A parcel arrived this morning. A pleasantly logo-ed golden box containing new sample swatches of Armstrong’s relaunched ‘Popular Choice’ vinyl range. It’s branded as being ‘From the home of Rhinofloor’, which of cause it is, but many shops to erroneously claim that it is Rhinofloor. It”s not, you have to pay more money for Rhinofloor, but this range does have its plus points.
Popular Choice is broken down into three ranges: Gold, Silver and Bronze. Each range comes 2m, 3m and 4m wide and features R10 slip-resistance rating. Gold is guaranteed for 7 years, Silver and Bronze for 5 years each. Sadly I do not have the technical specs of them yet, but they do look there or thereabouts to their nearest Leolan/Domo etc competitors to the naked eye.
Ah, but what are the designs like I hear you ask. Well, I don’t think they’ve strayed too far from the norm with these. These ranges are intended to be a ‘middle of the road’ collection to cover all the popular bases. I really like one design in the Silver range, namely ‘Feinstein Metal Oxide’ which is a lovely sharp bronze shade tile – really stands out and should sell, as bronze really seems popular right now.
I’d reckon that all three ranges will go out for £12-£17 per square metre and it’s got to be pretty decent value at that price. Armstrong should do okay with them, but there is nothing different or interesting about them really – just standard vinyl fodder. Stockists will be given the usual advantage in taking rolls in I’m sure, so if you’re looking to cut a deal on these ranges as a customer, if you can find someone who actually stocks some of the ranges then you may be able to chop a few quid per metre from the price.
The samples we have received are small, but there is some logic in this as they are intended to complement Armstrong’s very nice in store stands rather than replace them. Swatches this size work well when you are out measuring for customers and you can’t exactly take a whole stand with you!
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