In an industry where the average customer takes six months to make a purchasing decision and 40% abandon the process entirely, Nebraska Furniture Mart and Shaw Industries are betting that deeper partnership and radical customer experience redesign can change everything.

The proof of concept gleams in NFM's Kansas City location: the newly opened Anso Gallery, where large carpet samples are artfully arranged on crisp white displays within a striking 2,500-square-foot space. This "store within a store" represents far more than premium real estate within NFM's 7,000-square-foot carpet showroom—it's a strategic expansion of a proven model. Building on the success of its Omaha location launched in 2022, this marks NFM's second Anso Gallery, validating a partnership approach that's drawing industry attention nationwide.

"Partnership is a word that is easy to say and hard to live," said Ben Liebert, EVP of Shaw's residential business, at the ribbon cutting held at the store on May 21, 2025. For Liebert, the Kansas City opening represents "one of the best examples there is in the country of what it means to partner."

That partnership extends beyond traditional vendor relationships. Elizabeth Hurley, vice president of retail and national accounts for Shaw Industries, describes a collaboration that spans functions: "It's not just our sales talking today, it's marketing, it's sales, it's this whole team."

Dave Chambers, NFM's flooring director, said, "This isn't an NFM thing... this is an 'us' thing, and we have to both be committed to making this thing successful."

Nebraska Furniture Mart has built its reputation on a unique approach to retail that goes beyond traditional big-box merchandising. The company has mastered the art of brand elevation across multiple categories—from furniture and appliances to electronics—creating immersive experiences that showcase manufacturer innovations rather than simply stocking inventory. This philosophy of partnership over transactions has made NFM a coveted retail partner for premium brands seeking to differentiate themselves in increasingly commoditized markets.

"One of the things that NFM does exceptionally well is we do a great job elevating brands," Chambers said. "You see it throughout all the different product families they have from furniture, appliances, electronics, and now we're doing it in flooring."

The Anso Gallery represents the natural extension of this proven methodology into flooring, where NFM's track record of transforming product categories through strategic presentation and customer experience design offers Shaw a platform that few retailers can match.

Addressing Industry Challenges

The Anso Gallery concept emerged from stark industry realities. Flooring has lost significant market share over the past decade, dropping from 11% of remodeling budgets to just 6% today. The lengthy customer journey and high abandonment rates signal fundamental problems with the traditional shopping experience.

"The consumer journey takes about six months from the moment a consumer starts this process to the moment they pull out their credit card and pay," Liebert said. "I can't think of another category that is a six-month journey."

The Kansas City gallery reflects unique local market insights. Unlike NFM's Omaha location, where the retailer debuted the Anso Gallery concept in 2022, Kansas City customers show strong preferences for stair carpet and pattern products, which now comprise 40-45% of the showroom allocation.

"Pattern is the fastest growing segment... it's close to 35-40% of my carpet business now, which is crazy," Chambers said. "When you look at the showroom, the showroom needs to reflect that."

This data-driven approach extends to display methodology. Rather than cramming numerous flooring displays into a limited space, the gallery features Shaw's large-scale Anso Colorwall alongside expansive displays that showcase full-sized carpet samples, allowing customers to envision how products will look in their homes. An adjacent Anderson Tuftex display showcases carpet runner solutions.

The gallery's success lies in strategic reduction rather than expansion. Chambers reduced the overall style count by 25% while dramatically improving the customer experience.

"You don't need to take the shotgun approach,” he said. “You can be a little more laser-focused, and you don't have to have a million styles on the floor. We removed the noise, and it's working."

The gallery balances high-tech visualization tools with tactile experiences. Customers can use interactive kiosks to see products in room settings while still accessing smaller backup samples for touch-and-feel evaluation.

"We want to immerse them with samples, touch, feel, see larger pieces, visualize it with a kiosk, do all those types of things, and then also showcase the innovative quality of what the Anso product really brings," Chambers said. 

The partnership extends to unique customer engagement strategies, including a Memorial Day weekend "food fight" activation designed to demonstrate carpet durability and cleanability.

"This weekend, we’re going to demonstrate how durable and cleanable the products are," said Carolyn Haicl, Shaw's senior vice president of marketing and brands, describing the event as an example of collaborative innovation that drives both traffic and education.

Planning for the Future

Success metrics extend beyond traditional sales figures to encompass customer experience improvements and learning opportunities.

"Beyond sales figures, it's reviews from consumers, the ease of shopping in the store," Chambers said. "Are we doing what they want? Is the experience in the showroom making it easier for a consumer to buy flooring?"

Early feedback from sales associates confirms the concept's effectiveness: they report the new layout makes it "much easier than what we had before to walk a customer through the showroom and help them land on a product faster."

With Dallas slated as the next Anso Gallery location, the Kansas City opening represents a scalable model for addressing industry-wide challenges through deeper collaboration.

"This is just a prime example of how retail is really the heart of carpet," Hurley said. "So important that we get those benefits in front of consumers and these awesome designs."

In an industry grappling with lengthy customer journeys and declining market share, the Shaw-NFM collaboration offers a blueprint for retailers willing to move beyond traditional vendor relationships toward genuine partnership.