Features

NFA’s Board Shares What Matters in Today's Market

Monday, October 23, 2023

[Coeur d’Alene, Idaho] FCW sat down with NFA’s board members here at the fall meeting. Among key conversations were the importance of company culture, staying relevant in an ever-changing environment and the need for innovative product to excite the customer.

Creating and driving company culture was one point the board members here agreed is critical to attracting and maintaining talent. “It’s all about culture,” stated Jason Waggoner of ICC Floors. “We have a culture committee.” They host things such as cookouts for the installers, he added.

“We have employee events as well like a spa day for the admins,” shared Susan Hadinger of Hadinger Flooring. “We have an event committee.”

Keeping the culture starts at the top. “As a leader, you need to make your expectations known,” stated Deb DeGraaf, Deb DeGraaf Interiors.

Regardless of economic conditions, NFA retailers are always in “go mode,” creating opportunity and investing in the future. Even when sales are tracking flat year-over-year, there are accomplishments being made.

“It’s a challenge just getting people through the door,” noted Ian Newton of Flooring 101 and president of NFA. “It’s about taking market share.” To do that, he added, “We never cut advertising. We are being more aggressive. And we haven’t cut inventory.”

Dave Chambers of Nebraska Furniture Mart (NFM) shared, “I’m telling the team not to let discussion points impact them. We focus on getting the customer in the store and driving traffic. We’ve increased advertising to entice the customer to get off the couch and into the store.”

While traffic in most of the board members’ stores is flat to down, Newton was quick to point out, “People coming in are not tire kickers. They are there to buy.”

At Hadinger Flooring in Naples, Fla., sales this year are flat but Hadinger shared, “We are still experiencing Hurricane Ian.”

At ICC Floors, reported Waggoner, “This year has been a good year. We are up.” That came as a bit of a surprise to Waggoner given, he said, that “last year was so good.”

“We’ve hired more retail salespeople in the last four months. We are making intentional links,” explained Jason McSwain of McSwain Carpet & Floors, saying they have more tenured staff coach younger, newer hires to help get them up to speed. “It’s about how we keep that knowledge and culture.”

Newton noted that these stores aren’t just competing with other flooring retailers but with other industries.

Added Hadinger, “We need a good pool of people – finding people that want to work.”

“Pay is one thing but,” emphasized Waggoner, “it’s culture."

NFA’s 2023 Board: Dan Mandel, Sterling; Jessica Arscott, Floortrends; Jason Waggoner, ICC Floors; Ian Newton, Flooring 101; Susan Hadinger, Hadinger Flooring; Deb DeGraaf, DeGraaf Interiors; Jason McSwain, McSwain Carpet & Floors; and Dave Chambers, Nebraska Furniture Mart

Staying Ahead

NFA retailers are known for being tactical and talented in running their business. And when times are challenging, they look at ways to expand their business and keep competitive.

“We are test marketing Shop at Home,” Waggoner shared. Two stores will test in November with an ad campaign launching next week.

Chambers noted that NFM has found success with Shop at Home and has a fleet of vans to support it.

For Sterling Carpet & Flooring, diversifying the markets it serves has been a successful strategy, according to Dan Mandel. “We are focusing on other types of businesses – institutional and senior living,” he said. “We get a lot of it through general contractors. We’ve started cold calling. You have to be creative in times like these.”

DeGraaf Interiors has invested in things that let the customer know they are dealing with a professional business. “We rebuilt our corporate office and doubled our warehouse capacity,” said Deb DeGraaf. “We’ve hosted events for HBA (home builders association) and let them utilize our space. They see how large our operation is. And following that, we remodeled our two retail showrooms.”

For Floortrends in Canada, Jessica Arscott said “Our staff is operating over maximum capacity. So we are taking a bit of time and focusing inward and developing staff.” She too did a massive renovation of its retail showroom.

Product is Paramount

One shared pain point was around product and the desire for new and innovative flooring to get both sales staff and the customer engaged and excited.

Keeping things fresh is also a critical element for keeping staff focused and appealing to the customer. “It’s about newness – in products, promotion activities,” offered Mandel. “Product has gotten tired. What’s the next thing that is going to get people into the store? We are in the fashion industry.”

Indeed, this group is hungry for new product set to excite the consumer. One bright spot, however, has been in higher end goods whether in carpet or hardwood, for example.

“Carpet is out-performing other products,” asserted Chambers. McSwain too said that fashion carpet is doing well. In fact, he said he would be on the lookout for new hardwood and luxury carpet at the vendor/member portion of the meeting.

“Our salespeople are gravitating to selling better goods,” added Waggoner.

“We don’t even show the low-end,” said Arscott. “We sell quality with confidence.”

Quiet Strength

Ian Newton, Flooring 101 in California, is the current NFA president. From the moment he took on this role, he has helped members navigate market and alliance challenges. He is guided by core principles.

“This group needs to be of value to our vendors and keep those relationships strong,” he shared with FCW. “There has been so much consolidation and things are changing all the time. How will the landscape look in one or two years from now?”

Indeed, throughout the industry there has been consolidation at retail, most recently NFA member Sam Kinnaird’s Flooring which merged with Premier Flooring. While there is strength in keeping the group top tier — there are metrics that guide invitations to be a member — Newton said they are always looking at potential new members.

“We spend a lot of time talking about new members — if it’s the right fit, the right area, the right business model. The criteria is even stronger than I thought,” he said.

NFA’s vendor partners are also key to the group’s success. What makes it work? “When they supply us with the best value and keep us competitive in the marketplace and we can hold margins,” he answered.

As well, he said, “New product and innovation, relevant product to keep us relevant. Things change so fast and you have to change with it.