Steven Feldman

Want to know what gets my attention these days? Meeting someone whose business is thriving in the throes of challenging conditions. And when that business is breaking records, my attention is more than piqued.

So you can imagine my exuberance when I met the folks from Redi Carpet, the largest multi-family flooring contractor in the United States. Bruce Caress, owner, recently told me the business comes off the biggest month in its 26-year history, and 2007 could be the first time it cracks the $100 million mark. Impressive, to say the least.

Much of the growth is tied to the expansion mode in which the company has been for the last 12 years. Redi, a member of FloorExpo’s MultiFamily Solutions division, in 1995, began stretching its reach beyond its Houston and Dallas foothold to San Antonio, Denver, Tuscon, Phoenix, Jacksonville and Orlando, and most recently, Virginia Beach. In fact, Redi is aggressively pursuing more acquisitions. Anyone wanting to trade carpet and vinyl for some tee times would be wise to call. Just don’t overvalue your business; that’s what Caress says is the biggest impediment to deals.

Redi’s growth philosophy has evolved over time. The initial strategy was to open branches on its own. But the challenge was finding good people. Through acquisition, Redi was able to acquire a company as well as the people who worked for it. “You can’t do anything in business without the right people,” said Jerry Hosko, president.

And once Redi gets the people, they tend not to leave. The company long ago uncovered a secret to retaining good people: Give them a stake in the business’ success. “Branch managers have the opportunity to be entrepreneurs without investing themselves. They are paid based on bottom line, in addition to salary and benefits,” Caress said.

Of course, much of Redi’s success lies in the segment in which it participates; 70% to 75% of its business coming from property management, something Caress says is immune from recession. “When occupancy rates drop, management companies are forced to improve to attract new renters. When the occupancy rates increase, management companies start rehabbing properties.”

Property management covers a range of businesses: from small, individually owned properties that are managed themselves, to regional companies that have properties in various states, to the nationals. It is with the latter where Caress, who was honored with a FloorExpo Lifetime Achievement Award, notes that joining the group in 2000 has returned dividends. “We have had customers who wanted us to expand into other cities, but we couldn’t have done it fast enough without an affiliation of other flooring contractors around the country to whom we could pass the business—provided they have the same fundamentals of integrity, business ethics and culture,” he said.

Culture is very important at Redi Carpet. In fact, the company lives by four disciplines:

1. We are customer obsessive.
2. We are self disciplined. Be the best you can be without supervision.
3. Be nice—to customers, vendors and each other.
4. We keep all branches and stores clean—this is everyone’s job.

When Caress bought out his three partners in 1991, he had a vision. Forego commercial and retail and focus on multi-family. “My vision was to build a footprint and move the footprint.” Sixteen years later he has a $100 million footprint.