Floor Covering Trade Show - Surfaces 2009

I have just returned from the annual Surfaces floor covering trade show held in Las Vegas. This year I went a couple of days early to watch the Super Bowl with some of my friends at Quick-Step Laminate Floors. I had a nice meal, good conversation and a few laughs. Although Quick Step Flooring is one of my larger suppliers, nothing business was discussed here. we just enjoyed the game and relaxed a bit. This was on Sunday and with the show not starting until Tueday, I took advantage of the day off to find new ways to support the economy of Las Vegas.

Quick-Step Laminate Flooring

After venting my frustration about Quick Step Laminate's pricing policies, let me clarify what I think about the product. Fact: Quick Step is the best selling laminate floor on the market in our opinion. There are other brands that can claim this distinction because some of their products are placed in big box centers under different labels (mainly the lower quality products). However, we find that the majority of our sales come from the high quality laminate floors such as, Quick-Step Perspective Laminate, Quick-Step Eligna Hand Scraped (better known as Quick-Step Country Laminate) and Quick Step Quadra Tile Floors. Our customers for laminate floors represent a good cross section of home builders and the actual end user. Because most of them are looking for the best laminate floors at a good price, we generally include Quick-Step Flooring in our recommendations. As I previously stated, Quick Step is our best selling laminate flooring.

As a footnote, I will be joining Quick Step representatives at a Super Bowl event in Las Vegas on February 1st, followed with a free day on the 2nd and then attending Surfaces 2009 (the flooring industry's annual convention) on the 3rd and 4th and then back to Dalton, Georgia on Thursday.

Buy Quick-Step Laminate Online?

Buy Quick Step Laminate floors online? Searching for Quick Step Laminate prices online is going to be harder if Unilin (Quick Step's parent, a Mohawk company) has their way. The manufacturer has increasingly been applying pressure to dealers to use minimum advertised prices. American Carpet Wholesalers is no exception. Because we are one of the top Quick-Step Laminate dealers in the country, and we value our relationship with Quick-Step, for now we have just removed our prices from the website. I say for now because there are 12-16 sites out there openly displaying less than minimum advertised prices. Why 12 or why not 16? One dealer has multiple websites with different marketing trchniques for the product and all below the minimum prices we are allowed to show. We mainatain a huge inventory(over $100,000) of Quick-Step Laminate Floors and if these sites do not comply soon, we will have no choice but to display competitive prices just to compete.

This is not to say American Carpet Wholesalers is not competitive now. What it means is that the consumer has to call us for our best pricing. Some sites are using a free shipping model to get around the pricing issue. We feel this is not consumer friendly that a customer 1000-1500 miles from the dealer would pay the same shipping cost as one say 100-200 miles away. Unless a dealer has dire need for cash flow, and wants to lose money on the sale, our prices for Quick-Step Laminate floors have consistently be some of the best to be found anywhere.

Sometimes the lowest price is not always the best. We have gone head to head with some competitors over price and won because of customer satisfaction. When the price diference is minimal, why would a customer buy from a dealer who has a consumer satisfaction of 1.5 to 2.0 when ours is usually 4.6 to 4.8 out of 5. We have worked hard to achieve this rating and feel American Carpet Wholesalers is a consumer friendly company. A little comfort of buying such a large purchase from a trusted company and recognized by Inc. Magazine as one of the fastest growing corporations in the country in 2007 and again in 2008.

For now we ask that our customers just pick up the phone and call us. We know convenience lies in the shopping cart and apologize openly that Quick Step Laminate cannot be ordered online at our site at this time.

Cheap Laminate Floors or Laminate Floors Cheap!

Believe it or not, there is a difference. Not long ago I was talking with one of my suppliers about prices and why people drive long distances to the Dalton Georgia Carpet Outlets to buy laminate flooring. It was my observation that on the signage of a lot of stores was "Laminate Floors $.49 sf" or "Laminate Floors $.59 sf". I don't know where these floors come from. Maybe from China or maybe they are defective or discontinueds. Probably ok for rental property that needs to be replaced regularly. This is the defintion of "cheap laminate floors". We do not stock it or sell it.
The only time we offer discontinueds is if they are discontinued while we have inventory, in which case the warranties are still valid.

Our customers are usually looking for name brand laminate flooring. Such as Quick-Step Laminate floors (our number one selling laminate floor), Berry Floor Laminate, Lamett Laminate, Alloc Laminate, Tarkett Laminate and other laminate floors. Buying laminate floors long distance has to be rewarding. For instance, a $4.-$6. sf name brand laminate floor can be bought at American Carpet Wholesalers for $2.-$4. sf. This would be the defintion of "laminate floors cheap".

For consumers that want a serviceable, fully warranted product, I would recommend a quality name brand with a good reputation for years of trouble free performance. Buying a low quality laminate floor for a rental or institutional application on the assumption it would need replaced regularly does not hold water. A good laminate floor with proper installation and a good laminate underlayment will last for years and years. It will also save you money for the material replacement and the labor to replace it countless times. A little more intial investment is much more cost effective.