Best Practices: The Carpet Mart – May 2026

Carpet Mart co-owners JP Douglas, Rochelle Douglas, Aaron Kinser and Bruce Jones.

By Jessica Chevalier

While some businesses are focused on sales, Carpet Mart of Louisville, Kentucky is focused on serving. “We believe in doing things the right way—no matter what it is,” explains Bruce Jones, co-owner. That manifests both in systems that ensure a top-notch experience for a buying customer and in sending out a team to fix the flat tire of a passerby. The do-right philosophy has led the store since its founding by Mike Fish in 1974 and remains the guiding principle today.

GROWING & CHANGING

In 1974, Mike was hired by Carpetland USA to run its Louisville, Kentucky franchise location. He took ownership of the business from Carpetland in the 1980s and hired Keith Jones to run warehouse operations. Jones tapped his young nephew Bruce to help with small chores, such as cleaning ashtrays. Bruce continued assisting his uncle through his high school and college years, coming back to town to roll remnants for extra cash. 

After Bruce completed a business management degree, Keith asked if he wanted to join him in the business full-time. “I started in the warehouse for a year. I learned to do things the right way, no matter how many times that took,” Bruce recalls, remembering how Keith might instruct him on the right way to write a tag and have him rip it up and do it over if he made any errors. 

Mike had both a son and a daughter, but didn’t believe in mixing family and business, so the plan was for Keith to buy Carpet Mart from him. However, Keith died from cancer in 2014, before the transaction could be carried out. 

In 2017, Bruce and his life-long best friend, Aaron Kinser, purchased Carpet Mart from Mike. “We grew up a street apart,” says Bruce of he and Aaron. “We played together and cut grass together. It’s kind of neat being able to do this with your best friend.”

More recently, the pair invited JP and Rochelle Douglas to join them in ownership. The pair had owned a small flooring store in Indiana and had become close friends with Bruce and Aaron. JP is working to grow Carpet Mart’s hard surface business, while Rochelle focuses on finance operations.

BUSINESS STATS
Location: Louisville, Kentucky
Years in Business: 52
Number of Stores: 1
Annual Revenue: $4+ million
Number of Employees: 14
Promotional Mix: Pay-per-click, social media, online reviews

CARPET & MORE

True to its name, Carpet Mart remains a carpet-centered operation, with 70% of its sales on the soft-surface side. In fact, Bruce was hesitant to diversify at all. “Aaron was the driving force behind us moving into hard surface. He had to pull me along, kicking and screaming,” laughs Bruce. 

Of the 70/30 split, Bruce says, “It’s a testament to be where we are in carpet but also a huge opportunity in hard surface.” On the hard surface side, the company sells hardwood, laminate and LVT—but no ceramic due to the challenges the category poses around installation. 

In the spirit of its do-right mentality, Carpet Mart takes a hands-on approach to every carpet project. Bruce says, “When we get a carpet order in, we unwrap the product, grab a sample and compare the dye lot. If it’s right, then we pull the carpet out and vacuum it, which gives us the opportunity to identify any flaws. If we find a flaw, we might say, ‘We know this piece will work in this particular room because it’s only 11 feet wide,’ so we mark that and make cuts. This way, when the installer comes to load the product, instead of having a carpet that’s never been looked it, it has been inspected, and that way, the installer can focus on the customer rather than dealing with a problem.” 

He continues, “The customer has invested their money, and they deserve the product to be right. As a store, we want to make sure we have done that to the best of our ability. We may have more claims up front because we find problems, but in the long run, it’s better because we don’t find them on the jobsite. Sometimes, we call the customer and say, ‘We have a potential issue going on with your carpet order, and we want you to come in and look at it.’ They are appreciative—even if it delays the job. Our transparency builds trust.”

REACHING OUT

Carpet Mart still operates from the same location where it began, and the city has grown up around it. “It’s a great location,” says Bruce. “There was nothing here back in the day, but now there’s a Harvertys on one corner and a very busy Starbucks on another.”

For years, due to its spectacular location, Carpet Mart didn’t do much advertising—relying on drive-by visibility, word-of-mouth and referral business. Around 2014, however, the business had plateaued, and the new owners decided it was time to try some new strategies. Over the years, the team tried many things. However, several years ago, the company began partnering with marketing firm High Ten, and that has transformed its strategy and its results. 

Today, the company relies heavily on social media and pay-per-click. The social media efforts are intentional and personal. In fact, High Ten visits Carpet Mart once every three weeks to film content with the Carpet Mart staff. Topics range from flooring trends to local events. “I tried to do the marketing myself previously, and it was really a scattershot approach,” says Bruce. “High Ten creates a plan months out, and that has been a really positive change for us. It’s about how they push content and connect it by putting in keywords. They work to touch different segments and connect the dots for consumers.”

Reviews are another important part of the Carpet Mart success. The company had over 1,500 reviews through a Shaw system that became inactive, and as a result, the company lost all of them and is currently working to rebuild—it has around 500 through its new system. Carpet Mart is active in seeking reviews—mentioning its importance to customers amid closing as well as sending out a postcard post-installation as a reminder. If an installer is positively mentioned by name in a review, they are given a credit that can be applied toward supplies.

TEAM DYNAMICS

The Carpet Mart website lists the full team—with pictures—and includes the number of years each member has been with the business, with the bulk of employees having served in the operation for more than a decade. 

In fact, Bruce notes that four employees have stayed at Carpet Mart until they literally passed away. “This is about lifelong service and a commitment to doing things the right way, caring about people,” says Bruce. “That has made it really special.”

It can also make new hiring difficult because the Carpet Mart team is looking for a very specific mentality. Often, the team has hired family and friends of current employees, and that has worked well. 

Per the example above, Carpet Mart sets up its installation team for success, and, as a result, has not struggled greatly amid the installer shortage. That said, Bruce is concerned about what the future might bring. “I have more guys saying, ‘I don’t know how much longer I can do this,’ explains Bruce. “We are fortunate to have some younger crews, but we are always trying to figure out how to get more people into business.” 

Carpet Mart is part of the Kentuckiana Floor Covering Education Committee, which has worked to recruit installers to the trade. “We have worked with Goodwill and other organizations, and it’s challenging,” says Bruce. “The subcontract laborer gets paid more because they aren’t paying taxes, so if you bring them into your organization, it looks like they are making less. I would love to see the WFCA step up and figure out a program for retailers to implement. We have to come up with solutions that are meaningful.”