Stocked with LVT, Happy Feet Hosts Third Annual Chattavegas

Happy Feet Chattavegas 2023.jpg — Happy Feet CEO Casey Johnson and PR Director Paige Johnson celebrate Chattavegas in Chattanooga, Tennessee, on June 22. Photo: Floor Trends.

Chattavegas Customer Appreciation.jpg — The customer event included casino games such as blackjack, craps, poker and slot machines, as well as flooring promos, incentives and product introductions. Photo: Floor Trends.

Chattavegas 4.jpg — *Left:* Happy Feet vice president of strategic accounts David Snedeker and TJ Curtin, national buying group sales manager. *Right:* Kara Slocum, director of operations, Artistic Finishes. Photos: Floor Trends.

Vendors 3.jpg — Versatrim sales representative Madison Whitmore showcased the company's molding solutions. Photo: Floor Trends.

Vendors 2.jpg — The Team at Universal Marketing Systems. Photo: Floor Trends.

Happy Feet International has 38 million square feet of luxury vinyl plank (LVP) and tile (LVT) in stock, and to sell it, the company invited retailers and distributors from across the United States to its third-annual Chattavegas customer appreciation event.

The producer of LVP and LVT started the event in 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic when retailers were unable to travel to the Las Vegas trade shows.

“We have 350 registered plus we have an extra $10 million inventory we want to get rid of—that’s why we’re having it this year,” said Happy Feet CEO Casey Johnson.

The event kicked off with a sales meeting, and the customer appreciation event included casino games such as blackjack, craps, poker and slot machines, as well as flooring promos, incentives and product introductions. The company is launching new WPC and has new laminate and loose-lay flooring coming out later this year, according to Happy Feet co-founder and COO CJ Johnson.

“Business got off to a rocky start this year, but it’s getting better,” Casey Johnson said. “We are selling more high-end goods. We are happy. We are paying more commission. I am happy about it for the second half of the year.”

Richard Veilleux, vice president of Floor Systems in Lisbon, Maine, has been a Happy Feet customer for six years. “It’s been a wonderful partnership, basically doubling every year,” Veilleux said. “We are here for relationships. We’ve known the owners for many, many, many years, and we are happy to see what this business has grown into.”

Floor Systems does residential remodels, new construction, property management and commercial projects, and the diversity helps its business.

“Retail traffic has slowed down a little bit, but commercial business has been booming—it’s been great,” Veilleux said.

Casey Johnson said the company imports about 200 containers of flooring a month and currently has 41 containers detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection due to oversight by the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA).

“There's nothing wrong with those containers,” Johnson said. “I'm going to get them back, but it's going to take 60 days.”

The law enacted last year bans the importation of goods made in whole or in part in China’s Xinjiang region under the presumption they were produced with forced labor, and many importers of Chinese goods are faced with container detainments while U.S. Customers ensures compliance with the UFLPA.

“We are positive," CJ Johnson said. "We have a great team. We are hustling, and we are going to look under every rock and turn up every opportunity we can. We are going to make our own economy.”

"We’re selling vinyl plank—that’s what we like to do,” Casey Johnson added.

Tanja Kern is associate publisher and editorial director of FLOOR Trends & Installation. Tanja began her career covering interior design and finance and has held held roles in public relations and marketing. She serves on the boards of Women in the Floorcovering Industry, Floor Covering Industry Foundation and Roswell Woman’s Club. She has a master’s degree from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.

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.