Brian Preuss, president of AHSG/Commercial USA, chats on stage with Tara Bayke of ITR Economics.
San Antonio—AHSG/Commercial USA welcomed a record 325 attendees Monday to its biennial member summit. The group themed this year’s event “Beyond the Surface.”
Since the group last met in 2024, AHSG/Commercial USA has expanded significantly. It has added 14 suppliers, 10 technology partners and 91 dealer members.
“None of that happened by accident,” said Brian Preuss, who was named president in May 2026. “In two years, we didn’t just get bigger, we got better.”
Preuss also pointed to the group’s mix of residential and commercial business. AHSG/Commercial USA divides its business roughly evenly between the two segments.
“Diversity is what has helped sustain us and why this conference matters,” Preuss said.
The opening day at JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country featured several speakers and a vendor trade show.
Economic outlook
Keynote speaker Jon Petz “levitates” a group of AHSG/Commercial USA members as part of his tricks.
Inflation remains elevated and affordability continues to challenge consumers. However, the overall economy continues to grow, according to Tara Bayke, economist and senior consultant for ITR Economics.
Bayke discussed current economic conditions and what businesses can expect in the years ahead.
“We are moving toward normalization of the supply chain,” Bayke said. She presented several graphs showing consumers continue to spend despite higher costs.
“We will continue to see costs rising,” she said. “Prices are up about 3.7% vs. last year; costs won’t rise at the same rate in ’27 as they are today but in ’28 the pressures will rear back up.”
ITR Economics forecasts the consumer price index at 3.4% for 2026. It projects 2.7% for 2027 and 3.9% for 2028.
“Plan for upcoming cost increases,” Bayke said.
She said dealers can protect margins by focusing on product mix, value-added installation and operational efficiency. Those strategies can help businesses avoid competing solely on price.
“We are concerned about ‘profitless prosperity,’ that the increases in prices will erode profitability,” Bayke added. “Margins are shrinking, and companies need to control these costs, pass the costs on.”
WFCA CEO Scott Humphrey high-fives Petz after the speaker/magician correctly guessed the card he was thinking about.
ITR Economics has long forecast a significant economic contraction beginning in 2030. Bayke said the downturn could last six years.
She cited several contributing factors, including demographics, health care costs, entitlements, inflation and the U.S. national debt. Bayke said flooring businesses should begin preparing now.
The member summit continues through Tuesday evening.
I was talking with another distributor executive recently, a guy who has been in this business a long time, and he told me something I have not been able to shake. He said he tells his sales reps the same thing at the start of every year: “Something crazy is going to happen every year.” None of us knows what it is yet, but it’s going to happen, and their job is to figure out how to hit their number anyway.
To be clear, he’s not saying, “Let’s hope nothing goes wrong.” Rather, assume something will go wrong. Build the year around the certainty of disruption instead of a fantasy.
Think about what we have lived through in just the last five to 10 years. A worldwide pandemic shut the country down overnight. A winter storm froze the urethane plants in Texas and choked off our raw material for months. Several rounds of tariffs rewrote pricing in a single news cycle. There is a war affecting supply lines somewhere in the world right now. If you sat down in January of any of those years and waited for stable conditions to get serious about your sales goal, you likely never got that chance.
That is the part that stuck with me. The distributor rep, the commercial PM, the retail sales associate who treats every disruption as the reason they missed is going to just keep missing because there is always going to be a disruption. The calm year is the exception, not the rule. If your plan to sell floors every single day only works when nothing goes wrong, your plan is flawed before the coffee pot comes on.
I want to be thoughtful here, because some of these things are not a simple inconvenience. People lost businesses in the pandemic, and tariffs crippled countless importers in recent years. I am not here telling my industry peers to shrug off real hardship—nor is that the contention of the aforementioned executive. There is a difference between being callous about what happens to people and being clear-eyed about what it means to meet your sales goals despite adversity. You can hold both values. You can have genuine compassion for a hard situation and still refuse to use it as a reason to accept defeat or status quo.
