSSVILLE FORBO JOHNSONITE AMERICAN OLEAN CENTIVA TOLI TARKET
Also mentioned: Allstate Rubber, Metroflor, Amtico, Altro, Mullican, Mohawk Hardwood		Also mentioned: Amtico, Parterre, Altro, Mullican

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