Retailers React: What are your expectations for 2026?

Every two weeks, FCNews seeks out flooring retailers across the country to offer their advice on hot topics of the day. This week, we asked: What are your expectations for 2026?

Here are their responses:

“We are expecting moderate growth this year in both the residential and commercial sectors. While the housing market in our area remains slow, we are hopeful it will begin to turn around as the year progresses.”

 

—Brian McCarver

Brian’s Flooring + Design

Birmingham, Ala.

“I expect the first half of 2026 to be busier than last year. I believe consumer confidence will grow as mortgage rates continue to slowly drop. While consumers were wisely cautious last year due to market volatility, I believe inflation is now slowing, and the economy will gain more traction as the year progresses.”

 

—Jon Dauenhauer

Carpet World
Bismarck, ND

“We have a better awareness of tariffs and foreign versus domestic production and how that has shaped industry demand over the last year. Additionally, many companies are making significant headway in the tech space surrounding our industry, which has historically seen very slow innovation.”

—Lauren Voit

Great Western Flooring

Naperville, Ill.

“Our goals are to have a 12% increase in retail sales along with a 1.5% margin increase. Our commercial sector goal is to increase sales by 14% and increase margin by 2%. We are increasing advertising dollars accordingly across both sectors and implementing AI in applicable categories.”

—Kevin Rose

Carpetland USA

Rockford, Ill.

“We are optimistic about the upcoming year. Our January has started strong. Measure and quote requests are up, store traffic is higher than normal, and booked orders are coming through. Also, our installation schedule is full a couple of weeks out, which is not common this time of year.”

—Tom Connell

M&M Carpet Showroom

Houston

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