The fear of tariffs hiking prices on American goods has dominated headlines throughout 2025, but some flooring retailers have shrugged it off as having little to no effect on their business.
“Minimal” to “manageable” was the refrain from several dealers who spoke to FCNews about the impact from tariffs. In some instances, enterprising dealers said they used the threat of tariffs to persuade consumers to make purchases ahead of any rate increases.
“The most interesting effect that tariffs have had so far is the consumer’s fear of tariffs,” said Sam O’Krent, CEO of San Antonio-based O’Krent Floors. “We were able to use it as a sense-of-urgency closing tool. Other than that, it’s basically been another price increase that gets passed on to the consumer and creates more gross profit dollars.”
Others employing a similar tactic include RC Willey, with 14 locations across four Western states. “The tariff talk actually created a sense of urgency for customers who were on the fence about purchasing flooring,” said Eric Mondragon, division manager/flooring buyer, who said business is up 2% year-over-year. “Also, my builders have placed orders for future projects before prices go up.”
The reality is that the full weight of tariff-related price hikes has not been felt—at least not yet. Several global importers were facing an Aug. 7 deadline to make a trade agreement or face “reciprocal” tariffs ranging from 10% to 50%. Given the lag time between implementing a tariff and seeing its full impact reflected in consumer prices can take six to 18 months, research has shown.
Amid the dizzying array of trade threats, flooring dealers have worked around the inconveniences of tariffs. “So far the impact of tariffs has been minimal as most suppliers are holding off on significant changes until there’s more clarity from the affected countries,” said Bruce Odette, president of Carpet Exchange, with 17 locations in the Denver market. “Over the past 60 days, our sales have been trending slightly above last year’s levels, although growth was stronger in the previous quarters. I anticipate a similar pattern through the end of the year, unless we see a meaningful drop in interest rates to help revive housing activity.”
Calling the tariff impact “manageable,” Adam Joss, president of The Vertical Connection, said: “We are working closely with suppliers to mitigate what we can, have introduced new products/suppliers to help address needs and obviously have experienced some impact in pricing. I’m glad we’re not in the egg business. With our projects, homeowners have a budget range, but not an exact price on a specific item.”
Some dealers say they expect to see tariffs impact their business in the latter stages of 2025 and perhaps beyond. “We are 5.5% up over 2024, and although we would love to maintain that increase through the end of this year, it would not surprise us if it were to slow a little with tariffs going into effect,” said Ted Gregerson, CEO, Ted’s Floors & Beyond, Anniston, Ala. “Up to this point, tariffs have had little to no impact on our business. We have had a few increases on installation supplies and maybe a few on SPC but nothing major. One laminate line we are stocking is about to get hit with a sizable tariff, so we have made the decision to discontinue it. Other than that, we have not heard of any increases.”
AFS Group, Columbus, Ohio, said it has received a wide variety of increases that have forced it to re-evaluate products and providers for key programs. “We have moved volumes to more accommodating partners,” said Michel Vermette, CEO. “I’m happy with key vendors taking a long-term view.”
For Hadinger Flooring, Naples, Fla., tariffs have had a noticeable—albiet again manageable—impact on business, particularly on imported flooring materials like luxury vinyl plank. “While price increases have affected our cost of goods, we’ve worked to offset some of these impacts by diversifying suppliers, increasing our domestic product offerings and being more strategic in our purchasing,” said Susan Hadinger, CEO. “We’re cautiously optimistic about the remainder of the year. Residential renovation demand remains steady, and customer interest in mid- to high-quality flooring has remained strong, especially when paired with expert installation and good service. That said, we’re keeping a close eye on economic headwinds like interest rates, consumer confidence and construction slowdowns.”
The road ahead
For some dealers the specter of impending tariffs has been more problematic than the tax itself. “Tariff fees have caused minimal disruption to our business; however, tariff talk has been disruptive by placing fear in the customer who is contemplating making an unnecessary flooring update that was not a need (insurance replacement or builder work),” said Carlton Billingsley, owner of Floors and More, Benton, Ark. “With interest rates not being lowered in July, I don’t see consumer confidence gaining momentum in the second half of this year as we planned/projected. We will see numbers drop the second half of 2025 as our traffic count has been down if we stay on this course.”
While flooring retailers survived the first seven months of the year relatively unscathed, the situation could get dicier going forward. The economic news that dropped on Aug. 1 painted a stark picture: employers added a much weaker-than-expected 73,000 jobs in July, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), a sign that economic growth may be slowing. What’s more, consumer prices as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) are rising, with a portion of June’s 0.3% increase attributed to higher tariffs.
“The tariffs have introduced a level of uncertainty into our economy, which is directly impacting consumer confidence,” said Raffi Sarmazian, co-owner, Sarmazian Brothers Flooring, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. “This is leading to a reluctance among consumers to make large purchase decisions, causing a slowdown in both the new and resale housing markets, and a general decrease in retail store traffic. Customers are now more inclined to shop around and seek the best possible deals.”
AFS Group’s Vermette also sees challenges, noting, “Consumer confidence is low, the job market is softening, mortgages have stalled around 7% and builders are slowing down starts. All negative indicators in the short term.”
Dealers credited their vendor partners with helping ease their burden by offering promotional pricing on select styles and reducing pricing on large inventory purchases.
Efforts like these have better positioned dealers to succeed in an uncertain market. “There is money to be made, market share to gain and consumers with pent-up demand in segments of the business,” Floors and More’s Billingsley said. “Staying aware and in front of consumers is paramount to capturing these opportunities.”
The Vertical Connection’s Joss is one retailer who remains bullish on future prospects. “I’m optimistic for the balance of the year,” he said. “Business in July picked up nicely, the stock market is up and interest rates appear to be on their way down. I believe homeowners, to some degree, are moving on from the noise of the April tariff announcement.”
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