The Bamboo Age

The Chinese revere bamboo for many reasons, not least of which is the spiritual and symbolic significance of the stalk, representing strength and character in the face of the elements. Flooring fabricated from bamboo is said to be "harder than oak, with the dimensional stability of steel." Who wouldn't want something that strong under your feet (to say nothing of its beauty)?

Chinese historians talk about a Bamboo Age, like a Bronze Age, in which stalks were used as utensils, tools, weapons, construction materials and the like. Gangly bamboo stalks are still widely used today as a staging material on the sides of high rise buildings under construction in Shanghai and other Chinese cities.

Bamboo flooring and bamboo furniture are a wonderful alternative to products made from oak, maple and other species that take much longer to grow. Bamboo is truly renewable, because it takes only four years to grow to maturity. (It grows as fast as grass, because it is grass!) This pitch is attractive to eco-conscious consumers who are also inclined to think bamboo flooring, with its random pattern of shoots, is aesthetically pleasing.

But like any maturing consumer trend, bamboo's attractiveness has waned in the past year or so, due in part to the flooding of the U.S. market with Chinese made flooring planks, often of poor quality. It has become just another commodity.

One challenge for bamboo flooring makers in China is to continue to improve the quality of their products. Another is to increase the variety of offerings, whether handscraped, distressed or stained. U.S. marketers must continue to educate consumers about the urgency of using building materials that are renewable, natural and beautiful.