Dalton—J+J Flooring introduced View Making, a new collection designed around perspective and how people experience design from different angles and sightlines.
The collection explores how movement, geometry and organic texture interact within a space. By combining varied visual elements, the designs create shifting effects depending on how the viewer approaches them.
“Each of the three patterns in the collection invites you to stop, reconsider and reflect,” said Laura Holzer, design director of the commercial division. “It explores movement, depth and dimension. We wanted to keep it somewhat organic in nature while still maintaining geometric structure within the patterns.”
The collection features three coordinated patterns designed to work individually or together. Traverse presents the largest-scale pattern with broken geometric lines. Vantage features a smaller windowpane design that reads more organic due to added texture. Panorama blends strong horizontal and vertical lines with a blurred effect created through the yarn construction.
Holzer said the collection’s color palette also expands its design flexibility. “The other interesting aspect of this collection is the color story,” Holzer said. “The four color families provide a wide variety of choices and depth of color in each pattern. This gives designers many options and works well for school spirit selections, brand identity and even wayfinding.”
The collection uses 24 x 24-inch tiles designed to coordinate across the broader J+J Flooring platform. Products align with carpet tile, broadloom, luxury vinyl tile and Kinetex textile composite flooring.
View Making is constructed with 100% Encore SD Nylon. It also offers an optional Advance modular carpet backing that provides a PVC-free alternative while supporting durability and stability.
“We are renewing our dedication to deliver exceptional value and create a better customer experience. We plan to achieve this by making sure every customer finds their ideal product match through a sales process that is transparent and is proactive in communication.”
—Jon Dauenhauer
Carpet World
Bismarck, N.D.
“Our goal for 2026 is growth over 2025. To accomplish that we are starting to work with a marketing firm to increase our brand image in our area. We have been working really hard over the years to increase our Google presence by being consistent with asking for Google reviews. We have the highest number of 5-star reviews in our area, which has had a huge impact on our sales.”
—Ryan Boender
Sackett’s Flooring
Kalamazoo, Mich.
“Our retail goal is a 12% increase in sales with a 1.5% margin increase. Our commercial goal is a 14% sales increase and 2% margin increase. We are increasing ad spend and implementing AI where applicable.”
—Kevin Rose
Carpetland USA
Rockford, Ill.
“Our goal is to make 2026 our best year ever. We are managing expenses tighter than ever to not allow negative bottom-line impacts. However, we have increased our marketing budget 2.5% over last year. Last year was our best year in the company’s history.”
—Mitchell Parton
Frazier’s Carpet One Floor & Home
Knoxville, Tenn.
“We have made commercial growth a major priority for 2026. To that end, we have added manpower and resources to that department and are actively pursuing more contracts than we secured in 2025.”
Lakeland, Fla.—Sunshine Interiors, located here, hosted the first Step Up Tour, a World Floor Covering Association (WFCA) initiative, today. Sunshine Interiors is the first of more than a dozen flooring dealers who will host a Step Up Tour event this year. The event is intended to shine a light on a leading flooring retailer and share best practices with other dealers.
Sunshine Interiors owner Darren Harrison and WFCA chairman Scott Humphrey welcome Jodie Rosa, senior vice president of Rodda Construction, a Sunshine client. Harrison is flanked by Mohawk rep, Ronnie Richardson, and Karastan rep, Justin Glasser.Boyd, a black lab, is the official greeter at Sunshine Interiors.Humphrey presents Harrison with the first Step Up award during the inaugural event.
The Cartersville factory produces AHF’s proprietary HDPC (High Density Polymer Core) technology. The company designed the technology for waterproof, high-performance flooring applications.
AHF Products wholly owns and operates the facility. The plant brings premium rigid core manufacturing under the company’s control while strengthening supply and speeding delivery.
The Cartersville location supports several AHF brands, including Armstrong Flooring and Bruce. The plant also produces U.S.-based private label products that provide a domestic alternative to overseas sourcing.
The facility uses advanced automation and produces millions of square feet of flooring each year. With the Cartersville operation, AHF Products now operates 11 manufacturing plants across the United States.