Here is what an excuse actually costs you: Every hour you spend dwelling on a down market is not just an hour spent away from a customer, but it’s an added distance from the mentality you need to strengthen yourself. The market being down in aggregate does not mean your specific customer is down, it doesn’t mean the realtor or designer that sends business your way is down and it doesn’t mean the GCs asking for flooring bids don’t have a pipeline, either. At the end of the day, somebody is still building. Somebody is still remodeling. Somebody still walked into the flooring store today with money in their pocketbook and a project in their head.
I think about this most for the retail sales associate and the residential remodel outlook right now. Picture yourself or your friend as the one standing on a slow showroom floor, reading the same gloomy headlines everyone else is reading, and slowly talking themselves into a bad month on day one. If you have already decided the market is against you, the end users feel it the second they approach you.
In part 2, I will discuss how a positive outlook can have a real impact on outcomes.
Mark Botros is vice president of sales & marketing for Jaeckle Distributors, a Wisconsin-based flooring and surfacing distributor. A Dallas native, Botros is a second-generation floor covering professional with over a decade of management experience in distribution and manufacturing.
Patrick Warren, vice president, residential sales, dealer and showrooms, doing his best imitation of Love Boat Captain Merrill Stubing, kicks off the 2026 Daltile Statements conference in Naples, Fla.
Naples, Fla.—Daltile is enhancing its value proposition for its Statements Elite dealers with a number of new initiatives designed to increase sales. Among the enhancements to the program are a more coordinated effort between Daltile showrooms and Statements dealers, an elaborate countertop program, new digital marketing tools and the addition of the Marazzi brand to the program.
Launched in 2010, the Statements proposition continues to be enhanced. Statements is arguably the most advanced selling system for ceramic tile. The showroom-within-a-showroom concept serves as a destination within a store and is designed to increase profitability for dealers and simplify the shopping experience for consumers. Statements Elite dealers enjoy a host of benefits—merchandising and leads being two of the most significant pieces, giving them a tremendous advantage in the marketplace.
The whole idea behind Statements is simplification. While most ceramic tile is merchandised via display racks where consumers are left to flip through boards with no starting point, Statements allows consumers to easily navigate the design process in a 600-square-foot environment. It gives the customer curated assortments within the product look and style they desire, making it easier for the RSA and consumer to quickly narrow down their choices, thereby eliminating frustration.
The ultimate goal of the Statements program is to help dealers grow their businesses by creating a connected online and in-store experience that inspires customers, simplifies product selection and helps move projects from inspiration to purchase.
With that, Daltile built the foundation of Statements on five core pillars:
Lead generation (five different types)
Co-op advertising (Daltile’s only such program)
Two promotional campaigns a year
Postable (Exclusive to Statements, dealers provide Daltile with their Meta accounts, Instagram and Facebook, and their website, and then content is pushed to them. They can curate it and determine when and what goes on, but they just literally approve and go forward. It talks all about Daltile and it layers in what they’re already working on.
Exclusive merchandising
At the recent Statements conference, where the theme was “Transformation,” one of the program’s newest initiatives is creating a stronger connection between Daltile’s 100-plus showrooms and the 250 Statements dealer showrooms.
“Our showrooms see roughly 170,000 visitors a year,” said Jarrod Smyth, director of dealer sales West. “A portion of those visitors come in unattached. They’re looking for help with design, product selection and putting their project together.
“We’re building a bridge that connects what happens inside our showrooms with our Statements dealers, giving them the opportunity to close the sale. We’ll help guide the customer through the selection process, develop the opportunity and then hand it over on a platter to a dedicated person on the dealer’s team.
“That allows the dealer to close the job—and potentially capture additional business through the other products and services they offer.”
