Are installers contractors or are they employees? This question has puzzled many in this industry and it’s been hanging over the heads of independent retailers for years.

Big Bob’s Flooring Outlet has been in existence for some 31 years, beginning as a single location in Kansas City and evolving into a unique operation perfectly poised for the retail floor covering industry’s next iteration.

A lot has been happening at Beaulieu Commercial in the past few months and at the epicenter of the activity is Steve Hillis, the president. Steve has been there and done that in all of the best places in the commercial floor covering business and was just about ready to take himself out of circulation and, yes, retire.

Most years I attend both the winter and summer Carpet One conventions, which, by the way, are extremely well produced affairs that rival the production of anything that the people in Hollywood can put together.

For the last two years we have had the opportunity to attend the Arley Wholesale Tile and Stone Expo in Scranton, Pa.

The Floor Covering Business to Business Association (fcB2B) is the force behind bringing the floor covering industry into the 21st century, and it is doing so by raising the efficiency of all players in the system—buyers and sellers.