Dallas, January 27, 2014 — At Surfaces 2014, Quick-Step is launching a totally new “category” within the brand – HARDWOOD! The new Q-Wood hardwood assortment and related merchandising will be featured prominently during Surfaces 2014 in the Quick-Step booth #S6549, on the Surfaces show floor at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas, January 28th through 30th.

The New “Q-Wood By Quick-Step” Hardwood Collection
“Quick-Step is a well-established and highly-respected brand name in the flooring industry,” said Paij Thorn-Brooks, vice president of brand marketing for Unilin (Quick- Step’s parent company). “Our existing Quick-Step line of laminate flooring is widely-known as the style, design, and innovation leader. As a fitting complement to Quick-Step laminate, we are now launching our new Q-Wood line of engineered hardwood — designed as a unique, product assortment targeting consumers looking for premium, luxurious hardwood flooring.”

NEW Q-Wood, Copper Penny Hickory
“Like Quick-Step laminate flooring, our new Q-Wood hardwood is a fashion-driven product line that offers the richest, most sophisticated premium looks available in tandem with low maintenance, ease of installation via our patented Uniclic glueless installation locking system, and resistance to the wear of daily living,” said Thorn-Brooks. “With Q-Wood, consumers get both style and performance in their hardwood floor.”

“We are very excited to bring this new hardwood product line to our Quick-Step distributors and retailers!” added Thorn-Brooks. “Q-Wood will follow Quick-Step’s proven formula for success — a superior product line wrapped in a comprehensive merchandising program — to equip retailers for success with our new hardwood line!”

Beauty & Luxury
“Our new ‘Q-Wood by Quick-Step’ hardwood line provides style, craftsmanship, and livability through unique artisan hardwood floors designed with the latest trends in mind,” said Harry Bogner, senior vice president of hardwood for Unilin. “Q-Wood products are offered in a spectrum of colors, luxuriously finished, and available in three attractive surfaces — smooth, soft scraped, and wirebrushed accentuated by soft scraped tooling.”

Premiere Glueless Installation Locking System - Uniclic
“The ‘click’ installation method is reshaping the hardwood market by providing beautiful flooring with outstanding performance at a lower total cost for an installed hardwood floor,” said Bogner. “Q-Wood features our patented Uniclic glueless installation locking system.”

Uniclic is the most widely used glueless installation locking system in the world and also remains the best system on the market too. The superior design of the patented Uniclic locking system offers the optimal balance between ease of installation and locking strength, ensuring a damage-resistant surface unrivaled in the industry.

Opulux Performance Enhanced Finish
“Products with enhanced performance features give retailers a legitimate sales advantage over their competitors,” said Bogner. “Our new Q-Wood features ‘Opulux Performance Enhanced Finish’ that provides just such a selling advantage. Opulux is just one of many innovations that makes Q-Wood one of the most unique hardwood floors on the market.”

Opulux is a cross-linked coating system that illuminates the beauty of the grain, offering the appearance of an oil finish while maintaining the advantages of a conventional urethane floor. Opulux also provides a protective top coat that shields against stains and everyday wear.

“Important to note is that even the highest quality floors are not impervious to scuffs and scratches from years of traffic,” said Bogner. “With our Opulux finish, once a floor begins to show those tell-tale signs of wear, the floor can be easily refreshed with our Renewal Revitalizing Solution. Use of this ‘unique revitalizing solution’ hides scuffs and scratches providing premium hardwood with extraordinary performance.”

Made In The USA
Q-Wood is Made In The USA from solely domestic species that are sustainable and have been responsibly harvested. All production takes place in Unilin’s state-of-the-art hardwood production facilities and adheres to Unilin’s high standards for quality, styling, and innovation.

Complete Product Details
The new “Q-Wood by Quick-Step” engineered hardwood flooring includes 8 Oaks, 3 Hickories, 2 Maples, and 1 Walnut that feature three beautiful surfaces — smooth, soft scraped, and wirebrushed accentuated by soft scraped tooling.

The smooth surface provides a sleek, refined finish that evenly displays the colors and grain of the floor. The soft scraped surface lends a feeling of fine hand-tooled wood sculpted to add dimension to the room. And, the wirebrushed and soft scraped surface satisfies the hardwood market’s current appetite for authenticity, texture, and timeworn looks to add warmth and personality to a home. All Q-Wood floors feature a matte finish.

Shade variation is medium/high on most of the products, except one high shade variation Hickory and a Walnut that achieves an absolutely stunning visual, because of its high shade variation.

