Entrepreneurs Take Ohio Flooring Business Independ
Columbus, Ohio, June 8--A pair of Columbus businessmen have acquired the Ohio assets of the Invironmentalists in the hopes of creating their own legacy, according to Business First Columbus.
George Holinga and Tony Nixon bought the business from Koch Industries Inc., a Wichita, Kan.-based holding company, for an undisclosed sum. The sale closed March 14.
The business, which includes offices in Cincinnati, Cleveland and Columbus, has about $40 million in annual revenue, Nixon said. They renamed it Legacy Commercial Flooring.
The business employs around 260, with about 150 at its Columbus headquarters, Holinga said. It employs 50 in Cincinnati and 60 in Cleveland.
Legacy Flooring took a circuitous route into Holinga's and Nixon's hands. A large piece of the business came from the Wilson Floor Co., a Columbus-based flooring company that was founded in 1900. E.I. DuPont & Co. bought Wilson Floors in 1997, folding it into its DuPont Flooring Systems unit. That unit was later renamed the Invironmentalists, and Koch bought it in 2004.
The new name honors Wilson Floor's legacy and DuPont's legacy in innovation, Holinga said.
Legacy Flooring installs floors and offers maintenance services, Holinga said. It is a member of the StarNet Commercial Flooring Cooperative, a nationwide network of flooring contractors. The cooperative allows Legacy Flooring to service national accounts, Holinga said.
Holinga and Nixon worked for the business at various points in its history, Holinga said. The two have a combined 60 years of experience in flooring.
"We think by focusing on Ohio, as an Ohio-based company, we'll be able to provide better service to our customers," Holinga said.
