Mike Cherico, vice president, Floors and More, talks about the situation the industry finds itself in with regard to the shortage of qualified installers. He notes stories from some retailers that have turned down business because they were unable to offer installation services, and that he has heard stores revealing that soft surface is experiencing a larger problem with installation that hard surface. Also discussed are labor costs and Cherico’s forecast that these costs will continue to rise.

Jim Buckles, The Carpet Guys, discusses methods that can assist retailers to liquidate oddly-colored and outdated items from their inventory. He discusses pricing, marketing unusual products, and finding markets for these products.

Don Roberts, president & CEO Central Alabama Flooring, talks the most important factors he monitors on a regular basis for his business, including the attitude of employees, margins and overall expenses. He also discuss ways to help key salespeople to be aware of margins.

Don Roberts, president & CEO Central Alabama Flooring, talks about recruiting installers, some of the historic problems retailers have been responsible for with installers, and the role installer pay has played in the current installer shortage.

John Simonson, president of Webstream Dynamics and 5 Star Store Reviews, discusses a survey Google sent to retailers to determine the reaction to being billed for Google My Business, a service that has traditionally been free. Simonson also talks about the history of Google My Business. Sought in the survey was the amount retailers would be willing to pay and the additional services they retailer would like to see on the service.

Jim Buckles, The Carpet Guys, discusses options available to retailers from the various industry specific software products to help them control access inventory. Buckles talks about the problems related to keeping aging inventory and efforts he has made to inform retailers to clear out old products in their inventory.

Don Roberts, president and CEO of Central Alabama Flooring, talks about an expansion he is planning in Huntsville, Ala., and the factors that governed his decision, including the availability of qualified installers. He talks about his shift to employee installers, noting that about one third of his installers are employees. He also says that carpet and ceramic installers are the most difficult to find and some of the problems retailers have to deal with regarding installer training.