Kevin Gammonley, NAFCD
[Chicago] Kevin Gammonley, executive vice president of the North American Association of Floor Covering Distributors (NAFCD), took the helm of NAFCD three years ago as the industry was still digging out of the recession. (He has been executive vice president of the North American Building Material Distribution Association for more than 20 years.) Already during his leadership, distribution and the association have not just witnessed change but aggressively initiated change to ensure distribution’s bright future. Here, Gammonley shares with FCW both the challenges being faced and the great initiatives being taken.
FCW: What have the last five years been like for distribution?
Gammonley: The last five years have been full of challenges and much opportunity for flooring distributors. The market has slowly picked up year over year since the historic downturn. The best and brightest distributors not only survived but got stronger and honed their competitive edge.
The overarching theme that has driven distributors to change has been the need to get closer to the customer. This has required them to determine how customers want to buy and has taken the focus away from merely selling them more product. Those distributors who have grown their market share have proactively identified customer problems and then developed creative solutions to meet their needs. They have adjusted to varying buying preferences by providing options for different types of customers.
Technology has been core to a distributor’s approach to customer needs. The competitive landscape has been altered by the continued development of technologies that allow smaller distributors to become more sophisticated and find competitive niches. Size alone is no longer enough to dominate a market. While many technologies have greatly impacted how distributors compete, e-commerce has been front and center allowing smaller distributors to reach a broader audience. For those distributors willing to mine what they already own, data analytics has been an effective means of differentiating oneself from the pack.
Finally, developing a mix of sourced products from both domestic partners as well as offshore suppliers has been a key strategy for distributors. Deepening relationships with primary manufacturers while complementing their product selection with imported product has been fruitful for many. Progressive distributors have taken advantage of private label opportunities which grew significantly over the past five years.
FCW: What initiatives have been taken by NAFCD in the last five years?
Gammonley: NAFCD has tackled a variety of strategic initiatives over the last several years including:
• Membership growth — net growth has been achieved for the past three years; this has included the inclusion of flooring supplies distributors to complement our base of floor covering distributors.
• Growth of our Annual Convention — attendance has increased year over year and programming is continually upgraded; new networking experiences have been added.
• Strengthened industry partnerships including with the World Floor Covering Association (WFCA) and the North American Building Material Distribution Association (NBMDA).
• Enhanced focus on delivering trend data, benchmarking statistics and industry research.
• Planned diversity within the NAFCD Board of Directors in order to bring a greater variety of perspectives and experiences to the table in order to keep NAFCD relevant for years to come.
FCW: What are your future objectives?
Gammonley: NAFCD has invested a significant amount of time and energy into assessing our members needs and developing a strategic plan to guide the organization over the coming years. Top strategic objectives include:
1. Serve as a conduit for annual member interaction — we will look for new and innovative ways to connect our members in order to share best practices, benchmark and highlight success stories.
2. Strengthen educational offerings around key supply chain and industry issues — we will deliver education via a variety of mediums covering topical issues important to our members.
3. Collaborate with allied industry organizations to address overarching industry issues — in particular, NAFCD will fully support industry efforts to tackle the shortage of floor covering installers as well as the need to promote our industry as a viable profession for young people.
4. Expand our member base — this will include attracting different types of distributors and suppliers as well as firms that provide services to flooring distributors.