What type of flooring is used in a footwear showroom?

Many footwear showrooms have a medium to dark, neutral coloured, fine patterned, low twist pile, hard wearing carpet as the floor covering. This is used because it:

* gives a more luxurious and welcoming feel to the space than most hard surfaces

* does not clash with a wide range of shoe colours and makes them more prominent

* is firm enough for the shoes to be tested for comfort * does not create drag in the way a deep pile would, making walking more difficult * does not highlight the shoes' stiff newness as a hard floor might

* is easy to keep clean * does not show small dirt particles

* is durable * does not mark easily, such as from black rubber soles or sprigged shoes or stilettos * conceals any minor flaws in the smoothness of the flooring.

Some specialist shoe showrooms may have hard surfaced areas for specific uses, such as running shoes. These can be covered in durable linoleum or hard wearing types of vinyl. A fine pattern helps to hide flaws dirt particles and marks.