Hicksville, N.Y.—While the overall average price of laminate flooring has continued to drop, even at the high-end due to such factors as intense competition and over capacity, manufacturers still maintain selling upper level products is a win-win situation for the dealer and consumer.

Depending on the manufacturer, the typical high-end laminate product will range in cost at retail from $3 to $5 per square foot. Some mills have their upper end goods priced a littler lower, down to $2.59 a foot, while a few go above the $5 mark on certain designs.

And, in laminate, it seems the erosion of the middle price point has continued to where the majority of sales are either in the entry or high-end areas so that the category resembles an hourglass.

Flooring in general is one of those products in which “you get what you pay for,” and that is certainly the case with laminate as the cheaper one goes, the less benefits the product offers.

“There are performance and aesthetic advantages in many mid to upper price products that are not possible with low end goods,” noted Roger Farabee, vice president of marketing for Quick-Step.

He pointed to the new soft-scraped products in the company’s Country Collection as an example. Each plank features a less aggressive surface finish and softly rounded edges. “These are designs never before available in the laminate industry.”

This is the result of technological innovations, which, according to most, have helped to give a clear separation between price levels.

“In the past,” said Zack Zehner, director of Mannington Mills’ laminate business, “there were some differences across the category. Today, there’s a much wide gap between high-end and entry-level products. Entry-level products are durable and have good visuals, but they don’t have any of the ‘bells and whistles’ you see at the high end.”

Mannington’s NatureForm Optix process, which provides more realistic looks and textures can only be found in the company’s better quality goods such as its Revolutions tile and plank lines.

But in the end, it ultimately gets down to the consumer.

“The consumer wants as close to the real thing as possible,” added Milton Goodwin, Armstrong Industries general manager of laminate and ceramic product management, “and that can only be found in high-end goods, such as our Nature’s Gallery. For example, on our wood visuals we offer standard plank sizes used in the wood industry.

“At the actual core,” he added, “there is not much difference between price points. The differences come after the product has gone through the milling process. In our case, there is less repeat pattern so each piece looks different—just like real wood.”

David Wilkerson, vice president of marketing for Shaw Industries, noted, such things as “beveled edges and embossed-in-register surface texturing are still reserved for the higher end styles because these manufacturing processes drive up production costs.”

“The key is,” said David Small, Pergo’s marketing director, “providing features the customer will see as relevant and recognize as superior to lower priced products. High-end products can be easier for a retailer to sell because the key benefits/product attributes are easier to show and easier for the consumer to understand, such as those in our Select Traditional Strip series.”

That said, he and other mill executives say it is still advantageous to sell the better goods—to both consumer and dealer. “From purely a financial standpoint,” Wilkerson said, “they create bigger ticket sales and more gross margin.”

As one mill executive told FCNews, you have to sell a lot more $.99-per-square-foot product than you do one costing $3.99 to make the same amount of money.

“But more importantly,” Wilkerson pointed out, “the consumer gets a better product—visually and in the construction. These are the most authentic laminates available and help add value to the home. Plus, after it is installed, she’ll not only be happier with it, but glad she made the investment.”

Despite today’s consumer being more educated than ever, the fact is, there is a great deal of mis-information out there, along with the fact much of what is true is confusing to the average person.

That is why companies say it is important for the dealer’s staff to be well educated on the products. “The way to get her to understand why one floor costs more than another one is to go through the process and explain the differences and what they mean to her home and family,” Goodwin concluded.
—Matthew Spieler