Every two weeks, FCNews seeks out flooring retailers across the country to offer their advice on hot topics of the day. This week we asked: How do you safeguard against extreme weather?
Here are their responses:
“After being in several disasters, there are several things to do to prepare. We have an operating system that is backed up every day in three different locations that we can access from anywhere via the internet. Our phone systems are VoIP so we can receive/make phone calls anywhere we have internet. We have a communications plan with team members for weather events/closings and a plan to communicate with all customers.”
—Carlton Billingsley, Floors and More Benton, Ark.
“Make sure you have good insurance and understand what is covered and what is not covered by your policy.”
—Elisbaeth Stubbs, Enhance Floors & More Marietta, Ga.
“We make sure our buildings and contents are insured. Regarding our people, we try to use common sense as to when, or if, we need to close our business for the day and let our valued team members time to get home before inclement weather hits.”
—Eric Langan, Carpetland USA Davenport, Iowa
“We have had tornado damage here before; thankfully, it was fairly minor. If something should happen, we have a safe area to go to that is protected from flying glass. As far as protecting our records, we make sure our computer systems are backed up nightly.”
—Penny Carnino, Grigsby’s Carpet, Tile & Hardwood Tulsa, Okla.
“Our insurance agent comes by the first of every year to make sure we have adequate coverage on all our buildings, and we discuss if there is a need to change the policy because of an increase in inventory, assets, etc. We use RFMS software and our records are backed up every night and stored in the cloud.”
—Ted Gregerson, Abbey Carpet & Floor Anniston, Ala.
