Mohawk Home has seen retail sales continue at big box essential retailers and online during Covid shutdowns. Shown, Claremont

DALTON, Ga. -- Mohawk Home has continued to ship and manufacture rugs albeit at a lower level during the Covid-19 pandemic, and the company anticipates that area rug inventories at national retailers to transition more slowly looking ahead.

However, shoppers continue to visit major brick and mortar retailers deemed essential during the health crisis, including Target, Walmart, Lowe's and Home Depot, and rug purchases remain a part of their ongoing business.

"Manufacturing has been hanging in there at the 60 percent level so we are working the plant as we have business and as the demand is there," Bart Hill, senior VP, Mohawk Home, told RugNews.com. "We are still shipping rugs, and most of our business is with the national retailers. The ones that are open -- the Walmarts, Targets, home centers -- have been focusing their efforts on essential product, but they are still open and we are shipping every day to them. The ones that have been impacted more are the ones that can't open or chosen not to open, such as Kohl's, HomeGoods, and Ross Stores."

"Being at home has made people decorate and do some fixer uppers around the house," Hill continued, "so we have seen some positive benefits as buyers are trying improvements in their spaces."

While some brick and mortar retailers were able to keep their doors open during the pandemic, many are sitting on rug inventory that will need to be cleared before ordering more area rugs.

"The retail environment is certainly going to be disrupted by what we dealing with, so there may be less transition this year. In total, retailers are going to look to change less in 2020 because of the current environment," Hill said. "The inventories and markdowns are going to be at premiums, so retailers are going to want to watch that and stores aren't going to change as much."

Despite the expected slower pace of inventory turnover, Mohawk Home continues to present its latest area rugs and has moved much of its new product presentations to a digital format. "We are still sending out new constructions in all of our categories every spring and fall with multiple new constructions and multiple new designs/patterns," Hill explained. "We still have plenty of newness in tufted, woven and printed -- and we send those out to brick and mortar retailers or online.

"We were not able to show at the spring New York Home Fashions or High Point markets, but as far as area rugs and the category in general we continue to be leaders in the machine-woven category that uses our fiber advantage with SmartStrand fibers and polyesters that Mohawk makes internally, as well as space-dyed options. Those have been really good for us."