Lumber Liquidators 2008 Annual Report Download - page 14

like various aspects of wood floors, including appearance and durability, ease of installation, renewability of
resources and increasingly higher quality of engineered and laminate flooring. The majority of these customers
hire a third-party installer to put in their flooring, with the remainder being do-it-yourself installers. Most of our
other sales are to contractors, who are primarily small businesses that are either building a small number of new
homes or have been hired by an owner to put in a new floor.
Our Products
We offer a complete assortment of hardwood flooring that includes prefinished premium domestic and
exotic hardwoods, engineered hardwoods, unfinished hardwoods, bamboo, cork and laminates. Our product
offering is substantially comprised of our proprietary brands, led by our flagship Bellawood brand. Our
hardwood flooring products are generally available in various widths and lengths. They are generally
differentiated in terms of quality and price based on the species, grade of the hardwood and quality of finishing,
as well as the length of the warranty. In total, we offer nearly 350 different flooring product stock-keeping units.
Prefinished floors are finished in a factory under controlled conditions and are ready to be enjoyed immediately
after they are installed. Our prefinished products generally have warranties ranging from 10 to 50 years when
used in residential settings.
We continue to develop breadth within our proprietary brands. In 2007, we introduced additional lines of
solid and engineered handscraped products under our Virginia Mill Works Co. brand, stained and strand bamboo
products under our Morningstar and Ty Pennington brands, and heavier-wear layer laminates with foam backing
under our Dream Home brand. We also offer a broad assortment of flooring enhancements and installation
accessories, including moldings, noise-reducing underlay and adhesives, that complement our assortment of floor
offerings.
2008 2007
Percentage of Net Sales:
Hardwood (Solid and Engineered) .................................... 64% 69%
Laminates ....................................................... 13% 10%
Moldings and Accessories .......................................... 11% 10%
Bamboo and Cork ................................................. 11% 9%
Other ........................................................... 1% 2%
Total ........................................................... 100% 100%
Solid Hardwood. Our proprietary solid hardwood products are milled from one thick piece of wood, which
can be sanded and refinished numerous times. We offer flooring products made from more than 25 wood species,
including both domestic woods, such as ash, beech, birch, hickory, northern hard maple, northern red oak, pine
and American walnut, and exotic woods, such as bloodwood, cherry, cypress, ebony, koa, mesquite, mahogany,
rosewood and teak. We sell these products either prefinished or unfinished.
Engineered Hardwood. Our proprietary engineered hardwood products are produced by bonding a layer of
hardwood to a plywood or high-density fiber board backing. Like our solid hardwood floors, our engineered
hardwood floors are offered in domestic and exotic wood species. All of our engineered hardwood products are
prefinished.
Laminates. Our proprietary laminate flooring is typically constructed with a high-density fiber board core,
inserted between a melamine laminate backing and high-quality photographic paper displaying an image of wood
and a ceramic finish, abrasion-resistant laminate top. Our laminate flooring brands allow for easy-click
installation, and some include a pre-glued undersurface, moisture repellent, soundproofing, single-strip format or
a handscraped textured finish.
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