American Home Surfaces Group, an alliance of independent floor covering dealers represented in every state throughout America, has added three new members.

[Roswell, Ga.] American Home Surfaces Group & Commercial USA are pleased to announce Happy Feet International as our newest supplier partner.

Happy Feet offers the finest in Luxury Vinyl Plank for commercial and residential applications with over 30 million feet in stock. “We are excited to partner with AHSG and Commercial USA and look forward to growing our business together with the membership of both groups” said Happy Feet buying group manager TJ Curtin. Based in Chattanooga TN Happy Feet services customers nationwide from their 10 distribution centers.

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American Home Surfaces Group, an alliance of independent floor covering dealers represented in every state throughout America, has added three new members.

Floor Covering Weekly: Raising the Barn at Atlas Flooring

Friday, March 10, 2023

[Denver] Our 4th and final stop of this Denver edition of FCW’s Retail Road Trip Series brought us to the foot of the Rockies to see Atlas Flooring. Atlas is part of the landscape here in Boulder, Colo. The American Home Surfaces Group retailer, housed in a red barn, has been serving the community since 1958. It’s changed and grown over the years providing a full assortment of flooring along with kitchen cabinets and countertops.

Today, business partners — and childhood friends — Leister Bowling and Jake Sloan continue to propel the business forward with the goal of offering its customers the best service possible.

Combined, Atlas’ team has “200 years of sales experience in the flooring industry,” Bowling shared with FCW.

Leister Bowling, Todd Eberhardt, Monty Peterson, Mike Owens, Sabrina Gomez, Tommy Martin, Jake Sloan & Hank

Atlas is part of the landscape here in Boulder, Colo.

American Home Surfaces Group, an alliance of independent floor covering dealers represented in every state throughout America, has added three new members.

Couch Potato Carpet & Flooring, based in Central Pennsylvania, provides carpet, hardwood, laminate, and tile. The company said it makes shopping for carpet, vinyl, tile, hardwood, and laminate simple, with more than 30 years of experience, helping customers to pair top styles from leading manufacturers to their customers’ rooms.

Since 1997, Cutting Edge Carpet has been serving Florida’s multifamily housing community with the goal of providing fast, professional flooring installations. In 2003, Cutting Edge opened a second location in Jacksonville, Florida, expanding its service area to encompass almost all of Florida and South Georgia. Company owners say the company’s success is directly related to customer satisfaction. Cutting Edge Carpets offices are staffed by longtime employees and 40 specially trained installation crews.

Raleigh Tile has been serving the West Virginia and Southwest areas since 1995. Current owner Brad Brush managed the store for years and became president and owner in 2009. Brush said the company prides itself on eliminating problems before they happen through years of experience with all kinds of flooring. In addition to the retail showroom, Raleigh Tile said it also offers expert advice and competitive pricing for any type of commercial project.

Friday, August 12, 2022

[Roswell, Ga.] Commercial USA has provided the following updates on its members and network.

Metro Floors & More, a full line Commercial & Residential flooring company based in Baton Rouge, La. and servicing the Gulf Coast region, are now the newest members of Commercial USA. Metro Floors & More is a family-based business providing its customers with great product offerings, design consultation, and outstanding installation services.

With more than 25 years of experience, Metro Floors & More has developed a strong reputation for providing competitive pricing, outstanding service, installation, and most importantly, honesty. Recently, the company expanded its showroom to include a Designer/Architect gallery where its onsite Interior Designer works directly with architects, designers, and owners; ensuring that every aspect of the project is fully considered.

Metro Floors & More works in both the public and private sectors extending into the hospitality, industrial, commercial, homebuilder, and designer markets. It also specializes in demolition and removal of existing flooring coverings and has the equipment and knowledge to perform any sized floor preparation project including self-leveling, grinding, and moisture mitigation.

Other new members of Commercial USA include Midwest Tile and Interiors, Inc in Mishawaka, Ind., and Paramount Company & Floors in Austin, Texas.

Midwest Tile and Interiors, Inc was founded in 1978 by Greg Gluchowski who recently expanded his offering for a broader product solution by adding vinyl, carpet, and LVT to the Tile business. Midwest’s broad base of product and installation disciplines has taken them to the top in total Commercial flooring options. Its core business customer focus includes education, medical, hospitality, municipality, and government projects. The company benefits from repeat clients that include Boyd Gaming Blue Chip Casino Michigan City, The Four Winds Casino Group, South Bend Indiana, Notre Dame University, and numerous national account restaurant chains. Multifamily new and remodel installations fill in the Residential categories of business.

