Lifestyle Floors: Hardwood, Laminate & Vinyl?

I’ve heard that Headlam Group’s interest in their new ‘Lifestyle Floors’ brand is set to intensify in the new year with the addition of hardwood, vinyl and laminate to the range.

There is talk of some 5 metre long stands being made available to show the products off and we will be very interested to see what they come up with. If we add this stand to the ones we have just had installed then we are talking about giving up a large amount of wallspace to one company.

We’ll have to consider it carefully once we’ve seen how it looks and most importantly, what products are going to be on it.

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Kaindl Laminate: Like Hot Cakes

This past year has seen a real revolution in our laminate flooring sales. Sales peaked for us in around 2007, with the years leading up to that seeing massive growth from 1999 onwards. We sold huge amounts of it and at its peak we were selling more laminate than anything else.

What has changed this year, as laminate sales were slowly tapering off, is that we have been selling Kaindl laminates and they have blown away the competition. They are priced very aggressively by the largest wholesaler in the country, Mercado, and they look and perform seriously well.

We stand them alongside the brand leaders, Balterio and Quickstep and they compare wonderfully well, but at a significantly lower price. While Quickstep and Balterio have seen price rises recently, Kaindl prices have been static. I believe this to be something to do with its manufacture being in Austria and therefore not at the mercy of worsening Euro exchange rates.

Such is the importance to Mercado of this particular product, that they have taken the unprecedented step of placing a link to the products that Kaindl supply through them on their own home page. It’s a massive product for them and a massive product for us.

There is an 8mm V-Groove, a ‘Natur’ variant with extra visual effects and a super chunky 10mm narrow plank. They are all exceptionally great value in my opinion. The designs are oaky, but wonderful and ‘Brushed Oak’ (37580), ‘Salzburg Oak’ (37684) sell by the lorry load.

Sometimes you do have to take your hat off for a job well done and on this occassion I would have to do that to Kaindl. It’s not just the fact that their product is well put together and impressive to look at (not to mention the fab free display stands), it’s that it is being sold at a great price and is clearly the best pound for pound buy in laminate flooring in the UK today.

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Are You Going To Harrogate Fair?

This year’s Harrogate Flooring Show is almost upon us – it is being held between the 5th and 7th of September this year. In a move to persuade hard-working shop owners to make the journey, the operators have decided to begin on a Sunday this year.

I’m not sure whether to pop along there or not at the moment. Anyway, you can pre-regisiter by clicking the link above and if you do go then have fun.

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