Retail Insight: How Ooltewah Flooring Gallery Thrived During the Pandemic

A small retail flooring store located in Ooltewah, Tennessee opened its doors at the start of the pandemic and managed to end 2021 on an upswing. Rhonda Gay, store manager, Ooltewah Flooring Gallery, has spent over 20 years in the flooring industry in different capacities. Here, she discusses her unique start in flooring, the flooring categories that are selling best and the reasons for the store’s success during such a bleak time.

Beth Miller began her journalistic journey in 2005 while still working as a mechanic in her dad’s garage. She has written about everything from artists to WWII veterans and in 2010 stepped into the healthcare sector where she created digital content for 11 years. She, then, received her master’s degree in English from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. In 2017, she took the leap into the flooring industry. Here, she has discovered a place where she can apply both her technical and journalistic abilities.