Lumber Liquidators pull out China laminate flooring

Lumber Liquidators ceased sales of all its laminate flooring sourced from China. The Virginia-based retailer has been facing scrutiny since March after CBS News program "60 minutes" reported that it purchased the said products to reduce costs despite knowing that those contain carcinogenic formaldehyde.

China suppliers reportedly labelled their products as compliant with California formaldehyde standards. Lumber Liquidators, despite the pullout, affirmed that their products are safe. The company is said to be reviewing the certification and labelling processes of their suppliers but denied that it was aware of the products being noncompliant.

Allegations in the form of more than a hundred civil lawsuits concerning foreign sourcing are still being dealt by the company's special committee of the board of directors. These are not yet seen to end soon as product reports and testing hasn't been completed. In addition, some of the company's top officers have resigned in the process.

Lumber Liquidator’s sales have been affected by the controversy, with first quarter revenue dropping by 1.8 percent, and profit margins decreasing by 5.9 percent.