Paramount Company & Floors has operations in both the Dallas-Fort Worth and Austin areas. It provides high-end commercial flooring installation services that include new construction, build-outs and remodels in many different capacities. Its area of expertise includes educational remodels, medical and assisted living, first-generation office build-outs, management services refresh, and specialty sports flooring. Paramount said its goal is to deliver projects on schedule and within budget; ensuring its clients are 100 percent satisfied and would strongly recommend the company.

In July, Real Floors Inc., a family-owned provider of flooring in the multifamily, commercial real estate and single-family rental industries based in Marietta, Georgia, announced that it is merging with Arbor Contract Carpet, based in Irvine, Texas. Real Floors Inc., which will include Real Floors, Real Floors Commercial and Arbor, now has more than 700 employees in 12 states with 28 locations serving over 50 markets coast to coast.

In 2021, the three companies reached combined sales of more than $400 million, which included $325 million in replacement services and $75 million in new construction. Real Floors Commercial is a member of the Commercial USA buying group.

Floor Trends recently caught up with Real Floors Inc. CEO Adam Brookner, President Matt Gilbreth and Chief Customer Officer Lyn Jacobs to learn more about what’s in store for the merged venture and their outlook on the multifamily market.

Floor Trends: How did this merger come about?

Adam Brookner: Matt and I have been talking for many years, just at a high level, sharing a lot of the same challenges in the industry. It became clear that we shared a set of values. We looked at what was happening around the industry, both from a competitive standpoint and from a customer standpoint, and we really felt like we would be best equipped to serve our industry together. There’s no secret that there’s been consolidation within our customer base. Taking what both companies did so well in their respective markets and bringing that to a national platform was very appealing, and we felt that the timing was right to bring that to market.

Floor Trends: What does it mean for your customers? 

Lyn Jacobs: Being able to have this level of coverage for our existing client relationships was incredible. We’ve had customers begging us to come to Atlanta and Nashville for many years, and the same thing could be said for Adam and his team. Those questions bubble up through the sales organization on a weekly basis.

Brookner: It was a rare opportunity to bring two very similar companies together from a cultural standpoint. To have somebody out there who can provide a consistency of service coast to coast in 28 different markets across the country—that, ultimately, is to their benefit. We want to be easy to work with. We are striving towards operational consistency and that ultimately just takes one more item off their list of things they have to worry about.

Floor Trends: You mentioned company culture is a natural fit for both organizations. 

Matt Gilbreth: I thought that was one of the most interesting things when Adam and I first started talking of how we view ourselves and how we view our employees and our subcontractors—we’re all interrelated. We work really hard, but we also don’t want to take ourselves too seriously. We all have a little bit of self-deprecating humor. We want to enjoy our work lives we; we spend a lot of time with these people. The focus is the Real Floors family. When you know some of our competitors, you know that they don’t view their subcontractors or their employees in that same light.

Brookner: Both companies being value driven above all else was clear very early on.

Jacobs: One of the stories that I share internally with our people is that Adam and Matt had the foresight to hire an outside consulting firm to put us together. The first meeting with the consultants was about how are you going to measure success of this merger? The resounding answer from both Adam and Matt— almost speaking over each other—was employee satisfaction and retention—making sure that we have the right people staying with the organization. It’s a walk the walk thing—not just to talk the talk—about people and culture and the values. That impressed me very, very much.

Floor Trends: Speaking of consistency, how do you ensure consistent quality of installations coast to coast? 

Brookner: Though a lot of those negotiations, discussions happen at a local level; it’s about having a consistent mindset with operations. We may have different terminologies, such as dispatch operations manager, but going into it, with the same customer-first approach. Every market is a little bit different, which is to be expected, but you know we’re pretty confident that we take a consistent mindset and approach across all 28 locations.

Floor Trends: With so many employees, technology must play a big role in your business.  

Gilbreth: That’s an interesting one for us right now.  Believe it or not, because of the merger, we’re going to be on three different software platforms. We’re just a work in progress on that technology. We both have good systems in place that allow us to facilitate and handle all of our customers needs, but we still are looking for a better platform and something to put us above the competition.

