[Dalton] American Home Surfaces Group (AHSG) and Commercial USA are proud to announce their 2026 Member Summit, themed “Beyond the Surface.” Taking place September 20–23, 2026, at the JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa, this event will once again serve as a cornerstone gathering for the AHSG and Commercial USA network.

The summit brings together independent dealers, suppliers and technology partners from across the nation. Designed to foster collaboration, innovation and strategic growth, the three-day event will feature keynote presentations, interactive sessions and networking opportunities aimed at advancing the future of the flooring industry.

“Beyond the Surface embodies our shared vision—to go deeper, think bigger and create lasting impact across the industry,” said Tony Wright, president of AHSG and Commercial USA. “Our members and partners are the driving force behind AHSG and Commercial USA’s continued growth, and this event is where that collective energy truly comes to life.”

Set against the backdrop of the JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa, attendees will enjoy TPC San Antonio’s golf course, eight dining destinations, the Lantana Spa and a 261,000-gallon pool.

Registration for the 2026 AHSG & Commercial USA Member Summit is now open. To secure your place among the industry’s best and learn more about membership opportunities, visit americanhomesurfaces.com or commercialusa.com.

[Suwanee, Ga.] Atlanta Flooring Design Centers (AFDC) has come a long way since Donny Phillips opened a 1,000-square-foot store in a strip mall here four decades ago. While that store front is now a beloved local “meat and three” restaurant, Phillips and his partners have grown AFDC to a retail behemoth, with 16 stores across two states and counting. In fact, AFDC holds the third spot on Floor Covering Weekly’s Top 50 Retailers, with $206 million in sales in 2024.

Phillips didn’t set out to become one of the top flooring dealers in the country. “We’ve come a long way,” he said. “We feel that we’ve been blessed and fortunate. It’s been a great journey.”

Phillips founded the company in 1985, after moving to Dalton after college. “After a couple years of working in the banking industry in Dalton, I just gravitated to flooring,” he said. “My dad owned the outlet and I worked for them for a couple years and one day the entrepreneurial spirit bubbled up and I decided to jump out and try it on my own.”

He gradually expanded, opening a second and then third location quickly. He eventually built the company headquarters here, which, at 120,000 square feet, includes a redesigned showroom, warehouse space and offices. The company has an additional 18,000-square-foot warehouse nearby for its cabinet division, which is geared to builders.

“When I started, there was no room for a warehouse or anything else,” Phillips said. “My desk was against the wall over there and I propped my door open because a lot of people stood in line to go to the restaurant. It was a great restaurant. I managed to look really pitiful sitting at my desk and people would order floors from me. I guess they felt sorry for me. So that’s how we got our start.”

As the company consistently grew, Phillips added to his executive team to bolster that growth. Frank Winter is executive vice president. “Frank’s one of the smartest guys in all of operations of the flooring business,” Phillips said. “He doesn’t say a lot, but there’s not much he can’t do with operations.”

Mark Tunick is vice president of builder. “Mark could be one of the best guys on the production builder sales in the U.S.,” Phillips asserted. “He’s shown his worth by building [builder business] from $15 to $20 million to $160 million in builder sales. He’s done all that.”

And Nik Burdett is general manager, “who’s got great politics and understands the supply side because of manufacturing and distribution. Nik understands all of it, goes along with the supply side and yet can help with employees and challenges that we face, whether it be on the sales side or operations side.”

Phillips takes pride in his whole team. “When you look at the leadership team of the top five or six people, that’s what makes us good. We all understand what our roles inside the company are and we don’t have egos to crossover and suggest something in sales or operations that might improve on the other side. We just have a great executive team that makes a lot of good decisions and it’s fun to go to work and it’s fun to see it work.” In all, AFDC has 420 full-time employees.

Frank Winter, Donny Phillips and Nik Burdett at Atlanta Flooring Design Center’s original location

Upgrading Spaces

AFDC is celebrating its 40th anniversary with an expanded and remodeled showroom. The space now features a bright and prominent tile department, which was precipitated when the company bought out a tile department and brought in the two founders, said Burdett.

“They’ve come in to really help us revamp our ceramic tile department,” he explained, adding that the husband-and-wife team, Lilliana and Mario Perrucci, have helped with everything from assortment to installation and quality control issues. “We were losing customers because of challenges on installation and now we’re getting customers to come back and we’re even finding there’s opportunities for us out there where people aren’t doing tile, they may be doing soft surface, and we’re to of leverage that to get the soft surface business too. So, it’s helping our custom business grow.”

The company also brought in the large Karastan Black carpet display and put it front-and-center of the store. In addition, displays and lighting throughout the store are bright and fresh.

The showroom also features prominent, designated hard surface and soft surface areas for easier shopping. Key vendors Daltile, Mohawk, Shaw, Engineered Floors, Stanton, CALI, U.S. Mills, Emser, Southwind, Southern Wholesale and Cain and Bultman.

