Raleigh, N.C.—USA Flooring has been in business since 1972 when it was founded by Ken Lloyd in Frederick, Md. Today, the operation is run by his son Chris Lloyd and daughter-in-law Amanda, who bought the business in 2010, now with six locations across North Carolina—including its newly opened Raleigh store.
The business’s success is not typical, and while much of it rests on the sturdy shoulders of the Lloyd family, it’s also their partnerships that have helped paved the way. So, when USA Flooring celebrated the grand opening of its sixth location here June 19, it was also celebrating something much larger: its longstanding partnership with Mohawk—a fact that was clearly illustrated via Mohawk’s 60% to 70% ownership of the showroom floor.
The retailer services all markets in North Carolina with brick-and-mortar stores in Wilmington, Fayetteville, Raleigh, Durham and Winston-Salem and then fills in the gaps with shop-at-home mobile showrooms. And while many would tout reliable product and helpful marketing campaigns via their supplier partners, USA Flooring also values its partnership with Mohawk for the company’s ideals.
For example, when USA Flooring celebrated the store’s collaboration with the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center in Surf City, N.C., Mohawk was right by its side. Both companies share a passion for positively impacting the lives of sea turtles, which is one of the most impacted animals by ocean plastic. For Mohawk, it’s their partnerships with the Georgia Sea Turtle Center on Jekyll Island, Ga., where it just installed new SolidTech R flooring, and Plastic Bank, which aims to keep as much plastic out of the oceans as possible. For USA Flooring, it’s the relationship with the Sea Turtle hospital outside of Wilmington because of its unique impact on the local community.
“We’ve been organizing this event with the Sea Turtle center over the last eight months,” said Fred Black, vice president of operations, USA Flooring. “We’re going to build out a ton of content from that event and promote it heavily in our market. I think the consumer really cares about that story. And that’s what we’re really after in this showroom—not just generic displays but we’re trying to tell the stories behind the products and manufacturers. In fact, we organized our showroom by manufacturer instead of by product, so it feels a little different.”
It’s also that connection to community that has led Mohawk to not only owning more than 60% of the retailer’s show floor but more than 50% of USA Flooring’s sales. “We have North Carolina flags in a lot of Mohawk displays because they have invested over $130 million in the North Carolina economy,” Black said.
“They have three manufacturing facilities. So why would I not want to partner with a company that’s investing in my state and creating jobs for North Carolinians?”
Giving dealers an ‘Edge’
In addition to Mohawk’s ideals and community investment, USA Flooring touts its Edge Stores status. According to Blake Cook, general manager, one of the best benefits of Edge Stores is its top ranking on the dealer locator. Right after that is receiving the highest possible amount of co-op dollars. “Co-op is what fuels the advertising funnel,” Cook said.
“We sell Mohawk products, they give us dollars to apply to advertising, and then we advertise more Mohawk products and sell more Mohawk. That is a big benefit of being an Edge Stores retailer.”
USA Flooring is also a pilot retailer for Edge Experience Academy, the RSA training component that comes along with Edge Stores. “We put two of our newest salespeople through the program and their feedback has just been phenomenal,” Cook said. “The ability for them to have a networking group across the country to bounce ideas off of has proven to be instrumental in their development and onboarding.”
The training is not Mohawk-centric. It’s not PK, nor is it about how to sell Mohawk products. Rather, it centers on making them better salespeople. “Edge Experience Academy focuses on how to approach customers to help them find the most suitable products for their needs,” said Laura Bartley, Mohawk’s vice president of marketing, communications and events. “Teaching how to read the consumer, how to ask the right questions when a consumer walks in, how to give them space, where to go first. It’s the whole selling approach.”
Cook emphasized how important this is for USA Flooring, more so than other retailers, because they take a “non-traditional” approach to hiring. “We’re taking people who know nothing about flooring, who know nothing about sales. They just need to be able to talk to people and have a drive. This program accelerates taking somebody who knows nothing about flooring and sales and puts them in a position to very quickly be a performer.”
Black agreed. “This separates Mohawk from their competition. The industry had a problem in the middle of COVID-19. There was more demand than supply. And everybody was flustered because they couldn’t find labor, couldn’t find salespeople. So Mohawk recognized the need to create a training platform because they have the resources. They help retailers by developing these platforms so they can hire people new to the industry.”
Edge Stores members are entitled to put two RSAs through the Edge Experience Academy as part of the benefit package. It includes six one-hour virtual sessions with an ongoing network of salespeople around the country. There are no more than 15 people in any one session, and there are never multiple RSAs in the same market.
Ashley Leubeker is one of the two RSAs that USA Flooring put through the academy. She neither had flooring nor sales experience before joining the retailer. “I learned a lot,” she told FCNews. “I have a book full of notes as to what we learned. We had things to review after each class to make sure we’re actually taking away from the sessions.”
Leubeker said one of the things she took away from it was to look at every sale as a win. “Always go in with a positive attitude. So far that’s been one of my biggest successes. I also learned to let the customer talk before I start anything. They’ll give you a lot more information so you can actually learn from them before having to explain a product.”
Leubeker cited another example, which centered on something relatively basic: how to introduce yourself when a customer walks in, and how to walk them through the showroom. “Start to finish, basically,” she explained. “The first interaction [is important] so you can start the connection. And then setting expectations. After we did that training, these jobs are closing a lot quicker. It gave me confidence.”
Leubeker noted that she is benefitting from the networking component of Edge Experience Academy in particular. “We hear from people from other locations about how they handle things,” she said. “Everybody’s in a different location, so everybody has a different insight on how to succeed. One girl from Michigan suggested some really good books that I ordered to learn how to increase sales.”
Cook said the proof is in the pudding. “She hasn’t been here three months and from a numbers perspective she’s already one of our top salespeople.”
Success in partnership
Another benefit of being an Edge Stores retailer for USA Flooring is Roomvo’s room visualizer, which Cook cited as a tool that has facilitated sales, particularly the large-format kiosk in conjunction with the QR codes that are attached to samples throughout the store. “I can have a customer at the kiosk, scan a QR code, and they’re now uploading photos of their home into the kiosk,” he said.
The biggest benefit, Cook said, is reducing the buying cycle. “Instead of a customer having to check the sample out and get it into her home, we have an in-store experience that makes it really easy to visualize it.”
The result: an increase in USA Flooring’s closing rate.
