In an industry where private equity consolidation has become the norm, Universal Metro is charting a different course with its recent acquisition of Commercial Flooring Services (CFS) in Huntsville, Alabama. The deal, announced earlier this month, preserves CFS's local legacy while bringing technological advancement and growth opportunities through an unusual partnership structure.

In a recent interview with Floor Trends & Installation, Universal Metro CEO and Dave Triepke and Grant Petruzzelli, president and managing partner of Commercial Flooring Services, detailed how this acquisition represents a new model for industry growth—one that prioritizes people over traditional consolidation metrics, combining the resources of a national player with the preservation of local relationships and legacy.

Floor Trends & Installation: How does the CFS acquisition align with Universal Metro's broader vision?

Dave Triepke: Broader strategy is we're on our way to being a $100 million company, creating opportunities for people like Petruzzellis. Sometimes, that will be through simple acquisitions. It'll tuck in or bolt into our firm, and other times, that will be keeping the actual operation separate as a division, which was the case where someone like Grant gets to be the managing partner and operator and give them a chance to have a family legacy as well.

Floor Trends & Installation: How does this deal differ from typical private equity acquisitions?

Triepke: What's different here is this is a synergy. It's different in the sense that we work together, we partner together to create something for, we're actually having grant grow as opposed to the PE... We're not looking to right size it. We're not looking to eliminate any positions. Instead, we're looking at how we can add firepower and lean into our people, help them grow personally and professionally.

Floor Trends & Installation: How will technology modernize operations?

Grant Petruzzelli: That's built around automation and AI. The goal behind it is to bring customers into a CRM experience and for us to then automate as much activity as necessary to keep them engaged, to keep them interested in the sales process. But when they've reengaged with us on a very active level, we're in a position to jump in and close that sale... making sure that they understand that we speak their language and that they know they have a service provider that they can trust.

Floor Trends & Installation: What's driving growth in the Southeast market?

Petruzzelli: Healthcare stabilized post-pandemic, and you have healthcare systems in this region that are well-capitalized, and I think they're ready to invest in a better patient experience. Schools are spending money, especially here in the south, as infrastructure needs to be prepared for the influx of population surges... Within government, I think Elon [Musk] and Viveck [Ramaswamy] are going to impact things with DOGE [Depart of Government Efficiency] and bring people back to the office— particularly in an environment like this where you have a lot of federal dollars flowing through the arsenal. We have FBI that's moving here, CIA, a lot of other operations Space Force is likely going to get added here.

Floor Trends & Installation: What's your message to potential partners and talent?

Triepke: We really want to attract great talent with people who want to be leaders on the foundation of integrity. And I think if there's people out there that want to be a part of that, we'll probably a company either on the west coast or here in the south that would be interested in talking to them. And then, of course, purchasers of choice, but really partners of choice for those that are looking for a place not to exit but partner and move forward so they can have some financial freedom that they want to have. They should probably talk to us."