Ever attend a convention at the Gaylord Hotel in Nashville? Or Biosphere 2 as I call it? All you do is walk and walk and walk. And then you get lost. No matter how long you stay.

But it’s all good. At least it was a couple of weeks ago when Flooring America and Carpet One held their summer conventions back-to-back. You know why? Because after hearing so many doom and gloom stories all year, it was great to see and hear some optimism.

No, Flooring America and Carpet One members are not insulated from the world—like I was in Bisophere 2. They simply are doing better than the average retailer. Want specifics? Flooring America as a group is off 5% year-over-year compared to the industry average of 16%. Carpet One membersmay be off a little more, but a whole lot less than the current average.

Why? The CCA Global groups give their members the tools to succeed in a down economy. It starts with proprietary brands. We can talk six ways to Sunday about the features and benefits of lines like Lees for Living, Liz Claiborne, Good Housekeeping, Bedford Mills, Design Distinctions, etc. But here’s the best benefit of all: Those brands can’t be shopped. That means the retailer can charge more money and, thus, earn a higher margin.

But here’s where the groups excel. Rather than shove new displays and formats down members’ throats in this challenging economy, they focus on critical fundamentals to help members. Blocking and tackling. These include driving traffic into stores (translation: marketing and advertising), closing more sales (translation: strong financing options, warranties and The Beautiful Guarantee), raising margins (aforementioned proprietary brands) and training (we could write an entire column on this one alone).

Talking specifics, this year Flooring America unveiled the industry’s first fully functional e-commerce site where customers can buy flooring fully installed in all 50 states. Is this the Golden Goose for every member? Of course not. But it will re-capture some of the business that has found its way to sites like iFloor and Fastfloors, and it will also help drive traffic into the brick-and-mortar stores.

Then there’s the marketing portal where members can buy and plan all their advertising systematically in one place. Both Flooring America and Carpet One took the wraps off their respective versions. And speaking of advertising and marketing, both groups are pushing for members to change the paradigm and embrace new technologies, like Web sites, email, search engine optimization, etc. “You have to live where your customers live” was the mantra. Even more compelling was the assessment that more people will be on the Internet than will be watching TV within five years.

At the end of the day, the groups are all about taking market share. And members will not use the slow economy as an excuse. As one large Carpet One member told me, “Business is awful.” When asked how much he was down this year, he replied with a touch of cynicism, “I’m flat.”