The key to this showroom alliance is Daltile sending qualified, buy-now customers to Statements dealers. Daltile finds the customers who are not attached to another dealer, designer or contractor; spends a couple hours helping them select all the products; then quotes her showroom pricing. “Then we’re going to say, ‘You can get preferred pricing only through our preferred dealers,’” Smyth said. At that time, Daltile will send the quote directly to that Statements dealer’s dedicated person and the connection is made. The end result: Daltile drives more business to Statements showrooms.
The second opportunity for Statements dealers announced at this conference is a new countertop program, specifically quartz countertops made in the U.S. Research reveals that many customers who walk into a flooring showroom seeking a ceramic tile or porcelain floor are doing a full kitchen remodel. “We’re looking to help tie that package together so you can sell that customer a countertop, wall tile, floor tile, the whole package,” said Patrick Warren, vice president, residential sales, dealer and showrooms. “This helps tie that countertop component to the project.”
While Daltile is preferring to keep details of the program under wraps, here are the nuts and bolts. “The result is a turnkey program that makes selling countertops simple for Statements dealers. Daltile’s national footprint includes 42 countertop locations across the country. The anchor piece of the new program is the Dickson quartz facility, which has recently doubled its capacity and expanded its design capabilities. We have product, a fabricator network and pre-negotiated pricing,” Warren said. “We put all of that together in a way that helps [Statements dealers] easily close that sale and allow that countertop to be part of that bundle package.”
The third new opportunity for Statements dealers is to introduce the Marazzi brand into the Statements showroom. Marazzi is positioned as the premium offering within Dal-Tile’s portfolio of brands, providing dealers with an expanded range of products to meet more customer needs. This creates a compelling one-stop solution: one call, one order and one delivery.
“Daltile provides the breadth, innovation and complete project solutions our customers expect,” Warren said. “Adding Marazzi builds on that strength with a distinct, more fashion-forward offering rooted in Italian design—bringing bolder styling and a more premium aesthetic that complements Daltile without duplicating it.”
Lastly, Daltile is updating its digital strategy with initiatives for Statements dealers to become more relevant and visible to consumers currently in the market for ceramic tile. As well, it is furthering its partnership with Roomvo to gain exposure on sites frequented by home buyers and home sellers. These include Redfin, REMAX, OneHome and Homeowner.
“If someone is looking to buy a home, they’re going to be able to go in and enable Roomvo Stylizer where they have the ability to visualize new floors and countertops and the backsplash being updated,” said Bobbi Alonzo, senior director of digital marketing, Daltile. “But what’s unique about this, is it’s going to show them our product. And then they can click on where to buy. That will take them directly to a new locator. Another thing that’s unique: We can target homes in any market area by home value. We can match products to home value. Products with higher price points will be offered in homes with higher value. Same things with products and homes with lower value. We’re going to make the options affordable.”
Dealers make a ‘Statement’
Statements dealers with whom FCNews spoke said the program has had a significant impact on their ceramic tile business. For example, Penny Carnino, general manager at Grigsby’s Carpet, Tile and Hardwood in Tulsa, Okla., was touting the merchandising tools that Grigsby’s has gotten have been “wonderful. My people love the giant tables that came with the program because they get to lay out everything with their customers. And then having the other Daltile selections right there around the table. We also have an additional cubby that shows more Daltile merchandise.”
A Statements dealer since its inception 16 years ago, Carnino said taking on Statements has definitely increased Grigsby’s tile business. “And it really increased our Daltile business. Daltile now commands a bigger share of our ceramic tile business because of Statements.” What’s more, she believes Grigsby’s closing rate on tile has increased because of Statements. “I think that’s attributed to the offering coupled with some of the promotions we get, which aren’t very prevalent in the tile industry. That’s helped draw attention to that segment of the business at least twice a year.”
Carnino is excited about the addition of countertops to the program. “We do a little bit of countertops now, but we only sell the slab portion. Now we have the opportunity to wrap it all into one ticket. People like to do the majority of shopping in one place, and now we have the opportunity to do that. It’s going to be great for our RSAs.”