These days moldings, accessories and sundries are not just some fancy accompaniments to flooring. Rather, they have become essential elements for finishing flooring projects, providing crucial, functional and aesthetic benefits. For example, these versatile products seal expansion gaps, facilitate smooth transitions between different materials or levels, protect floor edges from damage and ensure safety by preventing tripping hazards.
The winter markets featured a bevy of new offerings with the intended purpose of providing the finishing touch to a flooring installation. Following is an overview:
Engineered Floors/Xcessories
PureGrain is known for its visual depth and realism. A generic transition strip can ruin that illusion. Engineered Floors’ Xcessories program ensures coordinated trims for every PureGrain SKU in the High-Def, Comfort, Renew and Endure collections. Xcessories offers a full suite of profiles (T-molds, reducers, stair nosing, quarter rounds and stair treads) that are coordinated to the specific décor of the floor. And by using color-coordinated trims, the transition from a PureGrain floor to carpet, tile or stairs becomes an intentional design element rather than a necessary eyesore.
Fittes
Fittes Luxe+ Vents delivers simplified installation with a refined, elevated finish. Featuring a patented double air channel for enhanced airflow and performance, it integrates seamlessly with standard HVAC systems. The Flushmount design sits level with the flooring for a clean, modern look that complements premium surfaces. By combining high performance with elevated aesthetics, it gives remodelers and builders a distinctive upgrade that improves both function and overall project presentation without adding complexity to the build.
i4F Stair Tread Technologies
i4F Stair Tread Technologies solve a long-standing industry challenge by enabling stairs to become a seamless extension of the floor rather than an afterthought. Using the same material, décor, texture and height across SPC, LVT, WPC, laminate and wood, they deliver a perfect floor-to-stair match, including top steps and landings. Two construction approaches—L-shaped and U-shaped—ensure compatibility with all stair types.
Leggett & Platt
Leggett & Platt Flooring Products is a leader in carpet cushion and hard surface underlayments and continues to offer new, innovative products. Make-A-Wish Strength, a synthetic rubber crack isolation membrane, provides excellent acoustical performance for all hard surface flooring. Simplify your underlayment options by going with a proven leader for your underlayment needs.
Leggett & Platt will donate $0.01 to Make-A-Wish for every square foot ($0.09/sq. yd.) of Make-A-Wish-branded underlayment sold with a minimum donation of $100,000 annually.
Perfect Vents
Perfect Vents is expanding its product lineup with the introduction of solid and engineered wood floor vents, complementing its patented flush-mount system for floating floors. The frameless design uses the actual flooring material, eliminating the need to stain or attempt to color-match wood registers. The new hardwood offering allows retailers to provide a coordinated accessory solution across multiple flooring categories while maintaining the same installer-friendly installation process. As a strategic vendor partner with Shaw Industries, Perfect Vents continues to deliver trim and accessory solutions that improve the finished look of the installation.
MP Global
QuietWalk LV is designed specifically for all vinyl planks but can also be used with laminate and hardwoods. It measures 1.4mm thick and is made from dense recycled materials. The attached vapor barrier protects the overlying floors by offering full moisture protection beneath while protecting the overlying floor from potential water damage and alkalinity migration. Other key performance attributes include sound dampening, durability support and customer comfort.
TotalWorx
RockHold by TotalWorx Accessories is a premium, high-tack transitional adhesive designed for superior versatility and performance. It can be installed dry, semi-wet or wet and quickly firms as it cures for a secure bond. Engineered to support a wide range of resilient flooring solutions, LokWorx RockHold is solvent-free and delivers exceptional resistance to moisture, pH and plasticizers migration
Performance Accessories
Mohawk has introduced Performance Accessories TrueMatch technology, specifically designed for stair nosings to complement laminate and hybrid flooring. TrueMatch stair nosings deliver a flawless match, ensuring that the visuals, gloss level, texture, bevel type, waterproofing and scratch resistance are identical to the flooring. The preferred round nosing shape mirrors the elegant look of solid wood tread while also eliminating the hassle of staining to achieve a perfect match.
