Terhürne is a timber flooring company on a crusade and one weapon in its armoury is a miniature clog on a box. The device, which can be seen in action in at its smart UK headquarters near Droitwich, can only have been invented by a German company based on the Dutch border. The clog is attached via a dowel to a wooden box. When you wind a handle it rises then clops on to a piece of laminate flooring from a rival producer. Next, if you slide it across, it drops on a Terhürne range backed with its MAS membrane.
“It’s a bit light-hearted, but it is a real demonstration of the effectiveness of our MAS sound insulation system,” said Terhürne’s UK sales manager Tony Lancaster. “With the Building Regulations Part E revision, this is a serious issue, but it doesn’t seem to have sunk in in the market.”
The clog also ties in with Terhürne’s central philosophy that timber and laminate flooring have a strong sales story, which means they don’t have to be stacked high and sold cheap. It’s the company’s crusade to communicate this in the UK and, in particular, to convince independent timber merchants that it makes the products ideal for them.
“With timber flooring, especially, customers want expert advice. That’s why ‘sheds’ are de-stocking engineered parquet and why merchants, with their specialist knowledge, are ideally placed to capitalise,” said Mr Lancaster. “And UK timber and laminate floor sales are still rising. We’re catching up in leaps and bounds with levels elsewhere in Europe and Terhürne expects it to be its biggest export market.”
Effective display
Vital for success in the flooring business, according to Terhürne, is effective display and it demonstrates what it means by this in its extensive showrooms. Naturally, the floor itself is covered in its products and there are also vertical panels, shelf units and angled displays where samples slide out on rails for viewing. “It’s essential to make sure a large area of each range can be seen,” said Mr Lancaster. “Because of timber’s natural variation, you could give the customer a false impression of the whole floor by just showing a couple of boards.”
Terhürne also recommends having as wide a selection of product as feasible. It’s own range runs the gamut from laminates, through engineered, multi-layered board right up to heavy-weight 20mm solid timber, including ‘aged’ ranges which are coloured, distressed and supplied in different board widths for an authentic old flooring look. The company also has a ‘retail’ range sold under the Gründorf banner.
“Providing this choice doesn’t mean merchants carrying huge stocks,” said Mr Lancaster. “Buyers don’t usually demand next-day delivery so an effective display backed up by a small stock of the fast sellers is all that’s required. As far as Terhürne is concerned, we can then deliver from the 1 million m2 of stock we have on the Dutch-German border in five days.”
Mr Lancaster also advises merchants that their range should include laminates. “There are now quality, sophisticated laminates available so we’re not talking necessarily straight competition with the sheds,” he said. “There is also strong evidence that customers trade-up from laminate to engineered and solid wood. I think laminates have reawakened the public taste for timber.”
Accessories
Accessories are another valuable part of the package. Terhürne has its own range of cleaning products, waxes and oils – even the felt pads for the feet of furniture. Then there are supplementary items like co-ordinating skirting and beading, expansion bars, plus installation products, from traditional adhesives through to the company’s Elastolane, a sticky-membrane for bonding solid boards without secret nailing. Mr Lancaster points out that some of these products can provide a 40% mark-up for merchants and many are potential repeat purchases.
Terhürne insists that moving into flooring is not as much of a learning curve as some merchants fear. But it also helps them find their way with sales seminars in the teaching block at Droitwich and installation training either at its HQ or customers’ premises.
It creates displays for its customers as well. “We charge for these, but they’re heavily discounted and the discount grows according to the volume of products ordered,” said Mr Lancaster. And, he added, if the merchant wants, they can also have a clog on a box.
