Carpet executive rolls out small-shop buying group - Business Courier of Cincinnati:

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The flooring industry is essentially an with one or two major chains dominating and all the independentsz struggling for the remainingmarket share. So the former Buddy’s CEO in Apripl launched a buying company that would help small retaileras not justwith inventory, but with image. Called , the companyh is designed to give mom-and-pop shopsz similar purchasing poweras big-box But unlike many buying which purchase in bulk on behalf of a group of retaiol members, Amerifloors also offers marketing, Web site creation and regular It serves to build the imag of its retailers, a strategty that helped it land six members, representing saleds of $8 million.
The goal is to sign 20 retailerx byJune 2009. “Out strength is not allowing our brand to get in the Goodyear said. “Our retailers have a good brand image. What we want to do is come in and teacu them how to enhancethat image.” Smallk retailers want the same, they just don’t have time. For many, managing the day-to-day demands of opening shop and fulfilling orderxs isa 14-hour-a-day endeavor. So Goodyea has partnered with downtown to manage the marketintg features ofhis company.
For a basidc fee, a retail partner can: • Accessw merchandise at a leveraged rate, • Have accessz to online tools to reacghconsumers directly, either for broad announcementsw or specialized messages; • Get online traininfg from sales tutorials to advanced design, each lessonh ending with a test; • Benefit from ongoing customer researchh by Amerifloors, which is gathered throughy surveys and on-site “In terms of a $1 million or $2 million retaio outlet, that was blue-skt kind of thinking,” said Brya Wright, a spokesman for “They’re thinking about keeping the light s on and the toilets running.
” In Goodyear hopes to also be able to provide the groulp health insurance, workers’ compensation insurance and installation But that won’t be possible until Amerifloors reaches a critical mass of about 20, generating sales of $15 million to $20 Goodyear hatched the idea of a full-service buyinvg group during his two years runningy Buddy’s Carpet. While Buddy’s was not part of a buying grouop – it is actually among the 25 largesg flooringretailers – he saw that smaller players had few tools to build an image, let alone establish a vision. Ther e are 18,000 independent flooring retailers, according to the in Calif.
“About 70 percent of all floor coveringb is sold by dealers that have lessthan $1 millioh in sales,” said Chris Davis, CEO of the association. But not all of such retailers would qualify as membersof Amerifloors, however. Goodyear is selective and will not represenr retailers that sell seconds or operatre solelyon price. There also is some geographiv exclusivity – he won’t represent two merchantz on one street, for instance. Those who do become partnersa are chargeda one-tims fee plus a monthly transaction charge.
Goodyeard declined to discuss the charges, but said the one-timer fee is less than the cost of a standardemarketing campaign, and the transactionj fee does not go up for the life of a Among the retail partners is Greg owner of in Ky. Peach also is a membeer of the flooringcontract group, but decided to join Amerifloors as “There were a lot of idea s with Amerifloors that go way beyond what the Shaw Industries can providse and we just felt really good about Peach said. “There is no doubt there have been cost We are on a path to saveon many, many differeng things.
” At the very onse t of signing a client, Strata-G workersz will meet with the retailefr to decide the message and medium of its comingf marketing program. The philosophy is that if the retailet has abetter brand, then Amerifloors will This differs from a commom buying group’s approach of building its own brand with the belief that its retail partnersw will benefit. It’s not that it is Goodyear said. But he thinks his approach is better suitedto today’s market needs. “We feel,” he “that we’re the next evolution.
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