Unilin
Unilin Technologies has introduced a market-proven technology that aims to redefine how flooring accessories, such as stair covers, clickable skirtings and profiles, are made. Each stair cover is made directly from the original flooring plank. The result? Exactly the same design, texture and wear layer as the floor.
To create a stair cover, a flooring plank is bent over an insert, enhancing durability and performance. It adds structural strength, reduces glue usage and cost and defines the stair cover shape. This process enables the production of durable round-nose stair covers in laminate as well as other core materials (SPC, WPC and wood) and minimalistic square-edge stair covers.
Vanishing Vents
Traditional floor vents can interrupt beautiful hardwood and LVP floors. Vanishing Vents, however, aims to eliminate the distraction. Each vent is manufactured from the same material as the floor itself, creating a flawless, integrated appearance. The result is a sleek, flush-mount design that preserves the integrity of the space while maintaining proper airflow. Ideal for high-end residential and custom builds, Vanishing Vents deliver performance without compromising aesthetics.
Versatrim
Built for performance and designed for style, Versatrim’s commercial-grade aluminum moldings are designed to deliver lasting durability for both residential and commercial applications. The easy-to-install aluminum profiles include stair solutions, end caps and edge moldings, T-moldings, SlimTrims 3-in-1 moldings, risers, wall bases and corners and ramps and edges.
Consumer and real estate studies have repeatedly shown that real hardwood flooring boosts a home’s resale value.
Over the past 15-plus years, the hardwood segment has ceded significant market share to competing flooring categories that not only look and feel like the real thing, but also sell for a fraction of the cost of real wood in many cases. No surprise there. However, hardwood proponents and enthusiasts say the category still reigns supreme when it comes to providing the greatest return on investment when compared to virtually every other product category.
But return on investment in flooring doesn’t just mean how much of the upfront project cost is “recovered” at resale. It also pertains to:
Home sale price uplift
Faster time on market
Buyer appeal and prestige
Long service life and lifecycle value
Sustainability and brand perception
“Real hardwood flooring offers advantages that look-alike products simply cannot match,” said Jerome, Goulet, vice president of marketing, Mirage. “As a natural and renewable material, wood brings authentic character, unique grain patterns and timeless beauty that plastic-based alternatives such as vinyl or laminate can only imitate.”
By focusing on hardwood’s long-term investment potential, flooring retailers and contractors can help customers and end users make informed decisions.
Following are key points to accentuate when presenting options for buyers:
Hardwood vs. everything else
For many homeowners, flooring is one of the largest interior remodel expenses after kitchens and bathrooms—yet it often delivers equal or better financial returns when it’s done right. Hardwood flooring consistently ranks at the top of interior remodeling projects for dollar recovery at resale, often outperforming kitchens, bathrooms or cosmetic upgrades.
Research conducted by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) showed projects involving wood floors delivered some of the strongest ROI among interior upgrades:
Refinishing hardwood floors recovers roughly 147% of project costs at resale—the highest recovery rate of all interior residential projects.
Installing new wood flooring recovers approximately 118% of costs—second only to refinishing.
By contrast, NAR research shows:
Luxury vinyl plank (LVP) and tile projects often generate respectable, albeit lower, returns (commonly in the 50%–80% range) depending on material and installation quality.
Carpet installations typically offer minimal long-term value, especially once worn or dated; resale ROI estimates usually range 25%–40%.
Laminate flooring, while cost-effective, lacks the refinishing potential and longevity of hardwood, yielding lower returns over time.
To fully appreciate hardwood’s ROI benefits, retailers must understand how key alternatives stack up. Carpet, for example, usually entails lower upfront cost but lesser value over the long-term, NAR research shows. Moreover, carpet typically does not add resale value.
Laminate, while budget-friendly, is non-refinishable and short-lived compared with hardwood. LVT/P products, by comparison, offer an attractive initial ROI due to lower cost (often 50%–60%), but lack refinishing potential and premium appeal. In addition, the product performs well in spaces subject to heavy traffic or areas of the home prone to spills and leaks (i.e, kitchens, bathrooms).
