I keep following the industry for old friends in FCNews for these many years (almost two decades) since I left the floor and climbed the walls to fill those open spaces called windows—doing all this at Hunter Douglas.

Well, I finally called it quits and officially retire next month so that my wife, Myrna, and I can spend a lot of time in Florida with our two kids and soon-to-be four grandchildren—all of whom live within a mile of us in Aventura.

It’s been a great run and I can tell you I loved every minute of it both in the floor and window arenas. I am so proud to have been there in the very beginning of FCNews and to see you survive and prosper all these years. Al, you either never change or the picture by your byline is from years past. Either way, I get great pleasure in following your exploits and those of the industry.

All too often, many articles bring back great memories, yet those very often tell of the passing of an old friend, colleague or customer. That only emphasizes the good times gone by—the Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Atlanta and New York markets taking up our Januarys and Junes—in all those merchandise marts and in all those showrooms. The parties, the boats, the booze, the laughs, the very long nights and early recap meetings in the morning, the truckloads of specials, and those wild deals on rebond cushion.

What great times they were, what great salespeople they were, and what great dealers they were who made us all better at what we did. Great fun, hard work, great friends.

Yet it is truly another world out there today—and I assume for the better—more sophisticated, more connected, less travel needed due to the electronic connection we all have (every hour of every day), and more global, with totally new players and buyers— most of whom are bigger and more complicated, and more structured—yet maybe not having the connection we had on a face-to-face, personal basis that we lived and loved during the old days. I miss that part.

Naming names would not be necessary now since so many are gone or retired. The definition of a good sales/marketing guru, who also knew his stuff in design, style and color are plastered all over the Floor Covering Hall of Fame. Men and women of great talent who not only knew the market but knew the accounts, their needs, their hot buttons and what they did to have fun—all the while both parties worked at putting together the order they both knew they needed and wanted to place—so as to maintain the supplier/customer relationship. Some orders were bigger than others and ranged from year to year, but the intention to maintain the relationship was always there in the background.

What a great family/industry it was, made up of some of the finest entrepreneurs for which any industry could boast and be proud. Nice guys too.

Just like you, Al.

Thanks for all your kind words and support during the decades past. You are one of a kind.

Bob Kopf
Editor’s note: Prior to Hunter Douglas, Kopf was executive vice president and CEO of Kane Carpet Co., as well as an executive at Allied Chemical.