Carpet One Floor & Home announced four new members to its Advisory Council. Michelle Ali, Top Floors Carpet One Floor & Home in Suwanee, Georgia (Southeast Region); Drew Barber, Spokane Carpet One Floor & Home in Spokane, Washington (Western Region); Guy Pylypiw, Oshawa Carpet One Floor & Home in Oshawa, Canada (Eastern Canada) and Sherri Doherty, Cullen’s Carpet One Floor & Home in Alexandria, Minnesota (Central Region) were selected to join the group, which represents the perspective of Carpet One Floor & Home’s retail members to the leadership team.

 

The Advisory Council meets periodically throughout the year to advise senior management and help shape the direction of programs developed by the flooring retailer cooperative. Members are selected for their dedication to the cooperative and proven track record of business success.

 

"With a co-op model like ours, the Advisory Council plays a critical role because they convey member feedback and opinions directly to our leadership team," said John Gilbert, president of Carpet One Floor & Home. "It’s important that we know and understand where members stand on new initiatives, products and directives. We understand how time-consuming it is to operate a business, and we’re so appreciative of them going above and beyond to serve on this council and their dedication to helping us and their fellow members.”

  

The outgoing Advisory Council members are Paula Anderson, Sterling Carpet One Floor & Home in Grand Forks, North Dakota; Evan Hall, Florcraft Carpet One Floor & Home in Anchorage, Alaska; Kim McKenzi,  Modern Home Carpet One Floor & Home in Bracebridge, Ontairio, and Kevin Frazier, Frazier’s Carpet One Floor & Home in Knoxville, Tennessee.
 

Michelle’s dad started Top Floors in 2004, but she didn’t “officially” start working there until 2015.  With a degree in Apparel Merchandising, Production & Design, Michelle initially worked for Dillard’s Department Store. During her next job as a restaurant manager, she had an epiphany.  “If I’m going to work for a small family business, perhaps there is another one I’m interested in I would rather stress about for a business and people I really care about!”   

 

Michelle (and her RNG) flourished during her five-year tenure as RNG Coordinator for Georgia, Michigan, Kentucky and Louisiana. She now expands her role into as Advisory Council member.  She said she herself as a “connector” and loves working with retailers to hear their ideas and strategies on running their stores and then sharing them with others.

 

Drew came to the retail industry after spending a large part of his career on the wholesale side. Drew joined his father at Armstrong and later at IC. After IC was bought by Mohawk, he stayed on an additional three years before making the shift to retail and buying into two existing Carpet One Floor & Home stores.  Today Drew has ownership in four Carpet One Floor & Home stores, one Floor Trader and a fabrication company.

 

Drew said he's honored to serve on the Advisory Council and sees this as an expansion of his current role of RNG Coordinator. He understands deeply the importance of providing feedback both to and from the members in nine different states.

 

Guy came to the world of flooring via the world of IT.  After tiring of helping family and friends with computer issues, he contacted a friend in HR and ended up in the Home Depot flooring department. After nearly two years he was running the department, and after another four years, he jumped into the world of flooring wholesale at Beaulieu, Canada. He then joined Carpet One Floor & Home store as a sales professional and in February 2014 (along with his wife, Michelle) bought the business.  

 

Guy said he's a firm believer in members helping other members. He sees himself as the voice for Eastern Canada to help bring concerns and successes from the front lines to the senior executives at Carpet One and CCA Global Partners. He’s also looking forward to bringing ideas and suggestions from the other members back to his constituents.

Sherri was a fifth-grade teacher but after taking time off after the birth of her first child, went back into the work force in the lighting department of her family’s Home Center. She began a new career in her family’s extensive Home Center. Sherri initially transitioned to the flooring business with one Flooring America store and then in 2018, she bought the competition, a Carpet One store. Eventually she consolidated the two into one Carpet One Floor & Home store with an 11,000-square-foot showroom.

 

Sherri said she that her background in the wider home center category and tenure in the flooring industry will enable her to present from a different perspective in her role as Advisory Council member. She takes her role seriously and is appreciative that she can be a voice for her fellow Carpet One members.