[Jacksonville, Fla.] “Partners in Business” has been Cain & Bultman’s motto since Norwood Sandifer bought the company back in 1959 and it has been its guiding philosophy ever since. In 2014, Cain & Bultman will celebrate its 90th anniversary.
“Cain & Bultman is built on honesty and integrity and an offering of good strong brand name products in the market,” said Buddy Faircloth who has been with the company 48 years and became president five years ago. “Key ingredients of our Partners in Business strategy are providing long term business relationships, quality products, professional sales representatives and logistical excellence.”
While the company is guided by the fundamental principle of being a good partner, it focuses on the core values of distribution. “When you look at distribution, distribution is basically three things — we are our customers’ warehouse; we’re basically part of our customers’ banking program, because we carry their accounts receivable; and, we put together programs on various products to push through their business and increase their sales and profit opportunity,” explained Faircloth.
Most employees, including the sales force, have been with the company an average of 15 years, another key element of the company’s success, according to Faircloth. As well, its family roots remain strong. Norwood Sandifer’s sons Tom and Mike came into the business. Oldest son Tom passed away five years ago and Mike is now CEO and chairman of the board. Kirk Sandifer is company executive vice president and will someday represent the company’s third Sandifer generation of leadership.
Cain & Bultman has weathered both changes in its business and in the flooring business. When the company started, it sold Atwater Kent Radios. Under the guidance of Norwood Sandifer, it diversified its product offering to include, Zenith, JennAir and KitchenAid. “We’ve always been a brand name house,” said Faircloth.
One of the name brands brought on in 1934 by Norwood Sandifer was Armstrong Flooring. Today, the company exclusively distributes flooring and Armstrong represents some 80 percent of its business.
Another milestone for the company was in 1995 when it closed Florida facilities in Miami, Tampa and Orlando and one in Birmingham, Ala. in order to centralize the business out of Jacksonville. “To reposition ourselves to grow the business in the long term, we consolidated to the home office in Jacksonville where we can ship product next day to all markets we serve. That was real decision-making times for us but the best thing we have ever done. Our overhead would have been too high,” explained Faircloth. The company’s territory remains Florida and Georgia.
During the last several years of recession, the company has seen both industry-wide and regional change. “The major thing is that we think the retail business in the state of Florida in flooring is in its infancy. We were such a builder-driven marketplace until the recession hit in 2007/2008. Even though it’s coming back a bit now, we feel remodel replacement market offers tremendous opportunity. We’ve invested in displays and programs to be in the position to increase our retail opportunity as retail comes back and we see that paying off for us now,” said Faircloth.
In general, Faircloth said the basics of distribution stand but that the company continues to grow various product lines within the organization. “Distribution hasn’t changed a lot. The basics are maintaining inventory, providing a fair price and sales training,” he noted.
Cain & Bultman sales posted at $48 million for 2012 and are projected to be $52 million this year. And when asked what will keep the company going strong in the future, Faircloth pointed back to the company’s roots. “Over the years, we’ve really been able to develop a partnership with our customers out in the marketplace,” he said. “Revenue kind of follows relationships.”
Kirk Sandifer, Mike Sandifer, Buddy Faircloth
and Alan Kimball