Brookner: To add to that, I think our our size and scale allows us to be more aggressive in terms of investment in that world. Our clients are moving very rapidly in that direction and we want to maintain our position as the easiest to work with— there’s a convenience and comfort level ordering online, accessing all details of your account from your phone. It’s really internal focus, though, as Matt pointed out, creating or finding the best platform for both our employees and our clients.

Floor Trends: What are the paint points you see for the second half of the year? 

Brookner: I’d imagine our pain points are just the same as everybody else’s. It’s the proliferation of SKUs over the last decade. We’re having to work with countless more product types than we were before… But we do feel that at the size that we are there’s opportunities to utilize stock between locations to a better degree and to position ourselves, where we can, to be higher up in line in terms of product availability.

Floor Trends: Have your clients changed the types of flooring that they’re specifying?

Brookner: Yes, I think we see we’ve seen a continued move toward hard surface. A lot of that is due to the strong demand within the multifamily industry and the accompany rent growth, so we’ve seen a willingness to put a better quality product into the asset. As innovations and new products have come available there’s been a market for clients to use those in terms of whether they’re SPC or some of the different fiber types. Customers are willing to look at products that are a little higher quality.

Jacobs: I think we’re seeing a little bit more flexibility from our customers. If you can’t get this beige carpet we’ve got another beige carpet. If we can’t get this wood plank, then there’s another wood plank. Our customers have rolled with the punches, and that partnership with our clients comes in very handy.

Floor Trends: What’s your outlook for the second half of the year? 

Brookner: I’m remaining bullish. Everybody reads the same articles about the threat of recession growing. Being at a larger size and scope is more beneficial to weathering the storm, but the rise and increase of interest rates is going to have an outsized impact on single-family purchases, and folks are continuing to need some place to live in multifamily. I think it’s realistic to think that there may be some impact on transactions in the multifamily space, and that might reduce a little bit of the capital projects going on. However, I think the demand is going to continue to remain strong.

Floor Trends: Are you seeing projects affected by a lack of skilled Installers?

Brookner: I think we already knew that across the country there aren’t enough skilled subcontractors to meet overall demand, so I think we’re subject to the same forces that a lot of others in the construction are. Certainly, there are markets where demand is far outpacing the supply—and that’s not just a Real Floors problem, that’s an industry problem.

Gilbreth: It’s similar across the entire U.S. I’m afraid just having a good subcontractor basis is getting harder and harder. The fact that single family and maybe even some of the higher end in multifamily are offering different dollars for similar rates and we’re all having to raise our rates to continue to attract them. As Adam said, we really focus on treating those subcontractors better. We really do a lot of, for lack of better term, preaching civility and respect in all that we do. The average carpet subcontractor is aging, and there are not a lot of younger guys or gals coming into that segment of the business.

[Dallas] Daltile too is celebrating a milestone this year — its 75^th anniversary. Here, Scott Maslowski, senior vice president of sales, Dal-Tile Corp., shares some of the tile category’s transformation from the company’s unique perspective with FCW editor-in-chief Amy Rush-Imber.

FCW: What are the biggest changes or dynamics impacting the tile market here in the U.S.?
Maslowski: I see technology as one of the great empowering factors in our industry over the last decade. Through today’s technology, we are able to bring to life just about any look that our designers can envision! Technology has also given us the ability to realistically replicate in tile the visuals of other natural materials such as wood as well as open up the possibility for new shapes, sizes, and textures. Today’s technology has enabled us to couple these stunning visuals with enhanced performance features making tile an even more attractive design material and allowing tile to create a design that flows indoors to outdoors.

Technology has also radically changed communication, both business-to-business and business-to-consumer. Today, businesses all the way to end-users expect information and product availability to be instantly available and at their fingertips. The market today demands access to product visuals, facts, and recommendations at any time of the day or night, on many applications including hand-held devices.

The digital/social media revolution also plays into how products are bought and sold now. Today’s end-consumers conduct an incredible amount of online research before ever stepping foot inside a retail store. Technology has also changed how people exchange information and how they make decisions. They want to be able to “show” their considered purchases to friends and family online to solicit opinions before making a purchase. Today’s end consumers are also heavily swayed by the opinion of strangers, known as influencers, in today’s shopping environment.

The advance of new generations has also changed the shopping landscape. Millennials and Gen Z are a new, powerful buying force and companies cater to what these demographics value and how they purchase. These generations are not impressed generally by how long a company has been a proven leader in an industry or how stable they are. These consumers are more easily swayed by what internet influencers, bloggers and young celebrities say about a product. Millennials and Gen Z feel the influencer messages found on the internet and social media can be more credible than traditional advertising. They are more apt to try a new brand even if it has not proven itself. So, successful tile manufacturers and retailers have had to begin presenting the formerly trusted, quality tile products in a new way to capture the attention of Millennials and Gen Z.

