Abbey Carpet Seventh Largest Private Firm In Flori
Bonita, Springs, FL, Oct. 1--Mixed in among a list of Florida's top private companies is a sole mention of Bonita Springs, according to the Bonita Banner.
It belongs to Abbey Carpet. Though born in Sacramento, CA, the national carpet franchise grew to post $1.8 billion in sales through roughly 1,200 franchise stores nationwide while operating its headquarters from a two-story building tucked in a corner of the Bonita Bay Executive Center. The revenue made it the seventh largest privately held company in the state, as measured by Florida Trend magazine. Abbey Carpet doesn't own any of the stores bearing its name.
The company moved to Bonita Springs in 1996, nearly 40 years after its founding in Sacramento in 1958. Stephen Silverman, president and COO of the company, said the move was largely based on the disadvantages of running a national firm from the Pacific time zone--particularly when the manufacturing centers of floorcovering work in the eastern time zone.
"When we would be starting the day people on the east coast would be heading to lunch," Silverman said. "And when we would be coming back from lunch, the east coast is getting ready to go home for the day."
Bonita Springs was a favored fishing ground for Abbey Carpet Co. chairman, CEO and sole owner Philip Gutierrez. Company officers determined that the growing community, not yet a city when the decision was on the table in the mid-1990s, had a strong enough infrastructure to allow them to run a billion-dollar enterprise.
"We can run the company from anywhere," Silverman said. "With communications, we don't have to be near our suppliers. The airport is nearby and no hassle to get in and out of."
Abbey Carpet's headquarters is not carpeted. But the company, like the flooring industry, has evolved to include virtually everything that a floor and its owner could want. The company itself has also developed from the original floor covering retailer to include Floors To Go, a separate floor covering franchise acquired by Abbey Carpet in 2002 and The Floor Club, a business designed to sell to builders, designers and other trades that want specialized service beyond a typical floor covering retailer.
The company also has a place in history. It was the first registered franchise in California, beating out McDonald's for that designation.
