St. Louis, MO, August 25, 2006--With residential home remodeling expenditures reaching an all time high of $215 billion in 2005, CCA Global Partners announced the launch of The Floor Trader, a kind of super store that stocks 3000 types of flooring.
With their first franchise location currently operating in Hiawatha, IA, and a corporate location in St. Louis, The Floor Trader plans to open 20 new locations across the United States by 2008. Signed deals have already been confirmed for locations in Mobile, AL; Denver, CO; and Ardmore, OK slated to open by early 2007.
The Floor Trader, the next generation of floor retailing with more than 3,000 flooring products from around the world, caters to customers looking for great values, a large selection of in-stock inventory, and a fast and easy shopping experience. From carpet and laminate to ceramic, hardwood and vinyl floors, The Floor Trader offers one of the most comprehensive merchandise selections in the industry.
“The Floor Trader is a model that today's customer wants--a clean, uncluttered, well-organized presentation of in-stock flooring products. It is a shopping environment that is visually exciting, easy to navigate, comfortable to shop in, and one that gives customers confidence,” said Eric Demaree, president of The Floor Trader. “No one in the flooring industry can provide a more powerful model for selling every category of floor covering.”
With over 29 years of experience in the flooring industry, Demaree has held executive positions with The Home Depot, Tuftex Industries and Royalty Carpet Mills. Realizing an industry gap for a value-based flooring warehouse concept, Demaree took on the role as president of The Floor Trader in November 2005 to develop the brand and expand it nationally.
Following years of experience operating Stone Mountain and GCO Flooring, two flooring outlet models under the CCA Global brand, The Floor Trader has established store plan-o-grams that maximize efficiency and navigation to effectively display a large and diverse floorcovering selection for consumers.
The detailed layout also allows efficient inventory replenishment and re-ordering so that store operators can better manage their inventory and efficiently plan the following season’s product assortment.
Through a global direct distribution system, Floor Trader stores carry enormous selections of flooring from all over the world including Brazilian hardwoods, Asian bamboo, Italian porcelains, European laminates and traditional carpets from Dalton, GA – all in stock.
The Floor Trader also offers a private label line of products and has a proprietary Easy-Click line of laminate flooring that eliminates the need to hire an installer. The proprietary Floor Trader merchandising system also encourages suppliers to take on more ownership of their products on the selling floor of the stores, so that operators have less to manage.
“Our new Floor Trader store is quickly becoming the region’s flooring destination since opening our doors in May,” said Shawn Langan, owner of The Floor Trader of Hiawatha. “Customers love the enormous and organized selection of flooring, friendly layout and tremendous cost savings.”
Floor Trader stores range from a small format, metro store size of 7800 square-feet, to larger destination stores of 15,000 to 20,000 square-feet, and are designed to be an ideal shopping environment for consumers.
The warehouse-style stores are bright with clear signage to direct customers to specific products by category. The helpful sales staff can assist in choosing the right style of flooring and advise on accurate quantity needed based on measurements. Unlike other flooring stores, customers can pay for their products and take them home the same day, eliminating the need for ordering and delivery. Additionally, The Floor Trader service staff also provides customers with a list of recommended installers in the area.
