New Materials, New Technology, New Horizons: Customers Seeking Next Big Things in Home Materials and Technology

Smart appliances, bigger showrooms and … virtual reality? Brian Hagewood thinks so.

 

Hagewood has seen a lot of changes in home building technology since founding Southern Interiors in Sherwood. There is always going to be room, Hagewood said, for customers to visit his showroom and put their eyes on the floor designs, cabinets and countertops his company offers, but now, Hagewood’s customers can also strap on an Oculus VR headset and take a walk through the room of their dreams, open the cabinets and visualize the countertops.

 

 

If VR is not their thing, customers at Countertop World in Bryant can take advantage of software that allows the business to create 3D renderings of what the proposed remodel would look like and send them to the customer’s phone or tablet.

 

The industry is not just about hammers and nails anymore.

 

“We can literally show a customer what their remodel will look like, with all the finishes, in 3D,” Hagewood said. “We can take a photo of a customer’s desired slab and show them exactly how it would look on their countertop.”

 

David McDougall is newer to the game, having founded Countertop World in 2017. He too has seen consumers gravitate to new technology that can eliminate guesswork and help them find the perfect fit for their homes.

 

 

“Customers are increasingly looking for unique, one-of-a-kind designs,” he said.

 

To help meet the demand, Countertop World rolled out laser measuring technology to ensure those unique designs fit flawlessly during the installation process. There are also state-of-the-art water jets and computer numerical control routers — computer-controlled cutting machines — that can create material with exacting specifications in half the usual time.

 

“By incorporating these advanced tools, we can achieve intricate design and flawless finishes that are unmatched in the industry,” said McDougall, who recently expanded his business into northwest Arkansas with a new showroom and production facility.

 

 

Speak to nearly anyone in the home materials business, and optimism is in the air — hard-won optimism at that. There are still lingering scars from COVID-19 and how the resulting economic downturn hit suppliers, builders and customers in one fell swoop. Consumer demand has grown ­— not quickly, but steadily — and suppliers are happy to be back in the groove of meeting those demands.

 

“It’s been a weird time since COVID,” said Adam Wells, president of Lumber1 Home Center, “and by weird, I mean we’re continuing to evolve.”

 

Wells, who took over running the company from his father-in-law in 2017, now oversees three store locations in Little Rock, Mayflower and Stuttgart. In a nod to the improving economic outlook, Lumber1 also recently opened a distribution center in southwest Little Rock.

 

Wells said demand has been high in Little Rock and the surrounding areas, but high interest rates made home projects fiscally prohibitive for some. As those interest rates have started to go down, more and more homeowners are jumping into projects that previously had been just a dream.

 

“We’re very optimistic about the housing stats in Little Rock,” Wells said. “Demand is there, and suppliers will meet that as interest rates continue to come down.”

 

Wells will never shortchange the value of good lumber — “a two-by-four is still a two-by-four,” he said — but it is Lumber1’s inventory of smart appliances that has him excited for the future.

 

“Like with everything else, you certainly see a lot more automation and connectivity, smart-home types of things,” Wells said. “Appliances are a big category for us. Just being able to control, let’s say, ovens via an app on your phone, or washers and dryers.”

 

Wells sees a shift in the homebuilding landscape with smart appliances. What used to be high-end gadgets for deep-pocketed homeowners are now more widely available as the technology has gone mainstream.

 

“We’re not there yet, but I think that’s where we’re headed,” Wells said.

 

If it seems odd hearing the president of a lumber company talk about smart-home technology, get used to it. To meet new demands and industry trends, suppliers are quickly diversifying their offerings, and they are all more than happy to be doing so.

 

“Outside of us being a manufacturer, we are trending more toward being a building material company rather than a brick company,” said Chase Crabtree, district manager at Acme Brick, Tile & Stone.

 

Crabtree said he wished more homeowners knew about Acme Brick’s tile and floor inventory, since interest in those materials has peaked across the country. Rest assured he has the data to back it up; Acme Brick’s home office in Fort Worth invests heavily in studying consumer data. This means the company — with more than 200 stores, including ones in Little Rock, Texarkana, Jonesboro and Springdale — can pivot its inventory to emerging demands.

 

 “Things are trending more toward inert and red-tone colors,” Crabtree said of external building materials. “People like seeing a different variety of accents now. Large-format tile is a huge thing right now, and everybody seems to be looking into sustainable-type material.”

 

 

Indeed, if one were to get together with everybody involved in the home materials business, one would hear “sustainability” fairly quickly and often.

 

“Consumers are becoming more and more conscious about sustainability,” McDougall said. “This has impacted the materials they choose for their homes. We’ve noticed a growing demand for eco-friendly countertops, such as those made from recycled materials, or sourced sustainably. We are actively exploring these options to offer our clients more sustainable choices that don’t compromise on aesthetics.”

 

Wells agreed, saying sustainability and efficiency are the buzzwords right now, and added that customers want to know the materials in their homes are sustainable and also capable of lowering utility costs.

 

“There’s an increase in energy-efficient buildings in ways that bring heat or air costs down,” Wells said. “We’re seeing a lot of builders doing that. You used to have a handful of builders who knew how to build with energy efficiency.”

 

Windows, Wells said, are typically the primary battleground in the fight to lower energy costs, and Lumber1 works with nine different window suppliers to find an efficient option for each home.

 

It all can be a little confusing. Wells oversees lumber stores that also sell windows. Over at Southern Interiors, Hagewood has seen a solitary focus on floor installment bloom to offering full-room designs with cabinets, countertops, blinds and shower glass.

 

Meanwhile, McDougall has not just expanded Countertop World geographically with the northwest Arkansas location; he has also led the charge for new and different manufacturing processes. Countertop World has invested deeply into technology, he said, including a Sasso K-LUX polishing and finishing machine that is the only of its kind in Arkansas.

 

 

While it is not exactly an adapt-or-die situation, all seem to agree that the home materials world is experiencing accelerated change and new demand to match it. Prospective customers have been easier to come by and have more discretionary income. The challenge — and the fun part — has been integrating new technology and cutting-edge employee training to meet the new demands.

 

“These technologies, combined with the skill and dedication of our craftsmen, ensure that every countertop we produce is not only functional but a work of art,” McDougall said.

 

 

It is a time of diversification for area supply companies, since everyone seems to be expanding what they offer and how it is made.

 

“With better interest rates, we’re finding people are choosing to update their homes instead of moving,” Hagewood said. ‘Over the past 10 years, we have become a one-stop shop for consumers that are looking to remodel their home. We get more positive feedback from our remodel clients about how much they appreciate the simplicity of working with one company that does all the work in-house, which creates better quality and a more efficient timeline.” 

 

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