(FCNews launches the Abbey member profiles series, a program that puts the spotlight on standout retail members of the group.)
When David Hayes, founder and owner of David’s Abbey Carpet, Knoxville, Tenn., made the decision to join the Abbey group back in the spring of 1997, the floor covering industry was in a state of flux. Shaw had entered (and subsequently exited) the retail business; distribution consolidation was in full swing; and many independent specialty floor covering retailers were looking for ways to navigate an evolving and uncertain market. For many independents, aligning with a buying group provided the ideal path toward a more prosperous future.
“We joined Abbey at a time when you had suppliers entering the retail business and distributors entering the sell-to-the-public business,” Hayes recalled. “It was important to join a group to combat that.”
Fast forward 27 years later, Hayes’ business continues to thrive under the auspices of the Abbey Carpet & Floor buying group. The retailer opened its doors in 1973 and 24 years lat- er it joined the group. “When I signed up in ’97, everything that the Abbey team said they would do, they have done all that and more,” Hayes stated.
The “more” part includes the wealth of sales and marketing tools, programs and initiatives Abbey Carpet & Floor offers its members. Take Abbey’s signature private-label programs, for example. Long before David’s Carpet became a full-fledged Abbey member, the retailer had long supported the practice of promoting its store as its brand.
“When my dad joined we were already private labeling ourselves,” said Mike Hayes, David’s son and current CEO of the company. “Abbey management also embraces private labeling, and they provide merchandising and support. At the same time, they still allow us some autonomy so we can make decisions on what works best for us.”
More importantly, membership in the group has allowed David’s Carpet, which now owns three stores, to make more money. Shortly after joining Abbey, the store started seeing profits improve. “Being a member in the group has definitely increased our margins,” Mike Hayes said.
Another area where Abbey management has helped members excel is in marketing and advertising—which has taken on even greater importance in today’s high-tech, lead-gen-focused environment. “Abbey handles all of our digital and print advertising, and they create all the posts for Facebook,” Mike Hayes said. “We send them a request and then a day or two later they’ve got a print ad ready. They’re just way more professional looking than we can do ourselves because they have more resources at their disposal.”
What’s more, the marketing assets Abbey offers are not cookie-cutter programs; they can be tailored to a specific dealer’s needs. As Hayes explained: “You can send them exactly what you want/need, and they’ll send it back to you so you can tweak it. They can also tie it into specific products, because with Abbey you don’t have—nor could you possibly have—everything they offer product-wise.”
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The success of Abbey dealers goes beyond product, merchandising, advertising and lead generation. Retailers also benefit from access to dealers across the broad network of members. The annual Abbey convention provides just such opportunities.
“I think you’re always learning from each other,” Hayes said. “When I started going to the conventions with my dad, I would learn from all kinds of different dealers—the different ways they do things. Over the last five or six years we’ve taken different salespeople and leadership teams from our stores. We’ve probably had 20 different people from our store attend conventions. I specifically learned some things from senior dealers from Texas and California that I probably wouldn’t have even thought about without going there.”
