Phone: 605.336.3080Toll-Free: 800.353.3080

Bringing TISE to You: Highlights from Surfaces 2018

Surfaces from Craig Gaspar:

Karndean at Surfaces “See Flooring Differently/ Sell Flooring Differently”

The one thing that stood out at Surfaces to me was the sea of sameness. You simply could not walk by a booth without seeing some format of LVT, WPC, SPC or Rigid Core product. After a while it literally all started to look the same. Whether it was a mosaic manufacturer or a cork company, EVERYONE was selling it!

I started to wonder; how could a retailer possibly keep track of all of this? All of the varying qualities, formats and price points. So I asked a customer of mine how they did it. He said, “It’s too confusing to try to keep track of it all so I rely on my key suppliers to do the work for me and trust in the market that they’re offering me a fair deal.”

This is why I feel so honored to represent a company like Karndean that has been “doing” LVT long before it was popular. Quite simply, Karndean sees flooring differently; they make flooring differently. For example, one of the new styles they featured at Surfaces was the Knight Tile Grey Riven Slate. This design was inspired by a piece of stone extracted from quarries located along England’s northwest coast, renowned for its beauty and high hills formed from volcanic rock dating back 300 million years. They actually had a piece of the stone in the booth to touch and feel. This is just one of the many stories that Karndean tells with their designs and is just one more reason with Karndean you can “See Flooring Differently” and it helps you, our retail partners, “Sell Flooring Differently”.

Surfaces from Dean Nagel:

Hard Surface Domination

After attending Surfaces a number of times, I have to say that it’s amazing how hard surface continues to take over the show floor overall compared to soft surface. Dreamweaver and Mohawk even had plenty of hard surface on display. Where did all the carpet go?!

On another note, technology continues to get better and better over time and this industry is not slowing down. With the technology available now, it’s easier to enhance the appearance of imitation flooring by continuing to make them more realistic. You know this industry has changed when our wood manufacturer, Johnson Hardwood, is having to come out with SPC. They knocked it out of the park with the visual. We are also really excited to tell you soon about the new direct print, groutable LVT called CLEO from Congoleum.

Surfaces from Rick DeMatto:

This was my first ever trip to Surfaces and I was amazed at how many vendors there were. I never thought there were that many flooring manufacturers in the world. I was especially amazed by how many LVT, WPC manufactures were there.

I was also impressed with the new Johnson Farmhouse offering as well as Congoleum’s Cleo. I’m amazed at how quickly the market is changing with introductions of new products and technology. I was pleasantly surprised at the new Korlok Reserve offering which is the same great Korlok construction except for a smaller format and a 2G locking system. Additionally, Korlok and the new Korlok Reserve will be available in a deluxe or waterfall display. We will have more specifics coming soon! I feel the expanded Korlok offering will be a huge success.

Surfaces from Rudy Huebner:

What I discovered at Surfaces is that even with the overwhelming number of vendors in attendance! I have never seen so many vendors showing so many products all in one place. Because of my tile background, I was previously focused on the one category. Now that I work with TSF, I get to take opportunities like surfaces and check out the multitude of product offerings, all the while working

through what do our customers want and how can we bring those great products to you. I am extremely excited to see all the products that are on the way and even more excited to share them with you.

On a side note. I was warned to wear my comfy shoes for all the walking that you have to do. I did get blisters for the first time in my life after walking all over the place. The very first day, I ended up walking over to the convention center to look around and then back to my hotel. My phone congratulated me because it assumed I was working out since I had been walking briskly for 45 minutes! Once I realized how far apart everything was without even having to go outside, I knew that exercising wasn’t going to be an issue. We walked a lot but it was worth it to see the amazing show. Plus the walking helped burn some calories from some of the great food we were treated to by a few vendors!

Surfaces from Trevor Parvinen:

Johnson Farmhouse Manor Series:

There was a lot of new, exciting and innovative floors at TISE this year to be excited about. With the market surging in water proof click products I was focused on finding the next impactful generation of waterproof, kid friendly, pet-friendly click flooring solutions that stood out above the rest for our customers. To my surprise, the Johnson Farmhouse Manor Series completely stole the show for me.

Visually you couldn’t name a product more appropriately. 11 visuals perfectly capture the old farm and ranch reclaimed, antique and barnwood-aged styles that we’ve all been waiting for. If that wasn’t exciting enough, it’s all designed and built on a hybrid SPC-waterproof click platform with an attached IXE sound control pad/underlayment system. Farmhouse Manor comes in a beefy overall thickness of 7.5mm- with a 20mil wear-layer, textured/embossed, lifetime Residential warranty/ 10yr commercial. When you pick up a plank of Farmhouse Manor you can instantly see and feel the difference in quality. Quality, esthetically designed around the past on a hybrid platform the future.

Surfaces from Trent McDowell:

Surfaces 2018 was definitely exciting. It’s clear what has been trending in (WPC) and what will be trending (SPC) were in full show at the convention. With so many to choose from I think its important to rely on the companies that got us here rather than the companies that only want a piece of the pie that they might not know how to bake so to speak. From what I saw, the companies that you think of for hard surfaces like Karndean, Congoleum, Johnson, etc. are doing a great job by introducing new and exciting designs, styles and products unlike anyone else’s. They continue to build upon what they already have and innovate new items that no one else has. I saw a lot of “me too’s” while at surfaces and so its important to find the companies that create uniqueness for your show rooms.