Page 32 - History-of-flooringLR

Beauflor

a history of innovation

In 1959, Belgian entrepreneur Roger De Clerck founded Ter Lembeek in accounted for 26% of volume in 2021, its position is testament to its innovation
Wielsbeke, West Flanders. This part of Belgium is famed for its textile and first approach and continual investment in technologies.
flooring industry and is still home to some of the biggest names in European
flooring, including B.I.G. Until 2017, Beauflor used production technology similar to many other
residential vinyl flooring manufacturers, namely analogue printing onto its PVC
Roger De Clerck founded Ter Lembeek to diversify from flax cultivation – a key flooring from large rollers. The technique is much like a printing press used for
ingredient in linen – into fabrics. Beginning by making upholstery fabrics at newspapers. The introduction of digital printing gave Beauflor the ability to
first produced by home weavers, Ter Lembeek quickly established itself as one of fast-track new designs and provide a custom floor from just a single roll. With
the industry’s notable manufacturers. endless repeats, super high-definition and 3D effects with realistic textures, it
represents a major step forward in PVC flooring.
It was on a 1964 trip to an exhibition on the river Lys, in Ayre-sur-Lys in
northern France, that the name Beaulieu was born. The river, in which flax is Having the technology within its residential collection has certainly helped
rotted, was a key part of the Wielsbeke flax industry. Flowing through the Beauflor to respond to trends, create XL formats and introduce expressive designs,
famous Beaulieu gate, Roger was inspired by the link to the flax making past and but it is the contract market where the technology can be truly embraced.
so Beaulieu was created.
By 1982, the company had become a major part of the local economy and it was
in the same year that Roger De Clerck also received an ‘Oscar’ of the Belgian
export industry, presented by Belgium’s Prince Albert, its deputy prime minister
and state secretary.
Still family owned, the business was divided into six smaller groups in 1991,
each for one of Roger’s six children, and they began operating as independent
companies. But in 2005, four of the groups reunited and established Beaulieu
International Group (B.I.G) providing flooring and material solutions, including
yarns, fibres and technical textiles.

Over the next decade, B.I.G grew strongly, enjoying autonomous growth and
driving up market share with a series of targeted acquisitions to become an
international leader in flooring and material solutions.
Since 2004, Beauflor has been a key part of Beaulieu International Group. In
fact, it was in 2002 that B.I.G began building the Beauflor production plant in
Wielsbeke, with the first rolls of vinyl flooring produced two years later signing
the official launch of the brand.
Just like B.I.G, Beauflor grew dramatically and in 2012 it acquired capacity in
Slovenia and Russa with the acquisition of Juteks. Then, in 2015, Beauflor began
work on its first USA plant, opening production in Cartersville, Georgia with
Beauflor USA in 2016.
With the installation of a state-of-the-art digital printer in its Slovenian plant in
2017, Beauflor became one of the first heterogeneous vinyl manufacturers
capable of custom printing. In 2020 it commissioned its second printer to
provide the capacity to keep up with demand. The same year, the company also
opened a new production facility in Russia.

Now the world’s largest manufacturer of residential PVC flooring, Beauflor’s
market share is growing every year. Driven by expanding exports, which

32 The History of Flooring