By Steven Feldman
Just four months after hitting the streets in late February, Mannington’s fiberglass-backed sheet vinyl product, Sobella, is exceeding the company’s most optimistic projections.

According to David Sheehan, director of resilient and laminate, Mannington would have felt “pretty good” if it shipped between 1,500 and 2,000 displays. To date, the number is approaching 5,600. “This has been one of our most successful product introductions in a very difficult segment,” he said. “It has been one of our shining stars; I don’t know where we’d be as a company without it.”

Fiberglass is the fastest growing segment in sheet vinyl, accounting for approximately 10% of total residential sheet vinyl sales ?in 2006. Sheehan noted there was the fear that Sobella would cannibalize the company’s upper-end business, but not only is the glass-backed product doing well, Mannington’s upper-end business is also especially strong. “Sobella is less than 10% of our overall vinyl sales, but it’s all incremental business,” he said.

What’s driving sales of glass-backed sheet vinyl? Sheehan cited a few factors. “For starters, there is the perception of high quality,” he said. “It’s a thicker, beefier product. Plus, the patterns and colorways are attractive for American consumers. Retailers like the product because of its flexibility and ease of installation, even though they are full-spreading it. And they like selling things that are new and innovative.”

Eddie Stein, co-owner of Eddie’s Flooring America in Worcester, Mass., offers three fiberglass brands. “These floors are very flexible and don’t crack,” he said. “They are much easier to put down. And if you don’t glue them, the subfloor does not have to be as perfect as when installing regular sheet vinyl.”

Sheehan believes Sobella is taking share because “it has everything the competition has and more.” Specifically:

• Aesthetics: “The most important criteria to the customer is style and design, and in that area we have a clear competitive edge. We have patterns that are demonstrated successes, and we have technologies we can employ in the U.S that European equipment cannot replicate, particularly NatureForm Optix, which is a combination of mechanical and chemical embossing.”

• Performance: “When you look at competing products in the area of wear and stain resistance, we have a patented technology for putting aluminum oxide in our urethane, which provides superior stain and scratch resistance.”

• Merchandising: “We developed a display that allows retailers to sell vinyl the way they like, which is on the floor. Our competitors’ displays don’t allow retailers to remove samples.” Though compact, there is still space for literature and take-home samples.

Stein told FCNews that Sobella is one of his best-selling vinyl products. “It’s as good a look as anything out there. [The line offers] very appealing designs at a sharp price.” He added that he pushes Sobella because of his confidence in not only the product but in the company as well. “Mannington stands behind its product more so than anyone else. We have fewer headaches with Mannington than any other brand. We have been in business for 52 years, and because of that we have customers who listen to our suggestions.”

Distributors are also excited about Sobella given its success right out of the box. “We are in the process of placing 1,000 displays, and it’s already running at the rate of a $1 million product,” said Joe Brodil, vice president of sales and marketing, Herregan Distributors, Eagan, Minn. “This is going to be a gangbuster product.”

Sobella launched with two collections consisting of 12 patterns and 35 ?SKUs. The Best line, at 115mil with a 15mil urethane wearlayer with aluminum oxide, offers 23 SKUs, and a $2.59-per-square-foot price point, while the Better line’s 12 SKUs come in at 100mil thick and a 10mil wearlayer for $1.69 a square foot at retail. Sheehan noted that close to 70% of sales are in the Best category, “which means more money for the retailer.” Sobella’s Better and Best are warranted for 10 and 15 years, respectively.

“We were bugging Mannington for a long time to get something going like this,” Brodil said. “I like that we have something the dealers want to buy, but I really like that it has the Mannington styling. I also think the merchandiser is fantastic. They took a good idea and improved on it.”

While Sobella can be loose laid, Sheehan said the company recommends that it be fully adhered with a pressure-sensitive adhesive. “There are two trains of thoughts with fiberglass-backed vinyl. Some subscribe to the theory that you loose lay it and, in some instances, you can glue. We followed the other track that this product should be glued down and, in some cases, loose laid.?