Walking the Plank

Recently, a Chelsea Plank Flooring dealer referred to Luxury Vinyl Plank as simply “plank flooring”.

WHAT?!

Since the statement was so incredibly wrong, it’s time to peel back a few (wear) layers of creative marketing with the definition of plank.   

Plank [plangk]

noun

·        a long, flat piece of timber, thicker than a board.

·        lumber in such pieces; planking.

·        something to stand on or to cling to for support.

·        any one of the stated principles or objectives comprising the political platform of a party campaigning for election: They fought for a plank supporting a nuclear freeze.

https://www.dictionary.com/browse/plank

As you can see, timber and lumber are both mentioned in the definition while vinyl is nowhere to be found. However, the definition does leave room for vinyl if you’re looking for something to cling to for support. Okay, all joking aside, we had to change our URL from www.plankflooring.com to www.chelseaplank.com because some marketing guru in New York decided to abscond with the terminology to sell Chinese-manufactured, imitation wood flooring in the US.

If you think I sound a little bitter, you are correct. It’s time for the wood industry to stand against these environmentally unsound products and tout the incredible advantages of domestically harvested and manufactured hardwood products.