“It’s true that vinyl flooring has its place; it’s ideal for consumers looking for a low-maintenance, waterproof product,” said Ron Sadri, principal owner, Provenza. “Although no real hardwood product can ever be waterproof, real wood has the advantage in that it provides a natural look that you simply can’t duplicate with waterproof vinyl.”
Some might argue that the onslaught of competitive wood look-alike products actually benefits hardwood. As Wade Bondrowski, director of U.S. sales at Mercier, explained: “With so many companies focusing on plastic floors, that basically took the low-end wood products out of the market because they couldn’t compete.”
While the category has undoubtedly ceded share to competing product segments, hardwood flooring represents the gold standard for homeowners. “From the retail sales associates to the store owner, hardwood provides the highest margin opportunities for dollar per square foot,” said Chris King, vice president, residential sales, AHF Products. “By defaulting to other products, the RSA is leaving dollars on the table.”
Why hardwood delivers ROI
One of the most significant ROI drivers is buyer demand. Surveys and industry research have repeatedly shown that:
Homes with wood floors sell faster and for more money than similar homes without them.
Real estate professionals indicate identical homes with wood floors can sell for up to 10% more than those without.
Nearly 80% of homeowners believe wood floors add the most value to a home among flooring options.
This preference is not just aesthetic. Hardwood floors are perceived as timeless, quality and low-maintenance—factors that influence buyer decisions and justify premium pricing.
“From a financial perspective, hardwood delivers a stronger return on investment,” Mirage’s Goulet stated. “It is widely recognized for increasing a home’s resale value and remains a sought-after feature among buyers. While many plastic products need to be replaced after 10 to 20 years, quality hardwood flooring can last for decades. It can also be sanded and refinished multiple times, extending its lifespan and reducing long-term replacement costs.”
Genuine hardwood offers consumers trade-up opportunities. Pictured is Cotton Candy from Mirage’s Sweet Memories.
Moreover, user studies show hardwood floors can last longer than most other flooring types— often exceeding 100 years with proper care. By contrast, carpet typically requires replacement every 10 to 15 years due to wear, staining and odor retention. Vinyl and laminate products typically last 10–25 years before replacement becomes necessary.
However, because hardwood can be sanded and refinished multiple times, it essentially resets its own life-cycle value, extending the time before replacement is needed and reinforcing its long-term return. “Hardwood is something you can rejuvenate by changing the color if the consumer wants a different tone or stain,” Provenza’s Sadri said. “If the customer gets tired of the old whitewash finish, she can restore it to a nice, rich, brown look— something that you cannot do with vinyl.”
Better resale premiums
Real-estate data consistently shows that hardwood flooring not only recoups costs but often boosts sale price beyond the initial investment. While exact figures vary by region and housing stock, hardwood’s proven track record positions it as a financially strategic choice—especially for move-up buyers or sellers in competitive markets.
Generally speaking, new hardwood can increase home value by 3%–5% in some markets. Some studies suggest hardwood ROI approaching or exceeding the homeowner’s cost under the right conditions. That’s why it’s important, proponents say, to educate customers on life-cycle value, not just price.
With the typical medium- to large-scale hardwood installation running into the tens of thousands of dollars, it’s not unusual for buyers to initially fixate on upfront cost. But savvy buyers recognize that lower lifetime cost and higher resale value often make hardwood more economical than frequent carpet or vinyl replacements. Experts say retailers who articulate this life-cycle perspective can shift conversations away from sticker price to total value.
Hardwood also allows RSAs to step up consumers to better-quality, higher-margin products. As Jamann Stepp, senior vice president, hard surfaces at Stanton Design, explained: “Obviously, if an RSA is commissioned, I think they’re going to try to upsell a client or an end user who has a house full of kids and dogs and came in looking for a waterproof product that looks like wood but is much less expensive. But if the customer is looking for true aesthetics, something that’s going to add true value-add to the home, then wood is a no-brainer.”
More importantly, proponents say, hardwood flooring can be profitable at multiple price points—all depending on the type of product and volume. Indeed, middle price points and premium products will usually be more profitable than value, entry-level products. That’s why it’s important for retailers, contractors and distributors to keep the focus on actual margin “dollars” vs. margin “percent.” As AHF Products’ King noted: “And even with the added challenge retailers have faced from wood-look alternatives, true hardwood is where bigger paychecks can be made.”
