2026 Convention Information

The 29th annual, 2026 Alliance Flooring Convention will be held in San Antonio, TX, at the JW Marriott Hill Country, March 28 – April 1.  More details to come.

This resort is nestled amid 600 acres of oak-covered hills in Texas Hill Country near downtown San Antonio, TX. Attractions near the resort include wineries, SeaWorld, Shops at La Cantera, Natural Bridge Caverns, and Six Flags Fiesta Texas. Retreat to the River Bluff Water Experience, a 9-acre water park with a 1,100-foot lazy river. Indulge in delectable cuisine at their six exceptional resort restaurants or rejuvenate with a body treatment or massage at their luxurious spa. Relax in upscale hotel accommodations, lavish furnishings, top-tier amenities, and awe-inspiring views of Texas Hill Country. 

2025 Convention in Deer Valley, UT

The 28th annual Alliance Flooring Convention was held in Park City, Utah, at the Grand Hyatt Deer Valley, June 16-20. Themed Family Vacation, members came together to learn, network, share ideas, and see new merchandising and product introductions, including new Perfect Home updates and give input to help shape a new category – Perfect Home Hardwood.

The Perfect Home Selling Solution was launched at the 2023 Austin, TX convention and all 50 sets immediately sold out.

“The first 50 who took it on were pioneers with taking the vision we had,” Co-President and CEO, Ryan Dunn shared with attendees. Currently, 72 members have brought on Perfect Home with the goal being 100 members. “Of the 72 Perfect Home dealers, it’s evenly split between the East Coast and West Coast,” Dunn added.

The program rolled out in phases. Phase 1 was carpet which shipped in September 2023. Then LVP, LVT, PVC-Free, and Laminate rolled out in Phase 2 in July 2024. Now comes Phase 3 which is hardwood, to be launched in 2026. Perfect Home members gathered on Tuesday morning to provide input and kick off the Perfect Home Hardwood Showcase. Co-Presidents and CEOs, Ryan Dunn and Kevin Logue shared what this showcase was to accomplish.

Logue asked members to provide specific feedback to help shape the Perfect Home Hardwood program. He said, “We need to hear from you and what you want so we can make this as effective a program as possible. Answers to questions such as, which suppliers do you want, what species do you sell most, and what constructions are selling for you.”

He also shared national trends in hardwood and added that there would be 15 minute supplier stations set up where they would review styles from several potential hardwood suppliers. Additionally he said that he and Ryan would have a station where members could provide that critical input to help them shape the program so it would be most effective in the field for them.

The stage is set, Logue stated, for hardwood to make a comeback. “Wood continues to take share — the timing for what we’re doing here is perfect,” Logue said.

On Tuesday afternoon, we held a Women in the Floor covering Industry (WIFI) roundtable meeting, moderated by Mallory Cruise McGrath, Senior Managing Editor of Floor Covering Weekly. WIFI’s mission is to attract, engage, educate, and empower women in the floor covering industry. A few of the topics were:

1. Ways to Lean on Alliance Flooring: Available resources and how to look to the group for growth
2. Staying Steady in a Down Market
3. Breaking New Ground: Entering new categories and markets
4. Generational Success: Expertly passing or grabbing the baton
5. Tech Tools: Where it helps and where it hurts

Wednesday began with the Opening Session. Logue shared the Past, Present and Future of the Perfect Home program. He said, “You are a part of the hottest thing going in flooring. Thank you for helping us build this.” For the ‘Past’ he shared results from the first year of sales. “It’s been a resounding success.” For the ‘Present,’ Logue added, “We’re seeing great results and interesting facts that will help us shape and update what we have in the field.” The ‘Future’ includes Phase 3 which is Perfect Home Hardwood.

The morning proceeded with speakers John Callahan, Karndean’s National Accounts Manager for Buying Groups, Ben Hillman, Shaw’s Vice President of Buying Groups, and Brett Miller,  NWFA’s Vice President, Technical Standards, Education, and Membership. Each shared some great information with members.

