Often Underappreciated, Cleaning Products Add Polish to the Bottom Line

"I'd have to admit that my salespeople don't spend as much time as they should selling the cleaning supplies," acknowledges Mark Bisbee, the owner of Liberty Carpet One in a typical response from a sampling of retailers asked about the category. "I guess once they have sold a carpet they don't want to muddy up the deal by trying to throw in something extra."

But even while Bisbee is candid about the priorities of the staff in his Fairfax, Vir. store, he has also come up with a unique way to use cleaning products to draw business: He runs a small yellow pages ad in the "cleaning and other suppliers" category. This way, he says, people looking to clean their floorcovering may find their way to his store and end up buying a new carpet. If they don't, they may just buy a few cleaning products. "Either way," he says, "the ad pays for itself and it builds traffic in the store."