Carpeteria Carpet One evolves its business & takes on Retail 2.0
[San Diego] Carpeteria Carpet One Floor & Home here in Southern California was one of the first franchises of Carpeteria in 1975. In 2012, it joined Carpet One and today is one of the first members to transform into the new Retail 2.0 format.
Alex Markarian, CEO, is third generation leadership of the family-owned business. He joined the business, now with two locations, in 2009 (right as the Great Recession hit) after working in San Francisco, with a lot of confidence, he admitted.
Still, the retailer has continued to evolve and find success by expanding its warehouse, adding new product categories, embracing technology and empowering its talent.
“We continue to evolve to add cabinets,” said Markarian, noting, “We are taking baby steps in K&B.” The store in San Diego is also in the process of moving the sales team to the front of the store under a welcome banner.
While Carpeteria Carpet One does compete against the big box stores, it maintains its place in the mid- to high-end market but, Markarian emphasized, “What sets us apart are our people. We value our team. We give them flexibility and autonomy. Under our guidance, we encourage team members to be aggressive [in creating opportunity.]”
Taking on Retail 2.0
Carpeteria Carpet One actually tried to mimic on its own a similar store layout to Retail 2.0 earlier, explained Markarian, “From light to dark, smooth to distressed. It was really hard without the support of CCA Global to continue to work at it.”
The transformation took just one day and was completed in the fall. “We wanted to get away from the ridiculous amount of product. It was overwhelming,” he said. “You want to give a good experience.” Now, he said, “Everything we have here is all you need. We’ve sold a good amount of jobs off of it.”
Markarian also pointed out that moving away from layered branding is also a positive. “This strengthens the message of where it comes from — Carpeteria Carpet One,” he said. “There is an underlying thing about waterproof but at the end of the day, it is about the look and the experience.”
Serving the Market
Carpeteria Carpet One serves three main markets: residential replacement; to the trade kitchen and bath models and contractors; and, restoration for general contractors. The store also does some flood remediation with contractors and a bit in the Main Street commercial arena.
When it comes to its product split, currently about 65 percent of the business is hard surface but Markarian said it is getting close to 75 percent hard surface. “LVP is just huge and not just for a lower price point home. We are seeing million dollar houses putting LVP in. They are attracted to the maintenance,” he shared.
Sitting with CCA
Carpeteria Carpet One leans into its CCA Global alignment as a Carpet One store. Markarian said he looks to the group for things such as merchandising, marketing, training as well as the new website coming online in January in tandem with the Retail 2.0 transformation.
“These are things that were hard to accomplish as an independent dealer,” he said. “The website will help us with the customer journey — engaging them and getting them into the store.”
Markarian also noted that being part of Carpet One helped the store particularly during the Great Recession. During the pandemic, he said, the store wasn’t afraid to hire people and get more efficient.
“The last year was a record year. This year we are off 7 percent but that is off a record year so we are really, really happy,” Markarian asserted. “I like to think we do a good job taking market share with good product and good people.”
He also said that he will continue to diversify and strengthen each business segment in different ways. While the store won’t install K&B, it is an area they are looking to grow.
As well, the website offers a shop-at-home opportunity. “These are ways of shopping that offer speed and convenience. And they are ways [for us] to adopt and adjust,” he said.