You have heard the statement made “none of us is as good as all of us!” I, like many independent flooring retailers, am a part of a group of like-minded dealers that came together to not only network but combine our business volumes with the rest of the group’s and have leverage and buying power with the manufacturers. I have started my 20th year being a part of Carpet One as either a member, vendor or owner and have not looked back.
No matter what group you have chosen to align yourself with, it usually comes with strings attached by way of making purchases through a group of core vendors that have also committed to support your group. I have always been a follower of the program, but in those past 20 years I was more of a rebel than a follower, and to be completely honest, I thought I could merchandise, buy cheaper and do it better on my own. Frankly, I believe that this is the case with many of the business owners in our industry.
Going back to the beginning of the first groups and associations, there were at the time, 200-300 mills to deal with and each group selected the ones that they wanted to align themselves with and made them important to us and we became important to them. Today, we have big box stores accounting for more than 50 percent of the flooring products sold in the U.S. and adding on the likes of Lumber Liquidators and Floor & Décor, it’s pushing 60 percent.
We are not as important to the manufacturers as we once were. Now some of the major manufacturers feel they are paying out rebates and terms to the dealers and groups that they don’t need to, and they feel it gives them an unfair disadvantage against the manufacturers that go to net pricing. In many cases, they are right because we as members of our groups didn’t keep our loyalty and stick to our committed core suppliers. We believe we are the best buyers ever! Well, we like buying better than, say, training our people to sell at higher margins. We will spend hours negotiating with vendors to save a nickel or dime, only to have to buy a truck or container of product and actually cost ourselves money.
I am asking that all independents get back to being loyal to the vendors that their groups committed to. Whether you are with Abbey, NFA, Flooring America or Carpet One, we all need to get back in the program and show these manufacturers that we do what we say we will. My deal with Carpet One is to purchase 80 percent in our core and I will do this. The manufacturers don’t think we will, and I hope, for our sake, they are wrong. I have committed 42 years of my life to this industry and do not want to see it run the same road as the appliance and lighting businesses have. We had a scare last fall with the terms issue and came together. We all need to own up to our part and strengthen the independent channel. A rising tide lifts all boats!
What about the loyalty coming back to us from vendors. They too need to bear ownership on their side. See part two!
Don Roberts is a 40 year flooring industry professional who has managed teams from seven to more than 700 to success. He can be reached via email at don.roberts@myflorstor.com.