Interesting article in Floor Covering Weekly

Choice of Location for Manufacturing in USA

“Shaw Floors has more than 40 manufacturing facilities across the country, producing both hard and soft surface flooring. According to David Morgan, executive vice president of operations,

“Shaw’s modernization and expansion efforts are driven by several factors: growing market demand, our constant quest for innovation and our commitment to perpetually evaluating opportunities to enhance our operations.” Shaw has a particularly strong presence in the Southeast, due to the large number of suppliers the company has in the region and the “abundance of minerals used in the LVT manufacturing process, allowing for regional sourcing in this category,” Morgan added.”

Shaw Floors’ Plant RP located in Ringgold, Ga.

“Armstrong has been manufacturing in Lancaster, Pa. for centuries. Dominic Rice, Armstrong senior vice president of global operations and manufacturing, told FCW that Lancaster was chosen as the company’s headquarters in the 1900s, “due to the strength of that operation and the local workforce.”

Rice added that in the mid-1900s, the company expanded production to South Gate, Calif.; Kankakee, Ill.; and, Jackson, Miss.,

with its most recent plant opening in Stillwater, Okla., “to provide faster customer service and shorten shipping routes.”

Engineered Floors’ SAM plant located in Dalton, Ga. 

“Engineered Floors (EF) exclusively manufactures its soft surface in Georgia. “We chose this area because we see it as a commitment to the communities that have given so much to EF, specifically Dalton and Calhoun, Ga.,” said Mike Sanderson, EF’s vice president of marketing.”

“Congoleum has three manufacturing plants in the U.S., each dedicated to specific parts of the business

— the felt plant is in Finksburg, Md.;

a sheet plant located along the Delaware river in Marcus Hook, Pa.;

and, its vinyl tile plant is located in Trenton, N.J. “

“Tarkett produces both hard and soft surface products throughout the country, its soft surface offerings are produced solely in Georgia. (Tarkett’s hard surface is produced in Chagrin Falls, Ohio; Middlefield, Ohio; and Florence, Ala.)

Georgia, according to Dominic Coletta, executive vice president of operations for Tarkett North America, is ideal because it is close to the company’s consumer base and there is a strong, experienced labor market.”

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