Tom Urban, general manager of Great Lakes Carpet and Tile in the Orlando, Fla., area, has also been a Statements dealer for about 15 years. “The best thing with Statements is how the displays get your showroom to look like a boutique tile area,” he said. “It looks like it’s a boutique that encompasses everything the customer might want. Mosaics, decorative tiles, floor tiles. Customers almost have to gravitate toward it. It’s kind of hard not to.”
Urban said the display system has resulted in Great Lakes selling better jobs. And like Grigsby’s, Statements has increased Daltile’s percentage of Great Lakes’ tile sales. “Probably 50% of our tile business is Daltile,” he said. “Before we became a Statements dealer, it was way less with the old displays and old cards.”
Great Lakes has been one of four Statements dealers piloting the countertop program. While they are currently training the RSAs, Urban is already looking ahead at ways to market it. “Right now, we’re looking at ways to bundle things,” he said. “Now you have countertops, backsplashes, etc. Maybe the customer buys a countertop, and she gets a Daltile backsplash at a discount.”
Richard Akel, Akel’s Carpet One, Little Rock, Ark., joined the Statements program more recently, within the last seven years, but sings a similar tune. “Statements gets you into ceramic in a professional way,” he said. “I can compare it to a Karastan gallery. It’s the same [concept] with the Daltile Statements gallery. People gravitate toward the gallery; it’s a destination.”
Like the others, Akel has witnessed an increase in his ceramic sales. “But it’s certainly increased with Daltile. Daltile now has a bigger share of my ceramic business. And not only am I doing more ceramics than I ever have, but Statements has made the average ticket go up on ceramic.”
He is also excited about the countertops, because he is already in that business. “It sounds like they’ve already negotiated a good price and people. It’s a package pricing deal, which I think is very important.”
Cartersville, Ga.—Shaw Contract has launched its Cult Classics porcelain collection following a preview at NeoCon 2026.
The new floor and wall tile line extends the retro-inspired aesthetic of the broader Cult Classics collection.
Three tile options make up the collection: Connector Block + Dot, Connector Subway Tile and Graphline.
“With Cult Classics Porcelain, we wanted to give designers a true system, not just three separate tiles,” said Reesie Duncan, vice president of global design at Shaw Contract. “Because they share one richly pigmented palette, designers can move between them freely and layer the styles together within the same space without ever losing that cohesive thread.”
Three tile options expand the collection
Connector Block + Dot pairs a matte square with a speckled glossy dot in an 8 x 8-inch format. Designers can mix the tiles to create geometric patterns across walls, floors and backsplashes.
Connector Subway Tile comes in a 2 x 10-inch glazed porcelain format. Shaw Contract offers the tile in matte, glossy and speckle finishes across 11 colorways.
Graphline uses a 24 x 48-inch format designed for wall applications. Raised, glossy linework creates an imperfect grid across a matte, nuanced base.
The three products share a coordinated color palette, allowing designers to combine them within the same space.
Cult Classics Porcelain can also coordinate with other products in the Cult Classics family. The broader collection includes custom broadloom and rugs, curated carpet tile and running-line broadloom.
The coordinated palette allows designers to carry related colors and visuals across multiple surfaces within a project.
Sustainability remains part of strategy
The launch also supports Shaw Contract’s People Together, Planet Forever sustainability strategy and its Neutral Is Not Enough initiative.
Shaw Contract said it has cut Scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions by more than 50% since 2010. The company also continues to invest in material health and circularity.
Mountville, Pa.—AHF Products will take Armstrong Flooring on the road this October for five retailer events across the country.
The roadshow will introduce new flooring assortments, flexible merchandising and expanded consumer marketing support. Events will run Oct. 13-29 at five distributor locations.
“This is an exciting moment for the Armstrong Flooring brand and, more importantly, for our retail partners,” said Chris King, senior vice president of residential sales at AHF Products. “We are coming back with products designed for today’s consumer, the recognition of a name people already know and trust and the marketing and merchandising support retailers need to turn that into sales. We want retailers to see the opportunity, experience the products and get excited about what we can build together.”
