Second-Generation Stores Build on Success

Manchester, NH, March 27, 2006)--In Worcester, Massachusetts, there’s one flooring store in town where everybody knows the owner's name. And Eddy Stein, of Eddy’s Flooring America likes it that way. “I’ve got my name on the sign, and that’s the way it’s been since 1955 when I opened my first store called Eddy’s Carpets,” said Stein. “When people walk through the door they expect to see Eddy, and I’m proud to say that’s exactly who they’ve seen for 51 years. And now my son Howie is running the show, and doing the same thing. If you come to Eddy’s Flooring America, you get two generations worth of know-how and personal attention at your service.” Local stores with multi-generational roots is a common feature of the Flooring America cooperative, and one of the group’s prized attributes. Every store in the Flooring America cooperative is family owned and operated, with many stores well into second-generation management. It’s an advantage that combines uncommon expertise, with longstanding familiarity and trust. And deep roots bring close personal ties and a special commitment to customer service. Mary Beth O’Callaghan is a second-generation owner of a Flooring America store in Franklin, Mass., who says she conducts business every day with the expectation that she will run into her customers at the local grocery store. “We’re not a one-hit wonder,” says O’Callaghan. “Our customers know who we are. We see them in the community everyday, and we want to be proud to look them in the eye.” That attitude is familiar to Scott Steel, a second-generation Flooring America storeowner in Houston. In 1972, Scott’s mother Wanda, founded the family business when she opened “Wanda’s Interiors.” Two years later, Scott’s dad, Buddy, joined the effort, and the store turned into “Buddy’s Carpets and Wanda’s Interiors.” Now, the Steel family runs two floor covering stores, with the original store known simply as “Buddy and Wanda’s Flooring America.” “There’s no big secret here,” says Scott Steel. “Our customers know we’re going to be here when they come back. They know we’re going to take care of them.” With increasing competition from the home centers, Flooring America and Flooring Canada have focused renewed attention onto member histories. Known as legacy stories, these multi-generation histories highlight the unique level of local expertise and trust among Flooring America members--a hallmark of the cooperative. “We have three Home Depots and three Lowe’s in our town,” said Howie Stein. “Somewhere along the way we have to establish ourselves as better. And that means not only great prices, but earning a reputation as trusted flooring experts. We feel we’ve done that. Our history shows it, and we keep working on our legacy every day.”

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