Madison, WI, September 19--Tom Sergenian, president of Sergenian's Floor Coverings and grandson of the company founder, stands in the store's showroom. When it comes to carpets and flooring, the Sergenian family has covered homes and businesses in Madison for 75 years, according to the Wisconsin State Journal.
Sergenian's has covered the floors at the Overture Center, the Dane County Regional Airport and University Hospital and installed the replacement carpeting at Monona Terrace. Sergenian's Floor Coverings now is working on the flooring at Epic System's new Verona offices.
Ara Sergenian, born in New York City to Armenian parents, opened a rug store on Monroe Street in 1930. His son, Paul, and grandson, Tom, remain involved in the business, which these days sells a lot more than just rugs.
The business has survived two fires, several moves and changes in the flooring business over the years that included the beginning of wall-to-wall carpeting in the late 1940s as well as later advances in vinyl, stone tile and hardwood flooring.
The carpeting and flooring business is very competitive in Madison, said Roy Spencer, an account specialist who's worked 15 years at Coyle Carpet, 250 W. Beltline.
"They're good competition," Spencer said of Sergenian's. "It's a very competitive business, but we have mutual respect for each other."
James Garner, Sergenian's chief executive, was the first non-family employee hired in 1965. One of his first tasks, he said, was to buy ice cream cones for members of the Sergenian family from a store across the street.
"I was the lift truck for a few years," he said, helping to hoist 900-pound carpeting rolls to shelves or stands on which they could be rolled out and cut to length for customers. That job now is done by forklift trucks.
Tom Sergenian, company president, started part time at his family's company in 1972 and began working full-time seven years later. Paul Sergenian, Tom's uncle who ran his own Madison carpet company during the 1990s, since has returned to the family business, where he runs the rug department.
After experimenting with various kinds of expansion, Garner said Sergenian's now plans to stick to its core business. In 1979, the company opened a second location on Madison's East Side, but closed it a year later. During the 1990s, Sergenian's operated a Milwaukee office for several years and also bought out Madison competitor Warmka, trying to get a foothold in Beaver Dam, where Warmka had customers.
An electrical fire in 1966 forced Sergenian's to move from its State Street location temporarily to Lakeside Street, and another electrical fire in 1971 damaged the company's current showroom.
These days, Sergenian's offers flooring products from Turkey, China and other countries. Products range from vinyl with colorful designs or customized stone tiles to $15,000 Oriental rugs. The company has a showroom at 2805 W. Beltline, while its distribution center and administrative offices are at 2001 Fish Hatchery Road.
With 91 employees and about $14 million in annual revenue, Sergenian's has about 30 carpenter's union employees working on commercial installations and uses seven of its own employees along with subcontractors for residential jobs.
Tom Sergenian said the company has a lot of longtime employees.
"It's great for the customers," he said. "When they replace their flooring, they can come in and talk to the same person."
He said the business is likely to stay in the family for another generation. His sons, Nicholas, 21, and Lucas, 19, work for the company, while daughter Geneva, 15, helps out sometimes in the office.