King said the breadth of the new portfolio is one of the launch’s biggest changes.
Armstrong Flooring is returning to retail with more than its resilient heritage. The assortment includes DLuxe Plank HDPC luxury vinyl plank and Sacred Grove Select Engineered Hardwood. It also includes three porcelain tile collections.
The broader portfolio arrives as brand recognition continues to influence flooring purchases. A 2026 Cleveland Research Center study identified Armstrong Flooring as the most recognized brand in flooring.
Nearly 85% of surveyed consumers and professionals said the brand name was important. They also said they would recommend Armstrong Flooring.
“That recognition, now paired with a broader portfolio, gives retailers another way to differentiate, build consumer confidence and capture more of the flooring project,” King said.
The planks require no acclimation and remain dimensionally stable from 0 to 200 degrees Fahrenheit. The product also carries GREENGUARD Gold certification for low VOC emissions.
AHF manufactures DLuxe Plank HDPC at its Cartersville, Ga., facility.
Sacred Grove Select Engineered Hardwood combines U.S. manufacturing with a billet plywood core for strength and dimensional stability. The collection uses select-grade hardwood and colorways inspired by warm, organic interiors.
AHF designed the collection to pair traditional hardwood character with performance for today’s residential market.
Armstrong Flooring’s porcelain portfolio includes Heritage Tailoring, Subtle Chic and Indie Edge. The collections span a range of styles, price points and project needs.
AHF manufactures the porcelain collections in Crossville, Tenn.
Domestic production supports supply
AHF said U.S. manufacturing can support more reliable supply and delivery for retailers. Domestic production can reduce exposure to tariffs, ocean shipping delays and customs issues.
It also allows full and half truckload quantities instead of requiring full shipping containers. That flexibility can help retailers and distributors manage inventory, costs and pricing.
New merchandising and marketing support
AHF is also introducing a flexible merchandising system for the expanded Armstrong Flooring portfolio. Retailers can configure the system for standalone displays or larger branded presentations.
The system brings multiple categories together while making the assortment easier for consumers to navigate.
The company is also investing in consumer marketing and digital tools. A redesigned website and enhanced store locator will help shoppers find participating retailers.
Local search marketing and targeted digital campaigns will also support retailer traffic. Retailers can enhance locator listings, identify stocked collections and receive leads from sample requests.
The company said a recent Armstrong Flooring digital campaign generated a 50% conversion rate. One in two consumers who clicked an ad continued to the dealer locator.
“We have an opportunity to give retailers something powerful: a brand consumers already recognize, with a portfolio that gives them more ways to sell it,” King said. “And we are backing it with the products, displays, marketing and supply reliability to help our partners turn that opportunity into growth.”
Retailers can register for the October roadshow through their distributor.
Lowell, Ark.—Ameripolish has expanded its concrete flooring portfolio with four new products for substrate repair, moisture mitigation, color and protection.
The new lineup includes MVB Moisture Vapor Barrier Epoxy Primer, PG-3 Grout Coat & Spall Repair, Polyaspartic 85 High-Gloss Topcoat and PolyColor Packs. Together, the products address several stages of a concrete coating installation.
Ameripolish developed the products to work as part of a coordinated flooring system. The approach gives contractors an alternative to combining individual products from multiple manufacturers.
“Contractors are dealing with much more than the final coating,” said Levi Tolliver, technical support specialist at Ameripolish. “They’re evaluating the condition of the concrete, making repairs, addressing moisture and ultimately trying to deliver a floor coating that performs. Our goal with this product expansion was to give them a high-performance, reliable and more complete system for managing that process from the substrate up.”
MVB addresses moisture
Ameripolish developed MVB for concrete slabs with moisture vapor transmission concerns. The two-component epoxy primer contains 89% solids.
Contractors apply MVB directly to properly prepared concrete. The primer helps reduce the risk of adhesion loss and blistering caused by elevated moisture vapor transmission.
