Nashville, Tenn.—Two years ago, Mohawk Industries launched Floorz, a specialty retailer-based buying group designed to give members everything they need in a full-service store while also offering the convenience of a cash-and-carry concept in one business.

With close to 100 locations operating under the concept, members from around the country gathered at the Opryland Hotel here last month for the first annual Floorz convention.

“It was a very positive experience,” said Kevin Smith, co-owner of the Floorz store in Hendersonville, Tenn., a suburb of Nashville. “Everyone got to meet each other for the first time. This allowed us to network and share ideas and experiences so we can see what’s best for everyone as we move forward. We also got to see all the new things Mohawk has developed—from merchandising to product.

“Overall,” he continued, “it exceeded my expectations. Mohawk University was there with a bunch of great classes. And, the support from all the vendors was tremendous.”

One of the highlights of the convention was the unveiling of a new store layout. Because the program is still in its infant stages, the concept is going through an evolution process to ensure it has long-term success.

“With all our programs,” explained Manny Llerena, Mohawk’s vice president of retail marketing, “we practice what we call ‘continuous concept renewal.’ What this means is, we are constantly working with our dealers to determine what is going to help grow their businesses, and we enhance our programs with ideas that come from this partnership.

“For the Floorz program,” he continued, “this has resulted in an enhanced store layout that incorporates hard surface products seamlessly into the selling system.”

“The result,” noted Llerena, is a merchandising and selling system that makes it easy for consumers to shop, and one that instantly presents that value offered through a Mohawk Floorz store.”

Before bringing out the new design, Mohawk tested the concept at Smith’s store. And to show the members how it looks in a real environment, convention attendees were able to tour the operation and see firsthand how consumers respond to it.

Smith called it a success. “It is a fully coordinated display format for the entire store where everything has its place. It’s well thought out in that it’s easy to navigate, the displays are very consumer-friendly and everything just makes more sense.”

Beyond being the testing ground for the new merchandising system, Smith and his partner, John Brady, have been heavily involved in the Floorz concept from the beginning. In fact, much of the program stems from them.

Mike Zoellner, Mohawk’s vice president of marketing services, said Floorz was actually developed in conjunction with the two long-time flooring dealers—like FCNews, Smith is celebrating his 20th anniversary in the industry, while Brady has been going at it for a number of more years. “They were working on a concept for a retail operation and we had one in the planning stages as well. We realized there was a tremendous amount of synergy in what each was trying to do and, from those talks, came the Floorz concept.”

While Mohawk already oversees two other buying group operations—ColorCenter and Floorscapes—the Floorz concept differs from them in a number of ways. The most striking is in the actual storefronts themselves. A typical Floorz is from 10,000- to 15,000-sq.-ft.

Within this space is the essence of the program. In a nutshell, Floorz is based on three ‘shops’ within the building—The Back Room, The Value Shop and The Custom Shop.

The Back Room offers rolls of carpet and pallets of hard surface products ready to go for immediate use; The Value Shop offers collections of specially priced first-quality flooring which takes advantage of special manufacturer discounts and offers, and The Custom Shop is the full sample, traditional specialty dealer format, where a full array of flooring is available for special order.

“Put simply,” Smith said, “it’s a complete store with a very important on-site inventory element for the DIY market. Our size and format allows us to fully serve the DIY customer up to the high-end special order consumer.

The system is structured so even people without a flooring background can have success, noted Llerena. “Our mission is to give retailers everything they need to create their own success. We have good business people who haven’t been in the floor covering industry using the Floorz concept and have quickly developed profitable operations.”

To learn more about Mohawk Floorz, call 800/241-4900. For dealers on the eastern side of the country, speak to Mark Olson at extension 24959, while retailers in the western half should talk to Rodney Mauter at extension 24956.