Endangered Species: Rhinofloor & Armstrong To Close

Save the rhino! No, this is not a sudden departure into protecting those mighty beasts……sadly it is to post about the impending demise of Armstrong’s domestic vinyl production on Teesside. Note that this closure affects the domestic side of their business only.

It really will be a hammer blow to a part of the country that can ill-afford the loss of 163 jobs. It’s pretty clear that Armstrong have struggled to cope with the new generation of vinyl competition from Europe, of which Leoline has been the spearhead.

It does not surprise me to hear this news, though it does sadden me. To think that what is by far the most recognised vinyl brand, Rhinofloor, will no longer be available is quite shocking. Realistically it is pretty much the only brand people ever seem to ask for in this shop – in recent times however, they often come in talking about Rhinofloor and leave the shop having bought Leoline – sad but true.

A lack of true innovatition and creativity, as well as some very strange pricing structures have contributed to their demise as much as anything else in my book. I actually dismantled one of their stands today (coincidentally) to make way for something else that will sell a lot more than that and the significance of what I had been planning for a couple of weeks sunk in. If I’m not getting results from their stand, then I’m sure I’m not alone.

The end of an era and another British manufacturer goes to the wall. No bail outs from the goevernment to the flooring trade though, we save those for reckless bankers……

(Originally posted on the 25th August 2010)

More Polystyl Vinyls

Following on from the ‘Colours of Today’ post the of last week, I have now got my hands on a full set of new Polystyl vinyl samples. Here is how they look:

Display Stand

Origin:This is Polystyl’s entry level product and is the only one of the ranges of theirs I’ve seen that does not feature their RMAX surface coating. That being said, it does still carry R10 slip-resistance, which is fine for domestic vinyl and will definitely mean less possibility of slipping.

On top of that the other point worth noting is that its warranty from Polystyl is significantly less than the others, coming in at ‘just’ 5 years. The vinyl itself is 2.6mm thick, so respectable enough from that point of view and the wear layer is 0.2mm, which seems now to be about standard at budget level.

Designs are typical fare- several wood planks, some tiles and so on – nothing to write home about here and it’s not winning any design awards, but it does a job at a price.

Elegant:Going up the tree quite a few branches, we see Elegant, which does feature Polystyl’s RMAX coating, which they claim is tougher and stands up to heavier wear. Hence you see the 15 year warranty on this product. Again this is R10 slip-resistant, which you would certainly expect from a high-end vinyl.

Gibraltar Black

It is beefed up to a chunky-ish 3mm total thickness and the wear layer here is a pretty impressive 0.3mm. This may not sound much better than Origin’s 0.2mm, but it does make a significant difference in the long run.

Designs are again pretty disappointing – just the usual suspects prevail again here and the only mildly interesting design is a large intricate parquet wood design. As Roy Walker would say, “It’s good but it’s not right!” It seems to me as if Polystyl’s creative juices were all sapped by Colours of Today and that’s a shame.

Elite:This one is very similar to Elegant and features both RMAX and R10 slip-resistance, yet somehow manages just a 10 year warranty (don’t ask me why. The gauge is again 3.0mm and 0.3mm wear layer.

Stromboli Bronze

Design is a lot better here though. We see some gorgeous plain metallic designs – the bronze being particularly nice and even the wood plank designs seem to incorporate this metallic theme pleasingly. It reminds me of some of Rhinofloor’s metallic stuff from a year or two back, but it looks more impressive to my eyes. Intriguingly some of the wood plank designs in my sample book run the wrong way and before I sell any of this I need to make sure which way the planks run. I have never seen a vinyl sample book like this before – most run the ‘right’ way, but a couple run the wrong way – why would they do that?

Agora:Jumps on the felt-backed vinyl bandwagon, which Leolan and Gerflor have exploited so well recently. Felt back vinyls seem to go to well with customers and you can definitely get away with some minor subfloor imperfections with them – it’s not a panacea, but it can get you out of a fix I think.

Agora has a 15 year warranty, RMAX and R10 and comes in at 2.8mm thick and has a wear layer 0.35mm thick - the highest within this range. It’s a good option, but once again the designs are somewhat bland.

Felt Back Vinyl (Better images to follow)

(Originally posted on 21st April 2009)

New Polystyl Vinyl: Colours of Today

Just received a new sample book for a new Polystyl vinyl called ‘Colours of Today’.

It contains mainly abstract and modern designs and includes a weird ‘wine cork’ design called Vino Natural:

There are also metallic wood designs, but another eye-catcher within this range is definitely the Pavia design. A small flowery mosaic, shown here in black and white colourway:

We’ll be selling this at £14.99m and I think it will sell okay, but not massively. It bears all the hallmarks of a range where people look at it, marvel at it and then decide to take the safe option instead.

(Originally posted 3rd April 2009)