It was important to AFDC to make the showroom inviting. “There is some pent-up demand in retail,” Phillips said. “By re-doing the showroom, it gives us opportunity to have more excitement and enthusiasm there.”

What’s more, AFDC makes both the company and showroom accessible to the community which has given so much to it, Phillips added. “We’ve always thought if you’re involved in the community and being part of the community, then the community will purchase from us. I made sure we got involved. I always thought you have to give back.”

Burdett added that the showroom has hosted design events to continue to generate interest, and the revamped showroom will help the company expand that.

“The biggest goal was to get the showroom under control and set up, and we’ve finished that,” he said. “We really have everything you need.” He added that the showroom will add a dedicated outdoor surface space in the future, too.

The objective, he added, was to improve the areas where AFDC excels and not focus too much on other areas. “We have tried to focus on what we’re really good at and then hand off what we’re not good at,” such as tile by bringing in the Perruccis.

AFDC has in-house designers and works with designers all over the South, from single home designers to builder groups. “We feel like our designers have a good feel and a good touch and a great eye and they can put things together and put packages together and they try to stay up to date on all the trends,” Burdett explained. “And we’ve done some work for some of the national builders in their regional offices and showrooms, so we have a pretty good feel on what’s going on in the market.”

Burdett said there is no one-size-fits-all approach or ticket size. “You’ll see a $2,500 ticket and you’ll look and see a $25,000 ticket all from the same salesperson all within the same week,” he said.

Atlanta Flooring Design Center recently celebrated its 40th anniversary with its employees.

Employee Power

As AFDC grew, Phillips and Winter realized there was not an obvious succession plan. At the end of 2023, the company implemented an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) to transition ownership of the company to all its employees. It was a way for Phillips and Frank to control how the company will continue in the future while also giving them and other senior executives an exit strategy.

“The ESOP is the final piece of that puzzle to say that we’re serious about trying to have partners with employees and building something that’ll last a long time,” Phillips said. “It’s important to all of us. Frank and I were the guys that made that decision that that’s what we wanted to do, but the whole executive team has certainly been on board with that.”

Phillips said the ESOP has been well received and successful as it plays out, even though there has been a learning curve. “There’s still a lot to learn about the ESOP. Some of our employees who’ve just seen it go into place don’t understand how much value we can really build over the next five to 10 years. They kind of want the immediate gratification. And so, we try to explain to them that until the ESOP pays the debt down to Frank and I — which was a choice that we made to do our own financing, therefore we wouldn’t have a bank pulling the strings on how things were run. We can still make our own decisions and as it pays that debt down the value will go back to the company and therefore the employees of the stock they own and earn each and every year.”

And the ESOP gives Phillips plenty of time plan his next steps. “It was always intended to be a slow handoff. It was never intended to be something to get in place and run out the door.”

Atlanta Flooring Design Center installed the Karastan Black full display

What’s in Store

AFDC will continue to grow as it has, both through acquisitions as well as organically.

“I think it’s safe to say that we will expand,” Phillips said, adding that growth will stay in the Southern region of the U.S.

“I believe that Atlanta Flooring Design is in a great position almost double within five to seven years,” Phillips said. “I think that’s because we have a great footprint, great people in place, got great leadership in place and assuming that South continues on its growth, we think the opportunity will be there for some acquisitions as well as the organic growth.”

Still, he hopes that the next generation of leaders will help fuel that growth. “I don’t think that I need to stay at the company and get in the way of younger, more energetic folks, smarter folks to take it to the next level. So while mentoring is something I enjoy doing — both at work and my church life — I very much love to step out of the way so you can see other people grow and feel that you’d be a part of that.”

The ESOP will help that, he added. “The whole reason we did the ESOP is see [the company] last longer than Frank or I could take it. There should be wonderful opportunities for the company to continue to grow, not just five or seven years but 10 or 20 years. So, whether I’m around to see it or not, it’s not as important as people having jobs, good careers and an opportunity to make something better than it was yesterday.”

For his part, Burdett said doesn’t plan to retire for a while. “I’d like to stick around to see it double but also stick around to see the next generation of people come in and enjoy it.”

AFDC is a member of American Home Surfaces Group and Commercial USA and has been happy with the organization. “Tony Wright’s leadership is going great,” Burdett said. “We’re very pleased to be a part of it.”

Atlanta Flooring Design Center features Shaw’s Anso Colorwall

Atlanta Flooring Design Center added an expanded tile section.

“I always say that if you’re good at the small things, the big things will take care of themselves. Just show up work, be honest.” – Donny Phillips

“There’s always been challenges through the years. But in the end, if you’re patient and you’re conservative in your business, you can overcome most all those obstacles. And I hope in the end really look at a place that gives people a career, not just a job.” – Donny Phillips