Features

AHF predicts wood to succeed amidst housing boom

Wednesday, April 21, 2021

AHF Product’s Bruce team worked closely with Mark Bowe to develop a solid hardwood collection representative of the barns and cabins he restores.

[Mountville, Pa.] The flooring industry, particularly hardwood, has benefited from the recent resurgence in remodeling and building single-family homes in the U.S. But there’s a catch — the issue, president and CEO of AHF Products Brian Carson told FCW, is the upstream battle against historically high demand.

Carson predicts the desire to upgrade homes isn’t going to wane anytime soon. “If I were a specialty retailer, I’d think I’m going to have the wind to my back for the next five to 10 years,” he said, pointing out that the residential housing market is significantly underbuilt. “I think you’ll see more people returning to hardwood,” continued Carson. “Most of us grew up on hardwood, it’s the one product that ages with grace in a 200-year-old home. There’s the logic, of course, that it increases home values — or it’s perceived as an investment not an expense — but it also tugs at our emotions of what a home should be.”