T&A Road Tripping Their Way to a Successful 2022
Author: Holiday Van Erem
Over the last 6 weeks T&A Supply Company has been on the road, in full-force, launching our largest launch in company history. Our sales and marketing teams have been road tripping in our different markets doing hotel events to show-off all 140+ new SKUs. Overall we believe they were successful and will impact sales in a positive way for the first half of the year. But 6 weeks on the road is rough. By the end we felt like a rock band coming off tour… not breaking up, but wanting a break from each other.
With many of our retail customers dealing with Covid outbreaks at their stores during this timeframe, some appointments were cancelled. Ice and snow on the passes delayed sample shipments so much the week before our Boise show we had to move it back by 3 weeks. We drove 3 trucks and a trailer from Bozeman to Billings in a snow storm, white knuckles all the way. And the samples, those poor samples. They are not meant to be set up and tore down over 10 times. All this, to make sure we put our best foot forward in 2022.
Here are some of the product highlights you have to look forward to from T&A Supply Company.
Laminate: Visions and Landmark by InHaus
Our newest laminate introductions from InHaus were by far the best received laminate products we have shown customers in the last few years. I have been hearing rumors that laminate as a category is dying but I’m not so sure about that after hearing and seeing the feedback from customers on these products. Laminate still remains the best option for scratching and denting and is still the most realistic when it comes to looking like real wood. Visions and Landmark laminate are made in Germany by a new partner of ours, InHaus Flooring. They are a part of the Classen Group based in Germany. Classen is a world leader in flooring and German quality manufacturing is world renowned. To quote their website they are “a pioneer and leader in laminate flooring, every stage of manufacturing, from raw material to finished product, happens under their roof—ensuring their floors are safe, of the highest quality and something they can truly be proud of.”
Visions, a 7mm laminate with attached pad and Landmark, an 8mm laminate with attached pad, have some of the best looking visuals you will see this year. They both feature water resistance and high AC ratings. Keep an eye out for these products – they are stunners.
Hardwood: Laguna Plank and Olympus by TAS Flooring
Over the last 3 years T&A Supply Company has tried to step-up our game on hardwood offerings by bringing on the Kahrs brand and investing in sourcing our own TAS hardwood products. This year is no different. We have 2 very different launches this year, but they both dropped jaws. European white oak is still the number one requested species in our markets and so is the natural and Scandinavian color palette.
Laguna Plank, a 7/16” engineered wood fits the bill and features a Thermal Enhanced high performance UV cured finish. Olympus is a 3/4″ engineered wood with a 6mm sawn veneer. Coming in a 7-1/2” wide by 96-1/2” long, this one is a beast and will blow you away when you see the 4 colors it comes in.
Luxury Vinyl: Vista Tile and Explorer by TAS Flooring and Sparta by T&A Supply
Luxury vinyl is still the category killer and we are coming in strong with 5 click SPC collection adds, 1 new loose lay/glue down collection and a brand new WPC brand. What stood out the most for me was the feedback on what is typically the underdogs on luxury vinyl. We received such great feedback on our newest tile collection, Vista and our new loose lay / glue down product, Explorer. Customers said over and over again that we were filling a need they have and these products were perfect. True tile visuals are still only about 15-20% of what is purchased today by home owners but the request for more options continues to grow. And thick loose lay options for residential are still needed with not many offerings available.
Vista Tile is a 5mm thick, 12” x 24” tile in 4 beautiful matte finish colors. It features a 12mil wearlayer and painted bevels. We have done luxury vinyl tiles before and the number one complaint about the visual seems to be that it looks like sheet vinyl because you don’t see grout lines. By incorporating painted bevels we have created a grout line and this is resonating with customers.
We also received rave reviews on our newest WPC brand called Sparta. Sparta will be available in April and has all the bells and whistles. This 8mm thick WPC features anti-scratch and anti-microbial technology along with a 20mil wearlayer. It’s available in 16 planks and 8 tiles. One additional, non-performance related benefit is the donation we will be making to the Ronald McDonald House Charities in our footprint for each sale of this product.
Sheet Vinyl: Tarkett Home
Another highlight from our road shows was being able to announce our partnership with Tarkett Home and introduce our customers to the product line. T&A Supply Company is so happy to partner with a great company that has been around for a long time and loves sheet vinyl as much as we do. To quote their website; “for over a century, Tarkett has nurtured and grown into a clear industry leader with a passionate focus on simple, confident customer experiences. With size, resources and award-winning products for all market segments, Tarkett has a distinct understanding of your interior finish needs – for the home or for commercial use – so you can feel confident you’ve made the right choice with Tarkett.”
We will have a robust Tarkett Home stocking program, based in Kent, with 45 SKUs across 9 different collections.
Sundries: OdorGhost and GoBoard Shower Kits
Last, but not least – sundries. T&A Supply is your home for sundries and we are always on the forefront of what’s new and exciting when it comes to getting the job done. I would be remise to not mention that OdorGhost by Taylor literally makes orders vanish and if you are not using this on every tear out as a service you are missing out. This product goes over and beyond what KILZ can do.
And if you are doing any showers, GoBoard now has a shower kit that makes installation so incredibly simple. I saw customer after customer get giddy when they saw this demonstration. Everything you need and you can put the drain anywhere the customer wants. One kit – infinite design possibilities. Used for curb or curb-less applications, their Point Drain Shower System is great for new shower build-outs or tub to shower conversions. You can also pair it with the GoBoard® Tile Backer Board we sell to complete the installation with one stop.