What is the best flooring for commercial offices or retail stores?

Published July 2023 | Updated April 2025

Commercial offices and retail stores require a durable floor covering that enhances the aesthetics of the space, is easy to maintain, and reduces noise levels.  With so many options available today, let us help you narrow it down. In this post, we discuss the best flooring options based on location and by material.

Retail Store Carpet

The level of foot traffic and wear and tear a retail store encounters will vary depending on physical location and, honestly, how busy it is. A carpet with a light to medium contract rating might be perfect for a boutique dress shop, but a book store in a downtown, urban location might fare better with a moderate to heavy contract carpet.

What To Look For

• Light, moderate or heavy contract durability ratings depending on traffic level
• Natural fibers like sisal, stain-resistant sisal, or coir (jump below to learn more about natural fibers)
• Synthetics like nylon, polypropylene, PET or woven vinyl (jump below to learn more about synthetic materials)
• Aesthetics are important and must complement overall design scheme
• Moderately to easy to clean 

Commercial Office Carpet

As with retail stores, a commercial office may be small with only a handful of employees and visitors, or it could be a corporate headquarters with steady traffic. 

What To Look For

• Light, moderate or heavy contract durability ratings depending on traffic level
• Natural fibers like sisal, sisal tiles, stain-resistant sisal, or coir (jump below to learn more about natural fibers)
• Synthetics like nylon, polypropylene, PET or woven vinyl (jump below to learn more about synthetic materials)
• Moderately to easy to clean

Hotel Room Carpet

Because hotel rooms experience ongoing wear and tear from all walks of life, high durability and easy cleanability are paramount when selecting carpet for hotel rooms and corridors. Also, a comfortable, design-forward carpet leaves a lasting impression.

What To Look For

• Moderate or heavy contract durability ratings
• Synthetics like nylon, PET or polypropylene with a “soft” feel (jump below to learn more about synthetic materials)
• Aesthetics that complement hotel’s overall design scheme
• Comfort, both softness underfoot and noise reduction in corridors
• Easy to clean 

SynSisal® Rugs at The Pinch Hotel

Discover why the design team behind The Pinch Hotel, located in the heart of historic Charleston, South Carolina, decided SynSisal® was the right weave for this unforgettable hotel.

Case Study – The PINch hotel

Natural Fiber Carpets: Sisal, Coir, & Wool

If you are considering a natural look, there are many natural fiber carpets that are durable and carry commercial ratings.

First, a stain-resistant sisal from our SisalPLUS collection offers classic sisal constructions, like bouclé or tiger-eye, woven from the most stain-resistant sisal yarns available on the market. Also, the almost indestructible Contract Coir or Poona has a darker, neutral tone that can hide stains and is ready for heavy traffic.

Or, for a more colorful option, tretford® Roll is available in a stunning array of colors. Plus, this goat wool blend is excellent for sound absorption and thermal regulation. Goat hair is naturally durable and tretford® Roll’s fusion-bonding makes it extremely durable. The unique rib construction also helps keep this carpet looking sharp—spills are less likely to become embedded in the fibers, making it easy to clean. 

Synthetic Carpets: Nylon, Polypropylene, Recycled PET & Woven Vinyl

It is hard to beat synthetic materials with their overall durability, stain-resistance, range of colors and design options. Hence, most commercial carpet is made from synthetics like nylon or polypropylene, or a blend of materials. In general, the yarns in a commercial carpet are solution-dyed, colorfast, UV-resistant, and mold and mildew resistant. 

Nylon has been the gold standard for commercial carpeting, but there is a new material on the block that is creating excitement: ECONYL®. ECONYL® has all the credentials that nylon carries (durable, easy to clean, etc) but with an added sustainability story: it is a regenerated nylon manufactured from fishing nets and other post-consumer waste. Our exclusive SynSisal® collection is the first synthetic sisal carpet to be made with ECONYL® yarns and is a perfect choice for commercial spaces of all kinds.

GLOBAL ACCOLADES: iF DESIGN AWARD 2025

SynSisal® stood out among 11,000 entries and has been honored with the prestigious iF DESIGN AWARD 2025 in the Textile/Wall/Floor category. This globally renowned award is a seal of quality for outstanding design and design quality.

Another excellent option for hotel rooms, retail stores, or offices is contract grade polypropylene. Polypropylene carpets have soft fibers, many colorful options, and depending on the backing, can be used outdoors. Bowen or Perth from the Terasa collection offer a versatile, stylish commercial outdoor rug option. 

If your commercial space will see a lot of moisture or mud, a woven vinyl carpet might fit the bill. Incredibly easy to clean, woven vinyl is impervious to moisture and highly durable, making it a great candidate for pool areas, locker rooms, spas, exercise facilities, laundry rooms, and entry ways.

Finally, for a sustainable, outdoor-friendly option, recycled PET polyester is a waterproof, soft, contact-rated option. The Rols Collection from Spain offers rugs with beautiful design and colorful options for commercial spaces.

Check out our Commercial and Hospitality page for more posts about choosing the right commercial carpet. More questions? Our customer service team is always happy to help.

engineered for possibilty

FLEXIBEL™ Modular Carpet

German-engineered for commercial spaces, FLEXIBEL™ offers tiles, planks and broadloom rolls in flexible formats and styles for efficient, low-VOC installation.

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