Detroit, MI, September 15, 2005--ProSource, the warehouse club of the flooring industry with six Michigan locations, is planning to expand its presence in the state, according to the Detroit News.
ProSource is a members-only showroom, meaning that shoppers must pay a fee ($25). Unlike Sam's Club or Costco, however, ProSource caters only to trade professionals who must qualify for membership; builders, designers, remodelers, property managers and real estate agents.
"We provide our members the opportunity for them to come into a showroom environment, they can invite their clients...24 hours a day," says Mark Jameson, ProSource vice president of franchise development. "Our belief is that our showroom is there to service the trade."
Jameson said Metro Detroit is a huge player in the construction industry, hence the expansions. And according to the McGraw Hill Construction Dodge Forecast, the area is on pace to spend about $6 billion on construction in 2005.
"Expo, which is owned by Home Depot (has left the area), and now we have ProSource," says Bob Stern, of Bob Stern Building Co. in West Bloomfield. "I don't know what the impact is, it's just dividing it up a little more. Every time you open up one of these it hurts the independents a little hard, but that's competition, isn't it?"
ProSource, which has more than 150 showrooms in the United States and Canada, is owned by CCA Global Partners, a flooring cooperative with 13 affiliated brands.
"CCA Global is one of the largest flooring partners...in the world. We have about $3 billion in buying power," Jameson says.
Right now, ProSource has three Metro Detroit locations -- Wixom, Troy and Romulus -- and other locations in Kalamazoo, Lansing and Grand Rapids.
Jameson says ProSource is eyeing outlets in Saginaw, Flint and Rochester Hills-Sterling Heights areas. ProSource plans to open 20 sites in the United States in the next year.
While potential franchisees don't have to have to have flooring experience -- though some trade experience is preferable -- they do have to have a high enough net worth to open a ProSource.
"We typically look for individuals who have north of $500,000 in net worth," says Jameson, who says most of ProSource's franchisees are multi-unit operators.
The franchisee fee is $46,450. ProSource provides marketing and training and some real estate help.