The afternoon session was filled with helpful information about the economy from Steve Jermier, Wells Fargo’s Senior Vice President of Relationship Management and Nicole Cervi, Economist from Wells Fargo. Nicole addressed subjects such as tariffs, spending growth, labor markets, and mortgage rates. She shared that the economic fundamentals are solid and while we may see continued soft sales in Q3 and Q4 she expects growth to pick up in 2026, especially if the Fed cuts rates like she thinks they will later this year by 50-75 basis points.

For Thursday’s closing session, Ron Dunn, co-founder and former co-CEO of Alliance Flooring, was tapped to bring the keynote address about ‘Leadership’. He began by saying, “I want to acknowledge you have lead through some tough times these last three years; you’ve lead through inflation, rising wages, and a labor shortage of skilled installers.”

Ron added, “The hardest person to lead is yourself. Self leadership is the key to influence. You cannot have sustained performance without self leadership.” He continued, “To be the best leader you can be, you have to decide you will prioritize what you value most over what you want now. Decide to not lie to yourself, just be honest and take inventory. It’s very difficult to lead yourself by yourself so always get input from trusted sources.” He went on to add some wise pointers to help you be an exceptional leader:

• Embrace the cumulative IQ
• Ask great questions
• Remain inquisitive
• Never stop learning
• Champion networking

New CarpetsPlus COLORTILE merchandising introductions were shared next by Logue which included both carpet and hard surface offerings. A total of 10 new displays and updates were shown.

Will Young, Senior Vice President of Residential Sales for Engineered Floors, closed out the speaker lineup for the day. He stated that headwinds almost always have tailwinds. He shared that homes are in a headwind right now experiencing historic inventory lows and that 90% of sales are existing homes, and 10% new builds. Multifamily replacement has really dropped off because people are staying in apartments longer waiting to move into a home when they can afford it. But a bright spot is in new apartment buildings.

According to Young, the outlook for Remodel and Retail Market includes these points:

• Soft business conditions across all retail segments
• Solution dyed polyester continues to take share
• Domestic supply gets the spotlight
• Visual product enhancements take center stage because consumers look at colors and what it looks like

Dunn and Logue took the stage to give a few instructions to members before going into the Exhibit Hall and letting them know what they would see and any new suppliers to visit. They also introduced a unique supplier of custom medallions and motifs made by a master Karndean installer, Travis Robison of Robison Design Flooring, who just happens to also be a member. He has developed a way to create and sell these custom creations exclusively to the Alliance Flooring group.

The energy was electric with members swarming the space to go see all the new products and suppliers. Artivo, Galleher, Stanton, Cain & Bultman, Marquis, Floorzap, and Tech Stain-X were new suppliers in attendance.

2024 Convention in Orlando, FL

The 2024 Convention took place at The Rosen Shingle Creek Resort in Orlando, from March 2 to March 5.

One year ago, the Alliance Flooring buying group introduced the Perfect Home retail selling solution. The two-pronged approach to flooring sales utilizes merchandising and technology to bridge the gap between the digital and in-store experiences. It was a strategic investment that the group’s leadership says carefully balances the fierce independence of its 322 retail members with the need for a unified approach to marketing.

50 members of Alliance Flooring invested in the inaugural rollout of the system in Austin 2023, which began with soft surface. The carpet system includes 195 products that are merchandised in three collections of 48 cards organized by style, performance and comfort.

The Perfect Home system is designed as a boutique store-within-a-store program. Merchandising displays can be ordered for wall or island presentation, depending on a store’s specific needs, and leaves the remainder of a retailer’s showroom square footage to showcase other manufacturer or distributor programs as needed for their local market.

The hard surface program includes a Luxury Vinyl Plank Colorwall, PVC-free flooring and laminate display, and two tile displays.

In addition to the in-store merchandising displays, the system can include an in-store Roomvo interactive touchscreen display that mirrors that products and experience that consumers may have on the retail websites. In addition to Roomvo, they have developed an Interactive Design Consultant, or IDC. The IDC technology is exclusive to the flooring industry for Perfect Home members. With IDC consumers are guided through the flooring selection process by a designer who recommends products based on the customer’s design preferences. The matching products can be seen in the room visualizer and saved for an in-store visit.