All Over the Floor

Flooring renovations are often triggered by the building of new homes and facilities or by the sale or purchase of buildings. The purchase of a new home inspires someone to install all new hardwood floorings. New residential construction during 2000 to 2005 generated demand for massive volumes of new carpet. However, the economy has constricted upon us all. In response, new construction has nearly ground to a halt. Foreclosures and bankruptcies have ruined the credit of many and raised the credit scores required for loans. So, the buy and selling of property has plummeted.

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.

King Solomon wrote long ago: “A good name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one’s birth. It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart. Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better” (Ecclesiastes 7:1-3).

“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).

How do you purchase new flooring when the project is over budget? Today, one of our commercial clients here in Tampa, Florida asked that we divide our proposal on Armstrong’s Stonetex vinyl composition tile (VCT) into two parts. They are not sure if they can afford to have an entire renovation during this economic slump. So, we’ve divided their installation into two phases. This will raise the price slightly due to extra product waste; however, our customer will have us install the new VCT in the most prominent area first. The new VCT in their showroom will create the WOW-affect for their visitors, especially if they purchase 18-inch Stonetex VCT. When funds are available, we will install the balance in the back offices.

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.