Orlando, Fla. -- Members of the Shaw Flooring Network (SFN) opened the company’s 2019 convention with a recommitment to each other, the company, and the consumer, here at the Rosen Shingle Creek Hotel on January 20, with the common goal of growing the flooring business.

“Even though we're independent businesses, we all experienced similar things, share some of the same challenges and have a lot of the same goals—and we've seen that we can learn, laugh and solve problems together,” said Todd Wheeler of Wheeler’s Flooring, Salinas, Calif., who has been part of the SFN Dealer Council for almost six years. “I'm excited about the new Shaw Flooring Network because I have experienced how the SFN Network is listening to me and to my friends in the network.”

The dealer council, which is made up of 18 retailers across the United States and Canada, represents different sizes and types of flooring businesses. The group meets formally twice a year and communicates regularly about issues that impact businesses and works as ambassadors to communicate needs between the 1,600 SFN members and Shaw Floors.

“The dealer council has been essential to defining our vision and creating a more effective partnership,” said Danny Crutchfield, president, SFN, who said the company wants to do a better job delivering assistance to its SFN members and communicating the benefits of doing business with Shaw Floors.

“We like to say that the new SFN is dealer driven,” said Dave Shepherd, owner of Choice Floor Center in Owings, Md., who has been part of SFN for 12 years and a member of the dealer council for five-and-a-half years. “I'm more excited today than I ever been. The reason that I am is that I've seen firsthand how Shaw is talking to the members, listening to us, and working with us to build solutions that work for our business.”

Stay tuned for more updates from the convention. For more information, visit shawfloors.com.