An Interview with AHF Products’ Brian Carson

AHF

An Interview with AHF Products’ Brian Carson

In the flooring business for more than 30 years, Brian Carson is President and CEO of AHF Products, the company which was born when Armstrong Flooring, Inc. sold its wood division to a private equity firm in 2019. With a portfolio of top name brands such as Bruce®, Hartco®, Robbins®, LM Flooring®and Armstrong Flooring™ and a dedication to bring the right style, value, innovation and marketing to its channel partners, Carson sees tremendous opportunity to help retail partners grow with the company.

AHF Products’ purchase in July 2022 of certain assets of Armstrong Flooring, Inc., follows its acquisition of the LM Flooring® brand in 2019 and the purchase of certain assets of Parterre Flooring Systems in 2021 and Cumberland Products Group/American OEM in 2022. These acquisitions help AHF Products deliver on its strategy of serving customers with sought-after products and providing channel segmentation.

PFR: Why did AHF Products purchase the bulk of Armstrong Flooring, Inc.’s North American assets?

It was a significant diversification move for us from manufacturing only hardwood to manufacturing vinyl sheet, vinyl tile, and vinyl plank products for both the residential and commercial markets.

Armstrong Flooring™ is our 14th brand and it’s a brand that allows us to broaden our customer base. Broadening our customer base permits us to bring more volume to our manufacturing facilities, which not only grows our plants, but ultimately grows business for our customers. The Armstrong Flooring™ brand is vital to our distributors, retailers and flooring contractors and it’s a name consumers know and trust.

PFR: Which brands does AHF Products offer?

AHF Products has 14 incredible brands. Bruce®, Robbins® and Armstrong Flooring™ all go back to the 1800s, when our country was being built, and America was literally built on many of these brands. There’s a proud 150-year legacy here, and a legacy in which we continue to invest. Nobody else in the industry has a stable of brands like this - that’s a real asset for our customers.

PFR: Where is your product produced?

We have 10 plants that manufacture wood and vinyl products, as well as distribution centers, primarily here in the U.S, and a very large facility in Cambodia. We are North American centric and strategically non-China centric because of the unpredictability. This strategy allows us to create value for our partners; provide better service; make supply chains quicker and more agile and less volatile; and to be innovative.

Plus, our products are phenomenal. We’re constantly expanding our American-made SPC offering, our laminate, and our revolutionary waterproof and densified hardwood products.

PFR: What’s your #1 priority?

I’m a big believer that if you’re not moving forward to create more value for your customers, then you’re moving backwards. As a company, we analyze fast, we move fast, and act with clarity and certainty and continually adapt and adjust as we learn more.

Everyone in the flooring industry has been experiencing demand and product shifts over the last year. We’re bringing out new products to allow our distributors and retailers to improve their business by taking advantage of these shifts. We are providing the tools to help channel partners win in this changing market.

Despite the near-term uncertainties we’re seeing, we’re bullish on the long-term outlook. We’re all about rolling up our sleeves and getting down in the trenches to help our channel partners make money and provide solutions to their customers. That’s not only distributors, but retailers as well. We want them to feel the same level of optimism and excitement that we do and our commitment to help them reach their goals. ■

I’m a big believer that if you’re not moving forward to create more value for your customers, then you’re moving backwards. As a company, we analyze fast, we move fast, and act with clarity and certainty and continually adapt and adjust as we learn more.