Sculpted edges and eased ends frame each side of almost all of the 3/8” thick, engineered products. (Walnut is the exception with smooth edges/ends.) Q-Wood’s 5-1/4” wide, random length planks are backed by a limited lifetime warranty for structure.

The floors have a photosensitivity rating of 2, 3, or 4 depending on the product. QWood planks feature a hardness rating of 1010 for the Walnut, NEW Q-Wood, Rocking Chair Oak NEW Q-Wood, Log Cabin Hickory 1290 for the Oaks, 1450 for the Maples, and 1820 for the Hickories.

Q-Wood’s “Made in the USA” engineered products can be installed on or above ground, using the Uniclic glueless installation locking system via two installation options: float or glue.

Q-Wood’s domestically manufactured products are produced using PureBond engineered flooring technology resulting in “no added formaldehyde”. This means that with Q-Wood, consumers are bringing a hardwood floor into their home that meets strict formaldehyde emissions standards that many other brands do not meet.

In addition, the new QWood has earned the coveted FloorScore certification by passing the most stringent indoor air quality certification tests in the world. The FloorScore certified Q-Wood floors meet criteria required by a variety of well-respected organizations such as the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), the Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS), and the Green Guide for Health Care. Q-Wood’s FloorScore certified products contribute to the earning of LEED points for projects under The U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) LEED v3 Commercial Interiors and New Construction and Major Renovations program. All Q-Wood floors are Lacey Act compliant.

Q-Wood Is Supported By An Effective Merchandising Program
“The Q-Wood product line is fabulous in its own right, but we are also effectively promoting it the right way,” said Thorn-Brooks. “Q-Wood’s merchandising has been carefully designed to walk consumers through the selection process. This helps ensure consumers select the right Q-Wood floor for their needs, maximizing their satisfaction with the product and with their retailer.”

Website
Most customers start their purchase process online, so the Quick-Step website has been expanded to offer complete information on Q-Wood as well. Consumers can easily look for stunning photography and inspiration tools, detailed product information, and installation/care details online.

Display
The Q-Wood display has a compact design that easily fits into all retailers’ various store layouts and budgets. A simple header highlights the brand with a beautiful floor vignette and elegant brand colors. Product samples feature the full assortment of styles, textures and colors. The Q-Wood display is easy to use and the brand story and key selling points are available on the back of each sample.

Product Sample Back Labels
To make the selection process easier for retailers’ customers, the QWood in-store product samples feature beautiful photography that assists in visualizing the floor. Complete, detailed product information helps explain species characteristics as well as product features and benefits.

Deck Folder
A travel-friendly deck folder contains large swatches so customers can view the product at home. Smaller swatches show available colors and product details are included to help with decision-making.

Consumer Brochure
Available both online and in printed format, the Q-Wood consumer brochure features inspiring photography, an easy-to-digest sales story, and specifics about the QWood assortment.

Uniclic Demo Board
This sales tool helps demonstrate the benefits of Q-Wood’s installation and available accessories. The board features Unisound underlayment, the patented Uniclic glueless locking installation system and INCIZO 4-in-1 Instaform Molding.

Opulux Performance Enhanced Finish
Because this new finish is so unique to the marketplace, Quick-Step has developed sales tools to help retailers demonstrate the finish and sell the special Renewal Revitalizing Solution.

Information Packet
A packet is offered that contains information and details about the Q-Wood engineered assortment and the exclusive Opulux Performance Enhanced Finish as well as care and maintenance instructions.

Demonstration Kit
A kit is available making it easy for retailers to demonstrate the revitalizing properties of the Opulux Performance Enhanced Finish. Each kit contains a small plank, a cloth, sandpaper, and a demo bottle of the Renewal Revitalizing Solution.

Renewal Revitalizing Solution Pop-Up Display
An easy-to-assemble pop-up display holds 6 bottles of Opulux Hard Surface Cleaner and 4 bottles of Renewal Revitalizing Solution, so it’s easy for customers to purchase the solution they need to keep their floors looking fresh. Care and maintenance brochures are also included.

Quick-Step Predicts Strong Sales For Q-Wood
“We are expecting our customers to experience success with our new Q-Wood,” said Thorn Brooks. “The product line is very strong and, as always, our promotional efforts are geared toward helping our retailers increase their revenue by selling sell more Quick-Step product!”

About Quick-Step
Quick-Step is a market leader in flooring, providing solutions for a wide variety of interiors. Quick-Step is a registered trademark of Unilin Flooring, a Mohawk Industries company. Mohawk Industries is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and is a Fortune 500 company. To find the nearest Quick-Step dealer or for additional information, visit quickstep.com.