Armstrong Popular Choice Vinyl

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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Ceramitex Vinyl by Gerflor

Gerflor make a lot of their ‘polyester textile backing’ on their range of vinyl flooring. They claim that, among other things, it can be laid on top of virtually any kind of subfloor without the need for the usual preparation. That’s a bold claim and I must confess that we do sell it where the subfloor is a little awry and the customer does not want the hassle and the expense of screeding or plywooding beforehand. However, I do think that it is important to explain to the customer that the job may well not be ‘perfect’.

The latest range I have come across is ‘Ceramitex’. As the name suggests, it is a tile based selection available either 2m, 3m or 4m wide and with GripX slip-resistance, felt-backing and comes 2.0mm thick with a wear layer of 0.20mm.

CEramitex Borie Dark Design

I do think that the designs stand up quite well and as seen below, they offer a good range of contemporary designs. We are certainly selling more tile than wood design now in vinyl and this is probably borne out by the amount of new tile ranges we are seeing.

Ceramitex Designs in Full

This should be a steady seller and while it is not at the top end of vinyl as regards quality, the felt-backing may well get you out of a hole, so it’s worth considering if your subfloor is slightly uneven. If it’s more than slightly dodgy then please rectify that before wasting your money on a vinyl floor.

This should go out at between £12 and £16 per square metre. Sadly not available as of yet on yourfloors, but your local supplier who deals with The Headlam Group will be able to supply it easily enough.

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New Leolan Vinyl – Stones SR

I’ve just got hold of a new range from Leolan that we buy via Headlam Group – Stones SR.

It’s pretty impressive and at the top end of their range with its 15 year guarantee. There are some old favourite designs there, like the ever popular Mikado 35, but they have added some interesting new ones as tile designs seem to become more popular than ever.

 

Mikado 35 Leolan Stones SR

 

They also have the small mosaic, Orvieto design in there but also some larger ones along the lines of Rhinofloor’s Antique Tiles range.

You’ll probably sell it at between £19-£25 per metre, but I won’t give out trade prices on here. It isn’t currently on Yourfloors, but it will be in time I’m certain. If your rep offers you a sample book I’d take it and I daresay it will be updated onto the Leolan stands pretty soon.

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