Focus on Leadership: With a decade of leadership under his belt, Stanton Flooring CEO Jonathan Cohen continues to expand the family business – March 2024

Interview by Kemp Harr

Jonathan Cohen has been involved in Stanton Flooring, founded by his father Sy Cohen, since childhood. The New York manufacturer and importer, based out of Woodbury, Long Island, started out as a higher-end residential carpet specialist. Over the years, it added several luxury carpet brands through strategic acquisitions, and more recently expanded to hard surface flooring.

Sy first started Country Carpet in Syosset, Long Island in 1972, as a trade showroom to service the design community with decorative carpet. To strengthen his position as the go-to retailer for the design community, he went to Europe and developed key supplier relationships, starting by importing wool flatweaves, then expanding across a range of luxury carpet. Soon, he was supplying other high-end flooring showrooms, so, in 1980 he started a new enterprise. Having grown up in Manhattan’s Lower East Side near the intersection of Essex Street and Stanton Street, and adamant about incorporating his roots into his new business, he incorporated as Stanton Carpet.

Jonathan formally joined the firm after graduating college, rising through the ranks. He was named CEO in 2014. Jonathan and his wife, Jennifer, live on Long Island. theey have two grown children.

Q: Did you always think you would follow your father in the family business?
A: At five years old, I was recruited to work Saturdays in the sample room of Country Carpet, cutting carpet swatches with large shears. Only when my knuckles started to bleed was there a recognition of a hard day’s work. During the spring of my high school years, I worked at the Country Carpet warehouse in the afternoons. One day, the warehouse manager went home sick, and I was tasked with using the carpet heister to move rolls from the parking lot into the racks. It took less than 20 minutes for me to crash the heister right into the roll-up door, causing significant damage. Yikes! I was pretty upset, but my dad was great. He told me they would have the door repaired and not to worry. During my college summers, I was relocated to Stanton’s office to help with customer service and shipping samples.

This is a long way of saying I felt a connection to the family business and while there wasn’t a pre-set plan to join, I always felt there was a strong possibility.

Q: Why did you pursue the field of study that you selected for college?
A: I graduated from George Washington University with a speech communications degree. Persuasion, debate, oral speaking, writing classes among others all laid the groundwork to appreciate the necessity and power of effective communication.

Q: Has the “why” for Stanton changed much from the ’80s when your dad started the firm?
A: Stanton was founded on the simple mission to supply high quality, self-branded, decorative product to better-end flooring showrooms throughout the U.S. This fundamental premise is as core to Stanton today as it was in 1980. We’ve spent the last 40+ years building upon that premise across a multitude of hard and soft surface product categories, brands and channels, with decorative being the common thread tying it all together.

Q: What are some of your fondest memories growing up in the business?
A: I remember the conversation we had when I was living and working in D.C. right after college. Sy called me up one day and asked me to join Stanton. He explained that the company was turning a corner, and the timing was good. I knew he was a type A personality, so I asked what he thought about the father/son working relationship. He assured me I would have room to grow, and that we’d work great together. He was very compelling and sealed the deal with an offer of $350/week! Reflecting back 31 years later, he was exactly right about everything he said that day.

Q: Much of Stanton’s growth has come from acquisitions. Which of these was most significant to who Stanton is today?
A: Our acquisition of Antrim has been the most significant. The Antrim acquisition put Stanton into the handloomed broadloom category in late 2007, years ahead of any competitors. It gave Stanton a new category platform with reliable India-based supply. The team went to work and developed dozens of awesome, textured, chunky wools in 15’ widths. This acquisition set the stage for our Rosecore, Crescent, Hibernia and Cavan acquisitions to develop the modern and casual luxury versions of handloomed.

Q: Much of the success with a company like Stanton is having an eye for what the consumer wants to buy. Your dad clearly had that eye. Did he teach you that talent, as well?
A: My father has a phenomenal innate ability for product combined with a great talent for development and excellent business sense. My father has mentored me and so many others in the organization. His passion, work ethic and way of operating started an amazing culture at Stanton.

Q: Tell us about the decision to bring private equity (PE) in to fund the company’s growth.
A: When we originally learned about the opportunity and structure of private equity, we were intrigued. We all felt and still feel Stanton has so much runway for growth and loved the idea of realizing the financial rewards of selling, but equally as important, the opportunity to re-invest meaningful equity into the new business, maintaining and enhancing our team while having savvy financial partners to help augment our growth in ways we haven’t previously experienced. Given our desire to continue leading Stanton and commitment to growth, the PE structure has worked extremely well for us. Dunes Point Capital is our current PE partner.

Q: Who were the mentors instrumental in your character growth, and what did they teach you?
A: My parents have been incredible mentors. They instilled the mentality for a strong work ethic, never taking anything for granted, doing the right thing and treating people well. I was blessed with a great childhood and a tight-knit family; we work hard and have a lot of fun. Needless to say, my father has been an incredible mentor every step of the way. For 31 years, I’ve learned endlessly from him about business, products, buying, people, vision and leadership, among many other disciplines.

I could never complete this thought without mentioning Jennifer, my wife of 30 years this July. She’s brilliant; an amazing marketer and writer; she quickly and accurately reads people and situations; she’s sweet but firm and highly decisive. All of these traits have molded my character and thought process for the better. I could not have gone this far without the unwavering support of my wife and parents.

Q: How has your customer evolved over the last ten years?
A: Most customers have consistently diversified to capture more R&R business. In addition to the expansion of core hard surface categories, many flooring showrooms have added stone and tile, introduced in-house rug fabrication, diversified into commercial and added designer programs. And to a lesser degree, others have added countertops, lighting, kitchens, fabric and furniture. In the last few years, the infusion of bolder colors, along with performance-based and pet-friendly low maintenance products, have also captured more market attention. Our customers and, in turn, consumers and designers consistently respond to great-looking product and great service, and that’s where we focus our time.

Q: What is your strategy for expanding into the hard surface category?
A: We researched the market for two years prior to our launch at Surfaces 2020. We were disciplined in our approach to product, colors, supply chain, pricing and merchandising. It’s been a great growth story for Stanton. We acquired Floors 2000 in August 2022 to gain a footprint in the porcelain tile market and generally accelerate growth. We’re targeting customers that appreciate nice looking product across multiple price points.

In addition, Jamann Stepp joined Stanton in November 2023 to lead our hard surface business into the future. We’re committed to exponential long-term growth, including adding product categories each year for the next three years; offering permanent price reductions, effective March 4, to ensure Stanton’s competitively priced; and adding to our loyalty program. We’ve onboarded ten new hard surface salespeople in the last ten months with plans for additional staff in 2024.

Q: What is your succession plan for your role?
A: Stanton’s succession is evergreen. Our existing and, in many cases, long-term team continues to perform at a high level while we simultaneously add great people that bring new skill and disciplines to Stanton. The perpetual goal is to become smarter, adapt faster and stay well ahead of the market in terms of growth and strategy. For me, personally, I’m young and hungry to continue the Stanton success story.

Q: Can Stanton reach its growth goals and still focus primarily on the luxe market?
A: Luxury is how we design and market, which comes in many forms and price points. While never easy, I’m very confident Stanton will achieve short- and long-term growth plans by staying focused on outstanding product, market-leading service, great distribution and high-quality people.

Q: What do you do to relax?
A: Relaxing is tough! My favorite is spending quality time with my wife and kids. I also enjoy time with my extended family, followed by summers on Long Island-the beach, pickleball, the Yankees, Knicks and Giants, a great workout to Springsteen music-and making fun of my older brothers always makes me smile.

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