From left, NFA’s Jerry Hennon, and Beaulieu’s John Lomicky, Pete Ciganovich and Kenny Bryant.

By Matthew Spieler
Scottsdale, Ariz.—When times are tough, even the biggest and best feel the pinch. So at the Spring Conference of the National Floorcovering Alliance (NFA), the membership rallied around each other sharing ideas and strategies to overcome the economic slowdown retailers across the country have been feeling since last fall.

In addition to the members, who make up nearly three dozen of the industry’s largest and most successful retail operations, NFA’s vendors came prepared with special products and programs designed to boost sales and profits.

While many may wonder how and why a manufacturer would devote so much to so few dealers, those who know the NFA can easily understand. Though it has 35 members, they comprise nearly 200 locations across the U.S. and Canada and have combined annual sales of approximately $1 billion.

“These are the biggest of the best-of-the best; they’re the movers and shakers that drive business,” said Milton Goodwin, general manager for Armstrong World Industries’ laminate and ceramic products. “And, we as a company, want to be affiliated with the places where people buy floor coverings.”

The mill came to the meeting with an assortment of products, along with some new concepts to gauge member reaction, such as Lamomat, a patent pending chair mat made from Armstrong laminate flooring. In addition, licensing agreements with entities such as NASCAR and the NCAA, allow Armstrong to incorporate logos on it for a customized look.

John Godwin, executive vice president of residential sales and marketing for Shaw Industries, pointed out “the group does a real good job focusing on the retail community. In fact, its commonality in this area has never been more in line.”

With that, the company brought a private label display consisting of all environmentally friendly products from across Shaw’s various brands and divisions. Featuring 22 SKUs of the mill’s best Anso products, the unit features a ‘green-themed’ header with the NFA name and special labels on the back of samples that members helped create.

“We brought the display and header concept to them,” explained Floyd Kyzer, Shaw’s director of corporate accounts, “as we wanted to give them something that is attractive and they don’t have in their stores. The best part is these people get it; they understand the concept of selling green. In fact, some even said that consumers are coming in asking about environmentally friendly flooring.”

Sam Roberts of Robert’s Carpet & Fine Floors and NFA’s president, noted the group’s board recently voted to “pursue every opportunity to be more environmentally friendly. The Shaw rack is a good example of how we can all get involved.

“But,” he added, “[being green] doesn’t need to be done for business. We didn’t vote that way to increase sales, we did it because it’s the right thing to do and it’s an important thing to do.”

One of the reasons why NFA members are market leaders is their ability to quickly grasp new concepts and implement successfully. This is a main incentive why Torlys, a Canadian hard surface supplier of “easy-to-install, easy-to-maintain” flooring has targeted the NFA with its unique store-in-store concept.

“Getting into NFA is very important to us,” said Charlie Lammers, Torlys’ general manager for the U.S., “as it will allow us to use the model we successfully established in Canada. These are the premier dealers and they have a great ability to grasp our concept.”

As Roberts noted, “we’re doing what we’ve always done to grow NFA. We had 21 suppliers at the show, and they know we want significantly enhanced programs. We’re both looking for common benefits. We want to be partners with our suppliers because NFA members can do and provide things others can’t.”

Fighting the doldrums

Along with suppliers bringing new selling ideas and initiatives to the table, many of which are exclusive to NFA, members spent the majority of the meeting sharing plans and concepts they have implemented to maintain and grow sales in a sluggish economy.

Before exchanging ideas, Roberts stressed to the members to take advantage of the products and programs vendors are giving them. “It’s a benefit to support what our suppliers bring to us.” He pointed to Armstrong and the exclusive program it started with NFA last year ( FCNews, May 15/22). “We need to reward them for a brave effort and only take others if we feel we can support it.

When it came to discussing best practices and strategies for reducing costs and increasing profits in a tough economy, there was no shortage of ways to attack the situation from the membership.

From increasing their advertising budgets and using ads in a more targeted manner, to expanding their offerings and services, members spent an entire days telling of things they’ve implemented in their businesses to ensure they remain profitable.

Interestingly, the majority of initiatives were customer-based. That is, many focused much of their time on ways they can improve customer service. And for these retailers, customer service does not start when she first walks into the store, nor does it stop after the product is installed. Her overall shopping experience means making her a loyal, client for life—one that is happy to recommend her friends and family to the store.

Some of the strategies most noted were increased training of employees, offering more products and services—such as countertops, cleaning/maintenance, enhanced Web sites, including a new one for the organization (www.nationalfloorcoveringalliance.com) and shop-at-home—to make her shopping experience easier and more satisfying.

In the end, Roberts concluded, it is about giving value. “We want initiatives that create real value, not perceived value. Our vision for the future is firmly based on retail customer expectations. We have a unique opportunity afforded us that the industry has never seen. Our goal is to move forward in the most sustainable way over the long term. We don’t want to fail.”