Dave Elyachar, founder of Big Bob’s Flooring Outlets, talks about retailers enhancing the customer experience in their stores, the changing relationship manufacturers have with independent retailers, and changes which might occur among large manufactures going forward. He also discusses the shrinking size of the independent retail community and what the future may bring as he estimates the market share of the big box retailers.

Dave Elyachar, founder of Big Bob’s Flooring Outlet, talks about life after the sale of the Big Bob’s unit and the operation of his three Big Bob’s locations in the Kansas City area. Elyuchar also discusses the business model of his three stores, the considerable competition in the market, and the tact taken by the company to better compete with the presence of 44 big box locations as well as Nebraska Furniture Mart.

Jeff King, legal counsel for World Floor Covering Association (WFCA), discusses the issue of overtime pay for hourly workers and managers and the problems involved in setting a minimum national salary threshold.

John Simonson, president of Webstream Dynamics and Five Star Store Reviews, talks about the advantages of floor covering retailers discussing installation on their websites. He also recommends retailers also include on their websites specials on the most popular products, changing those specials every month. Also discussed is the importance of including reviews on retail websites and actions retailers can take to encourage the flow of reviews.

John Simonson, president of Webstream Dynamics and Five Star Store Reviews, talks about the priorities and approach he recommends to his retail floor covering clients with regard to putting specials and unique content on their websites. He talks about the necessity of making websites mobile friendly and including unique education material to inform consumers. Also discussed is the importance of having reviews on retail websites.

John Simonson, president of Webstream Dynamics and Five Star Store Reviews, talks more about Amazon’s Storefronts and its similarities to Etsy, Amazon’s promotional efforts for its storefront units, featuring small business owners and the strength of the Amazon platform. Simonson also talks about Google's efforts aimed at small and mid-sized business, which included Google My Business, artificial intelligence, and shopping ads as he shares his opinion as to the success of Google My Business among retail floor covering players.

John Simonson, president Webstream Dynamics and Five Star Store Reviews, talks about Amazon Storefronts, the latest offering from Amazon aimed at small to mid-sized businesses. Simonson talks about how it works, the costs, the features offered to small businesses, and the exposure it offers as well as the promotional efforts behind it and whether he feels it has potential for floor covering providers.