At a nominal 16-mil thickness, MVB resists moisture vapor transmission levels up to 25 pounds per 1,000 square feet in 24 hours under ASTM F1869 testing. It also handles up to 95% relative humidity under ASTM F2170 testing.
The primer contains 0 g/L VOCs.
PG-3 expands repair capabilities
PG-3 Grout Coat & Spall Repair gives contractors another option for damaged or compromised concrete.
The rapid-set, high-strength polyurea material handles control joint rebuilding, spall and crack repair. Contractors can also use it to fill voids beneath concrete or tile and repair damaged areas before coating.
PG-3 is self-priming and self-leveling. Installers can combine it with dry aggregate or sand when larger repairs require additional body.
Polyaspartic 85 adds protection
Ameripolish developed Polyaspartic 85 for commercial and decorative concrete flooring. The two-component, high-solids coating combines a high-gloss appearance with UV stability, chemical resistance and bonding performance.
The coating provides a 30- to 45-minute pot life. It becomes dry to the touch in about one hour and reaches a hard dry in about four hours at 77 degrees and 40% to 50% relative humidity.
Published performance data lists tensile strength above 3,900 PSI under ASTM D412. Ameripolish also reports chemical resistance and a friction coefficient above 0.6 for ADA compliance.
One color system
Ameripolish also introduced PolyColor Packs for use with PG-3 and Polyaspartic 85.
The color system comes in White, Light Gray, Medium Gray, Dark Gray, Red, Tan, Black and Safety Yellow. Using one color platform across both products can simplify inventory while helping contractors coordinate repairs with the finished floor.
“The idea is to eliminate unnecessary complexity,” Tolliver said. “Instead of thinking about four unrelated products, contractors can look at the condition of the slab and select the components they need—repair, moisture mitigation, color and protection—from one system.”
The additions extend Ameripolish’s existing system approach beyond polished concrete installation, protection and maintenance. Contractors can use the products individually or combine them based on project requirements.
PG-3 handles substrate repair, while MVB addresses moisture conditions. PolyColor Packs provide color and Polyaspartic 85 protects the finished surface.
Baxter, Tenn.—Portobello America has launched Apalaches, a new porcelain collection inspired by Appalachian soapstone.
The collection takes cues from the geological formations and organic character of natural stone. Portobello designed Apalaches for residential and commercial applications. It combines stone-inspired visuals with the precision and performance of porcelain. In addition, its layered surface adds depth while giving designers a refined option for architectural spaces.
“Apalaches is fundamentally about the relationship between material, light and space,” said Veronica Gripp, brand manager at Portobello America. “We translated geological depth into a sophisticated porcelain system where scale, texture and relief give designers the freedom to compose surfaces with intention. The collection is designed to feel quiet yet dimensional—allowing light and shadow to reveal the material and create spaces that feel both grounded and contemporary.”
Collection offers multiple formats
Apalaches comes in three colors: Off White, Nude and Rocha. Portobello offers the collection in Natural and Exterior finishes for indoor and outdoor applications.
Available sizes include 12 x 24, 24 x 24, 24 x 48, 48 x 48 and 48 x 106 inches.
The collection also includes a 24 x 48-inch Intaglio 3D Relief and a 12 x 12-inch mosaic made with 2 x 2-inch pieces. The reliefs and mosaics use light and shadow to add movement across walls and floors.
A 3 x 12-inch linear tile, coordinating bullnose and cove base provide additional options for transitions, borders and feature areas.
Portobello developed Apalaches as a coordinated system of field tiles, dimensional reliefs and complementary elements. The collection gives designers multiple ways to carry color, texture and scale across a project.
Cartersville, Ga.—Shaw Contract has launched its Cult Classics porcelain collection following a 
Mountville, Pa.—AHF Products will take A
Lowell, Ark.—Ameripolish has expanded its concrete flooring portfolio with four new products for substrate repair, 
Baxter, Tenn.—Portobello America has launched Apalaches, a new porcelain collection inspired by Appalachian soapstone.