THE VILLAGES, Fla. -- With the economy recovering, Darren Hearns, president of Great Lakes Flooring, decided it was the right time to open a specialty rug store.
With Great Lakes Carpet & Tile locations in Lady Lake, Ocala and Wildwood, Florida, Hearns chose The Villages in central Florida north of Orlando for The Rug Gallery, which had a soft opening on September 26.
The Rug Gallery in The Villages offers a wide assortment of rugs in a beautiful setting.
Hearns told RugNews.com that with hard surface flooring growing in the residential market, there's a significant opportunity to sell rugs to provide softness and warmth to wood, tile and various vinyl floors.
With companies like Wayfair and other online retailers doing a good business with rugs, it will be a daunting task to draw shoppers into the store, Hearns noted, but added, "We think the consumer still wants to see and touch the rug. With 500 styles on display and a great location in the center of one of The Villages' downtown areas, we are ready."
Hearns explained that Tom Urban, Great Lake's general manager, has experience in the area rug business, having previously run a Rug Decor location. "We have dabbled in rugs for years," said Hearns, who talks about the synergies between hard surface and rugs in a RugNews.com market snapshot (read full story).
With suppliers including Oriental Weavers, Momeni, Dalyn, Karastan, Milliken and Trans-Ocean, The Rug Gallery is focused in the mid-to-upper level with mostly machine made rugs, priced at $500 to $700 MAP (minimum advertised pricing) and is also selling decorative pillows.
The Rug Gallery's wood floors complement rugs on display and available at Great Lakes Flooring stores in the area which offer wood, tile, vinyl and broadloom.
Perhaps its greatest advantage is its sales staff. "All our sales people are experienced designers. We have five part-time designers because we want to be able to give great advice on color and style," Hearns stressed.
Great Lakes Flooring, a member of the NFA, National Flooring Alliance, was established by Donald Joseph "Joe" Hearns in northern Michigan 51 years ago. Darren Hearns is the founder's son and has been in the business for about 20 years. "I have experience in every aspect of the business," he noted, adding that the only areas of flooring retail he hasn't physically worked in are accounting and actual installing.
Stocked with 500 rugs, the 2,700-foot Rug Gallery features round and rectangular platforms to hold popular sizes.