Floor Coverings

The floor coverings industry in the US includes about 1,000 manufacturers; 3,000 wholesalers; and 15,000 retailers; with annual end-user flooring sales of more than $20 billion. Major manufacturers include Shaw Industries, Mohawk Industries, Beaulieu Group, and Armstrong World Industries. Large retail franchise chains include Flooring America, Lumber Liquidators, and Carpet One. The industry is concentrated at the manufacturing end, where the four largest companies hold close to 60 percent of the market, and highly fragmented at the retail end, where the top 50 companies hold just 10 percent.

Please see the Wood Flooring Manufacture profile for further information on hardwood flooring.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

Demand for floor coverings depends on residential and commercial real estate construction and home sales, which can be cyclical. With many costs fixed, profitability of individual companies depends on their volume of business. There are large economies of scale in manufacturing and distribution. Annual revenue per employee at large carpet mills is close to $300,000. A typical wholesale location has annual revenue of $50 million, a typical retail location about $4 million.

PRODUCTS, OPERATIONS & TECHNOLOGY

The industry produces and sells carpets and rugs, hardwood flooring, "resilient" plastic sheeting, and ceramic tiles. The majority (55 percent) of sales consists of carpeting and rugs. Wood flooring accounts for about 30 percent of industry sales; plastic sheeting about 7 percent; and ceramic tile nearly 5 percent.

Most carpeting is made on large tufting machines that use rows ...