Premium and sustainable, too
Beyond the ROI story, hardwood offers other selling points—its environmental benefits. The fact that it’s a renewable carbon-neutral product and can last generations also factor into the consumer’s purchasing decision. As Mirage’s Goulet explained: “Real wood flooring offers a clear environmental distinction. Plastic look-alike floors are difficult to recycle. Responsibly sourced hardwood stores carbon and has a significantly lower environmental footprint over its lifetime. Choosing real wood is not just about aesthetics; it is a durable, sustainable investment that enhances both the long-term value and integrity of a space.”
Cartersville, Ga.—Shaw Contract has launched Design for All, a new continuing education course (CEU) created to help architecture and design professionals better understand how inclusive, purpose‑driven design can support collective well‑being across commercial environments.
The details
What is Design for All? A 1.0 IDCEC / 1 LU and 1 AIA LU (General) accredited CEU that explores how design decisions influence human health, social connection, learning, and environmental responsibility.
What does the course cover? Through five interconnected lenses—Wellbeing, Connection, Learning, Experience and Thriving—the course examines how shared spaces can foster belonging, resilience and regeneration. Participants are guided through cultural shifts, emerging values and evolving design drivers that shape how spaces are created and experienced today.
Developed through Shaw Contract’s internal research and design process, the CEU reflects more than a year of cross‑disciplinary exploration by the brand’s design research, development and creative teams.
“We begin by studying broad cultural trends, emerging sentiments, and societal drivers,” said Reesie Duncan, vice president of global design at Shaw Contract. “From there, we identify themes that clearly communicate a larger story. The five lenses in Design for All naturally emerged as a way to connect research, design and human experience into a single, practical framework.”
Practical insight
The CEU provides designers with actionable insights they can apply across commercial interiors, including:
Emerging color directions that support inclusive environments
Long‑term environmental implications of design decisions
Material and color applications that encourage representation and belonging
Responsible design practices that consider both people and planet
The course emphasizes the role of design in shaping environments that are not only functional, but also supportive of emotional, social, and environmental well‑being.
“Design for All reinforces our belief that space has a powerful impact on how people feel, connect and thrive,” said Frances Phillips, senior marketing manager, content at Shaw Contract. “This CEU is designed to give designers thoughtful frameworks they can use immediately to create spaces that feel more inclusive, intentional and supportive.”
Course availability
The CEU is available to architecture and design professionals through Shaw Contract’s education platform and can be delivered as either a live presentation or a virtual session.
To learn more or schedule a CEU session, visit Shaw Contract’s CEU library here.
Dalton—J+J Flooring introduced View Making, a new collection designed around perspective and how people experience design from different angles and sightlines.
Every two weeks, 
“We are renewing our dedication to deliver exceptional value and create a better customer experience. We plan to achieve this by making sure every customer finds their ideal product match through a sales process that is transparent and is proactive in communication.”
“Our goal for 2026 is growth over 2025. To accomplish that we are starting to work with a marketing firm to increase our brand image in our area. We have been working really hard over the years to increase our Google presence by being consistent with asking for Google reviews. We have the highest number of 5-star reviews in our area, which has had a huge impact on our sales.”
“Our retail goal is a 12% increase in sales with a 1.5% margin increase. Our commercial goal is a 14% sales increase and 2% margin increase. We are increasing ad spend and implementing AI where applicable.”
“We have made commercial growth a major priority for 2026. To that end, we have added manpower and resources to that department and are actively pursuing more contracts than we secured in 2025.”
Mountville, Pa.—AHF Products installed a new sign at its 
Engineered Floors/Xcessories
Fittes
i4F Stair Tread Technologies
Leggett & Platt
Perfect Vents
MP Global
TotalWorx
Performance Accessories
Unilin
Vanishing Vents
Versatrim
Cartersville, Ga.—Shaw Contract has launched Design for All, a new continuing education course (CEU) created to help architecture and design professionals better understand how inclusive, purpose‑driven design can support collective well‑being across commercial environments.