Today, we spoke to a young lady whose family has been in the flooring business for 24 years. They are closing their doors at all locations. They received 90 percent of their business from builders. When new construction virtually died, they unsuccessfully attempted to shift towards retail residential. Another of our friends who binds carpet (like us) has also been crushed by this sluggish economy. These stories are very regretful.

Being part of a family owned company, we relate to our friendly competitors. The flooring companies which survive will be those of the best reputation and with the strongest liquid capital positions. What does this mean for consumers of vinyl, ceramic, stone, etc.? We are offering the most aggressive pricing in our company’s history. Our reduced pricing is compounded by better prices from the flooring manufacturers. Now is a great time to receive wonderful pricing on your new flooring.

We are very grateful for our customers for keeping us busy.

“It’s a sad day,” I said to myself as my first conscience thought. Today, a couple of us from Wolfe Flooring will attend the funeral of Sidney Defour. It was immediately apparent upon meeting Sidney several years ago that he was a man of rare experience—a top-caliber flooring business owner. A limited number of carpet installers perform with excellence on high-end residential projects, but only a handful of flooring professionals can orchestrate the most complex commercial installations like Sidney. He loved working with the finest woven carpets from mills such as Desso. Sidney enjoyed exercising his talent against challenging projects proving his reputation. While some are overwhelmed with 1,000-square yard renovations, Sidney was accustom to 50,000-square yard carpet installations for airports and metropolitan convention centers. Beyond commercial installs, we knew Sidney as a man of his word. It was common that Sidney would speak of his horses or show us pictures of his wife and young daughter. We will miss our friend and one of the best of our industry:  Sidney Defour (1960 – 2010).

Retailers, such as Wolfe Flooring, converge with distributors, architects, engineers, fabricators, and more to exchange ideas and expand relationships at Coverings. In one day alone, we had employees attending classes on shower drainage systems; new ADA recommendations; moisture and mold prevention; the chemistry of various concrete products; eco-friendly green flooring; new setting methods for large tiles that are relatively thin; color trends and hue combinations with paint; and, more.

We draw exciting design ideas from flooring conventions like Coverings which allow us to provide decorating concepts to our clients. Beyond cosmetic appeal, we learn of new suppliers, products, techniques, finishes, sealers, and more.

Today, I met Lawrence from China, who, is only about 24 years of age and speaks very broken English. Lawrence was his company’s sole representative. Lawrence, like a young lady that I met from Italy, was in the United States for the very first time. Both Lawrence and the Italian sales representative were very happy to be in America, and specifically central Florida. Although there are many exhibitors who have exhibits costing more than $5o0,000 and are staffed by more than a dozen professionals, there are also smaller family businesses like the India-based company of a woman named Gijji.

We are very thankful for all the suppliers who enable us to offer the most artistic and durable ceramic and stone products available on Earth.

If you are going to take this approach, remember to purchase all the product as soon as possible. Preferably, buy all the product at one time. Why? Manufacturers may discontinue the product line and dye lots will likely be different. Deferring the installation will save money.