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’s been your biggest surprise midway through 2022?
Here are their responses:
The biggest surprise for Friendly Floors is there has been no decrease in business written despite the price increases, freight increases, interest rate hikes and runaway inflation. We are very thankful.
– Majorie Benson, Friendly Floors, Port Charlotte, Fla.
Inflation is at an all-time high for my lifetime and people are still spending money. We are only off 9% on the retail sales—very encouraging as we had record growth of 45% in 2021. I never want to go backwards but last year was amazing.
– Brian McCarver, Brian’s Flooring & Design Birmingham, Ala.
Our industry, like others, is still dogged by the supply chain issues, extraordinarily high inflation and lack of workers. I am totally amazed at the amount of business still coming in. My hope is this is not a bus wreck waiting to happen.
– Bill Zeigler, Charles F. Zeigler & Sons, Hanover, Pa.
The biggest surprise is our volume. Our monthly sales have remained strong, but due to the inflationary costs the margins have decreased.
– Bobby Merideth, Flooring America OKC, Oklahoma City
The biggest surprise to me for 2022 was how strong the market stayed for so long. Consumers are still buying, and the availability of flooring products has to been affected as much as many other construction materials.
– Kate Butcher, CarpetsPlus ColorTile Bloomington, Bloomington, Ind.
