Darren Nelson opened his flooring store, Veteran Flooring, in Brighton, Michigan, on March 11, 2020—four days before Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer shut down independent flooring retailers as “non-essential” businesses in response to COVID-19. Nelson served as an airborne combat engineer from for the U.S. Army from 1989 to 1993. After being honorably discharged, he ended up working a variety of sales positions in the flooring industry. He aims to help other veterans like himself gain employment in the service side of the industry.