FCW: How does Daltile address the latest in customer demands and desires?
Maslowski: Daltile has continuously invested in cutting edge technology to make sure that we offer the very best quality, styles, sizes, textures and performance features on the market. Our continued investment in our facilities in the United States and North America has meant predictable and reliable availability when the roadblocks of Chinese tariffs, COVID and supply chain crunches handicapped competitors. During the pandemic, we remained an essential company, providing uncompromised service to our customers.

Our investments included cutting-edge, industry-leading technology which gave us the ability to provide some of the very best visuals in the industry. Already a design leader, we substantially raised our fashion game even higher when we bought Marazzi and brought the talent and expertise of Italian design under our roof, utilizing it to elevate the style and design of all three of our brands: Daltile, Marazzi and American Olean.

We leveraged our leadership position in technology to bring tile to market with greatly enhanced performance features such as: StepWise that provides 50 percent greater slip resistance than traditional tile; DEFEND powered by Microban® that offers 99 percent bacteria free tile surfaces; RevoTile that installs two times faster than traditional tile; tile toughness that outlasts the outdoors, for interior style in the exterior living spaces of a home; and, ProExchange that puts the most powerful business-to-business communication tool at our customers’ fingertips 24/7.

FCW: What are the things that today define Daltile?
Maslowski: Innovation, style, quality, performance features, availability, competitive prices.

FCW: What do you celebrate most about your brand?
Maslowski: We celebrate that our three premier brands, Daltile, Marazzi and American Olean, are much more than names; they are widely respected reputations for reliability and excellence. Each brand represents more than 75 years of our great customers along with all our internal associates helping define us as a market leader.

Wednesday, March 30, 2022

Tuesday, March 22, 2022

American Home Surfaces Group (AHSG), an alliance of more than 400 independent flooring dealers, and the Commercial USA Flooring Alliance, with more than 220 commercial flooring contractors, will host a joint annual meeting April 10-12 at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center in Nashville, Tennessee.

Bruce Weber, president of AHSG and Commercial USA, said the convention, themed “America’s Got Talent,” will provide members with top resources on merchandising, business partnerships, digital marketing, and training and development.

At the event, Weber said the group will also unveil its newest division, American Kitchen and Bath Affiliation (AKBA), which introduces a marketing strategy that helps dealers connect with National Kitchen and Bath Association members at a local level. An NKBA executive will give an overview of the opportunities available to AHSG and Commercial USA members.

“The resurgence of the USA flooring industry was ignited by pent-up demand for kitchens and baths, floors, countertops, backsplashes: R&R, DIY, full-service, new home creations and commercial assisted living,” Weber said.

This year’s convention will also welcome a number of new suppliers to the group: Aladdin, Bostik, Mohawk, Shaw, Taylor Adhesives and Uzin Utz.

Highlights of the convention will include:

• A keynote address by Scott Humphrey, CEO of the World Floor Covering Association.
• Major market trends presentation by Brightworth Financial.
• An overview on how to make the commercial flooring business more successful and profitable by Whitney Welch, vice president of Daltile’s commercial division.
• How to capitalize on exterior flooring.
• Discussions concerning the increased merchandising pressures experienced by independent retailers.
• Highlights on stocking dealers and how suppliers are helping AHSG and Commercial USA members achieve a minimum of six inventory turns.
• Fire-Up the Webber Bi-Annual Awards Program Presentation

Weber said the group takes great pride in bringing maximum value to its members, which includes hosting more than 100 product knowledge training over the last 36 months and co-investing in the sample and merchandising display requirements.

“We now, out of our own pocket, have invested in well over 2,000 displays over our 22-year history. Our suppliers and members love it!” Weber said.

In addition to the business-boosting agenda, the convention will offer time for networking and relaxation.

“All of our suppliers are financial partners in making it possible to put these types of convention productions on in a first-class facility,” Weber said. “Unlike our competitors, for every dollar our suppliers contribute, we match, dollar for dollar. By the end of this convention, approximately $350,000 will be invoiced to us by the Gaylord and other outside sources.”

To learn more, visit americanhomesurfaces.com and commercialusa.com.

Link to the article on Floor Trends Mag