By Brittany Walsh
[Lancaster, Pa.] Armstrong is heading into the fall selling season with a strong lineup of new residential and commercial laminate product introductions on the cutting-edge of design and color. According to the company, the new offering is focused on a unique mixed-species concept.
Brian Parker, product manager at Armstrong, explained that within the company’s award-winning Architectural Remnants collection, Woodland Reclaim continues to be a best-seller. This summer, the company added nine different species of wood looks that blend together to create an authentic and realistic, but bold look that cannot be achieved in real wood. Because of different expansive properties, a mixed species look cannot be achieved in the real medium.
Global Reclaim, also a new addition of Architectural Remnants, puts a different spin on the mixed species concept using exotic wood looks such as apple wood, eucalyptus and exotic maple. “These species are a tighter grain so we’ve complemented that with a warmer color pallet. This provides a softer look within the home.” Global Reclaim comes with 18 unique planks in dusty blush tones.
But with its new offering, Armstrong does not only offer bold looks. Rustics Premium adds looks that are more subtle and tailored to traditional North American trends.
“If Architectural Remnants is too bold or too dramatic of a look for a customer’s home, we have added Forestry Mix to our Rustics Premium collection,” Parker explained. “This gives you a variety like Woodland Reclaim and does it in a more concentrated design aligned with North American consumer preferences. We’re taking the three most sought after species, mixing hickory, red oak and white oak, and offering it in three color washes, brown, white and gray.” Each color has 24 unique planks displaying the varied stain characteristics of each species.
Also new to Rustics Premium, Millwork Block offers the distinct look of premium oak strips, assembled into planks, glazed with stain and enhanced by a subtle surface treatment, and is available in 18 unique planks.
According to Parker, typical laminate has six to eight unique visuals until the pattern repeats. One of the company’s focuses for its new laminate introductions is a high visual count.
“If you have a great design, an ‘eye knocker’ as we call it, and it only has a few unique visuals until the pattern repeats, it is noticeable and easy to pick out that repeat on the floor and realize it’s not real wood,” he said. “These new additions have an extremely high number count of unique visuals ranging from 16 to 24 unique visuals on the floor. When you lay that out, it gives you the randomness achieved with a real hardwood floor.”
Jim Walters, owner of Macco Flooring with six different retail operations in northeastern Wisconsin, explained that Armstrong’s new introductions focusing on mixed species is an attention-grabber on the selling floor.
“A customer doesn’t come in to specifically ask for a mixed species look, but it is a look they are drawn to once they see it,” said Walters. “For laminate, we are looking for any way to differentiate ourselves from the big box stores and unique visuals that are high-styled help us to do just that. It’s the race to the bottom, generic look that we avoid. These new introductions are a unique combination of different species that they can’t get from a big box store, along with a wider plank that is on trend right now.”
Industry insiders agreed that for premium laminate, the $3 to $4 range is a sweet-spot for consumers desiring a high-end, on-trend look that is more affordable than other hard surface categories.
“That will sell in laminate as long as it is a premium, high-styled product that is on point with the trends, and [Armstrong] has nailed it with Architectural Remnants,” Walters added. “Many consumers are comfortable in purchasing laminate, so when we can show them these types of design-focused looks, it puts us ahead of the game.” He added that the consumer is not as price conscious when shopping for high-end laminate because they’re getting a premium product with a premium look at a great price. “With this collection, I’m seeing sales everywhere in almost every SKU.”
Karl Oberer, an associate designer at Michigan-based Riemer Floors, noted that the wide plank and rustic look is in high demand in today’s interior fashion and Armstrong hits on those styles.
“Armstrong’s line brings an authentic look of otherwise very expensive reclaimed hardwoods to the mass market,” he said. “Particularly popular have been the weathered washed ‘milk paint’ look from their Architectural Remnants series and the ‘grain finish’ from the Rustics Premium collection. These new laminates not only strike the current style trends, but also bring a price point that makes selecting fashionable floors a pleasure.”
Core and wearlayer
While Armstrong has largely focused its efforts on design, just as important are the benefits attributed to the collection’s performance. The new intros feature Armstrong’s VisionGuard wearlayer, which protects the floor from staining, fading and wear-through.
“All of our standard laminate performs at an AC3 rating or higher,” Parker explained. “When our AC3 products have been tested, they have performed best overall against all other laminate tested by an independent third party. Everything within this collection has an AC4 wearlayer so it is even more durable.” Parker added that not only do these collections offer a 50-year residential warranty, they also have a 10-year commercial warranty. “That’s how durable it is. The new introductions offer realistic design you can put in your home with the performance capabilities of a commercial application.”
HydraCore Plus, a core that is built into Armstrong’s premium laminate products with a higher density and is infused with melamine resin, providing the products with a more solid feel as well as a higher resistance to moisture.
“We’re emphasizing design, not only what’s on-trend but products that are extremely unique and differentiated compared to competitors,” said Parker. “But equally as important is the performance of these products and we believe we have something superior. Here, you are getting the look and feel of wood with a product that better performing and less expensive than wood. It is much more scratch resistant, stain resistant and wear resistant compared to wood or vinyl. And to pair that with the design capabilities we have, people can’t even tell that it’s not real wood.”
Millwork Block, shown in Burnt Ombre, was launched to Armstrong’s Rustics Premium collection.