Specialty flooring retailers are the drivers of this industry. Their success fuels every channel, from residential retail to commercial. To honor these businesses, FCNews is publishing its inaugural Retailers of the Year issue. It’s an effort to call attention to those retailers who are excelling or differentiating themselves in some aspect of their business. In this issue, suppliers and vendors nominated retailers who they believe deserved to be featured and why they stand out from the pack.
FCNews’ Retailers of the Year 2022 issue features some of the industry’s most accomplished dealers from influential buying groups as well as smaller retailers with no group affiliation. In other words, it reflects the retail industry as a whole.
In choosing their top retailer partners, suppliers looked beyond sales volume to other key attributes such as communication skills, trust, company culture and even benevolence as differentiating factors. Suppliers/vendors nominated up to four retailers (or distributors, in some cases) for consideration and explained why they stand out. FCNews then narrowed down the winners based on the scope of merit attributed to each.
Throughout this week and next, please visit FCNews.net each day as a new winner will be showcased. Today’s highlight is Engineered Floors’ nominations and winners: Bob’s Carpet & Flooring and Yates Flooring Center.
Bob’s Carpet & Flooring
Clearwater, Fla.
What Engineered Floors had to say
Ashlie realizes the importance of consistent and effective advertising while also keeping her RSAs informed and educated on the changing technology and evolving trends on both hard and soft surface. Many of her RSAs have been with Bob’s Carpet & Flooring for 20 years or more.
About the winner
Bob’s Carpet & Flooring is one of the largest specialty stores in Florida, with 16 locations. Under the leadership of president, Ashlie Butler, Bob’s Carpet continues to evolve with the trends—most recently with the development of a shop-at-home division.
Despite recent economic challenges—including inflation and the global pandemic—Butler and her team continue to produce solid growth in all categories. In particular, Bob’s continues to grow its carpet business in a market that is predominantly hard surface. In particular, solution-dyed polyester, a winning fiber for Engineered Floors, has performed well.
“We have worked hard to give our customers the ultimate shopping experience, and that includes bringing in flooring at extraordinary prices,” Butler said. “EF has been a mainstay for us–our customers love a deal and with EF’s help we have been able to give them both quality and great pricing. Bob’s maintains close relationships with suppliers; they know—almost without us asking—what we need to satisfy our customer’s needs. We only need to make a call, send a text or email and the process has already begun. With 16 stores serving the Tampa area—and also being part of the National Flooring Alliance—we have the buying power to make it worth our suppliers’ time and energy, and we appreciate everything they do to help keep us at the top of our game.”
Yates Flooring Center
Lubbock, Texas
What Engineered Floors had to say
Engineered Floors has always valued the long-standing relationship that we have had with the Yates family. We are sincerely grateful for the confidence and trust that they have in our product and our people. We are looking forward to continuing to serve them and having a mutually prosperous 2023.
About the winner
Bobby and Becky Yates, their three children and Ryan Rogers are the owners of Yates Flooring Center. Founded in 1976, the business had grown to become one of the largest flooring stores in America located at one address. It has since opened two other locations—in Midland/Odessa and Amarillo—yet it remains a family business that serves the west Texas/eastern New Mexico area.
Yates Flooring Center is a large-volume purchaser, which allows it to provide the best products at the most aggressive pricing in the marketplace. Years ago, Yates Flooring Center made the commitment to maintain a high in-store inventory in order to have products available for immediate purchase. As such, Yates buys large truckloads of products it can leverage with its considerable buying power.
As one of the largest stocking dealers in West Texas, Yates continues to be a full-service flooring operation serving retail, builder and commercial. “Yates is unique in the fact that 25% of our business is commercial, 40% new construction builder and 35% walk-in retail,” said Ryan Rogers, co-owner.
