Local Home Owners Usually Spend More When Shopping Elsewhere for Products

A woman drove back to Great Bend after buying flooring tile at a large, out-of-town store. She stopped into Abbey Carpet & Floor after seeing its billboard on her way home.

While she was looking at Abbey’s huge selection, she called the out-of-area store about its return policy. When last the staff saw her, she was on her way back to Hays to get her money back.

 “We hear it all the time,” said Michele O’Neil, sales associate at Abbey, Broadway and the 281 Bypass. “She couldn’t believe our selection and exotic patterns.”

O’Neil also noted she recently visited a large out-of-area home-improvement store and learned it had “the exact same tile for $1.49 a square foot. Ours was 99 cents. We have never had anybody say they wish they had gone to (another larger store).”

Wall-to-Wall – Sales associate Michelle O’Neil stands in the midst of several dozen rolls of carpet at Abbey Carpet & Floor. Abbey stores comprise 800 floor covering showrooms across the United States and Canada. Unlike most chain stores, however, But unlike most chain stores, though, every Abbey Carpet & Floor showroom is locally owned and operated.

These are just two of many Abbey examples of why it would behoove local residents to patronize their neighbors.

 “We are the largest in-stock dealer in central Kansas,” O’Neil said. “Actually, you may have to go to Kansas City to find close to the amount of ceramic tile we have.

 “We have 150,000 square feet of ceramic and porcelain in stock, along with more than 1,000 rolls of carpet,” she added, noting Abbey also sells laminate and vinyl. “We buy by the truckload. To put it into perspective, this saves $3,000 on freight over if we bought rolls individually. Freight is a huge factor.

 “When sales reps come in to sell us something, we tell them not to show it to us unless it is competitive, if not less than the big stores. We are tough on them because we want to pass the savings on to our customers.”

The company’s tiles are not just for flooring; they can be used for showers, walls, countertops and backsplashes too.

Abbey offers installation services but it also holds the do-it-yourselfer’s hand. Its staff offers free estimates and will sit down and talk with customers about different ideas. O’Neil noted customers can count on this local service and save the price of gas for an out-of-town trip.

 “All of us on the sales floor are trained,” O’Neil commented. “We have personally installed ceramic and laminate, or have been with the carpet installers on the job. We can answer the customers’ questions. If someone wants to handle the project on their own, we rent all the equipment they will need.”

While the selection at Abbey is huge today, O’Neil said, it will be even bigger in the near future. The company plans to break ground this year on a new 50-by-100-square-foot building, just south of its current location.

 “We ran out of room,” O’Neil laughed. “We will be adding a huge showroom of area rugs, and more carpet, vinyl and ceramic. Then we’ll add on again.”

Abbey currently has 18 employees and last year was its biggest since the company opened in the mid-1970s. Sales are 33 percent ahead of last year already, and July 2008 was the record month in its history.

 “The word is getting out,” O’Neil said. “We get people from Nebraska, McPherson, Hutchinson, Dodge City, Newton, Stockton, Greensburg. They cannot believe what we have in stock.

 “When people drive in from all of these places, you know what they say? They say ‘where is a good place to eat? Where is a good place to shop?’” O’Neil said. “We tell them it may take 30 or 45 minutes to cut their carpet and then suggest a place to grab a bite to eat and a visit to Main Street. When they return they have bags from other stores.”

Mark Bitter, co-owner of Kustom Floor Designs Inc., 1515 Main, also attracts out-of-town customers and encourages local residents to compare local prices by considering what they will get for their money.

 “We encourage people to compare the actual product,” Bitter said. “They need to make sure they are comparing the same product to the same product. In most cases, the chain stores are not cheaper. We find we are less expensive on a lot of items.

 “People also have to take fuel costs into consideration, especially today,” Bitter added. “But it all comes back to community. If there were no businesses, there would be no employees. People have to ask: ‘what kind of service am I going to get?’”

Kustom Kitchen – Mark Bitter, co-owner of Kustom Floor Designs Inc., stands in the kitchen cabinet section of his store, which offers everything from floor to ceiling in remodeling and decorating a home. In addition to selling and installing cabinets for kitchen, bath and office, Kustom Floor is one of 800 Carpet One Floor & Home stores in the country, offering a large selection of carpet, hardwood, laminate, ceramic tile and vinyl flooring.

Bitter is well aware there are skeptics who won’t believe it is more economical to shop at home. But if they compare the whole product, services and the finished job, “we find they won’t be disappointed.”

The Kustom Floor staff regularly hears from people who have patronized a big box store only to find themselves in a quandary.

 “They have started a job and it ends up costing them double what they thought,” Bitter said. “By the time a project is done they find there was a lot more involved than anticipated.”

Maybe the issue was not enough wallpaper to finish the job. That is when remodelers call on Kustom Floor for a small amount of paper, which it probably doesn’t have.

“People call us in mid-project all the time; we get quite a few calls every week. We offer the best advice we can but we are booked months in advance. So, as much as we would like to, we cannot fix their problem right away,” Bitter said.

Kustom Floor is one of 800 Carpet One stores in the country and has been in business 29 years. It has nearly 30 employees who will help design a project and install the products. It also has a granite fabrication shop and sells almost anything related to home or light-commercial jobs.

Bitter notes his business installs more than 90 percent of what it sells, but it doesn’t discourage the do-it-yourselfer. “We try to encourage them and help them in whatever way we can. We offer consultation and design services if they want that kind of help.

“We have been fortunate in that we continue to grow,” Bitter continued.

Troy Wiehl, manager of The Color Clinic, strongly encourages local residents to shop at home because everyone wins in the process.

“Your mom-and-pop stores are circulating the money in town,” Wiehl said.

“If the local money stays in circulation here, it is better for our economy,” Wiehl added.

The Color Clinic, 700 Main, is a paint and flooring retail and wholesale store that has been in business 32 years. While Wiehl and Ed Heier, owner, are the only two employees, the company contracts with independent floor-covering installers on commercial and residential projects.

Products include paint, carpet, hardwood, laminate, vinyl – “whatever they want,” Wiehl said.

 “We sell the product,” the manager continued. “And we have a lot of contractors that buy from us. We sell the whole job but we have independent installers; we do a lot of turnkey jobs on flooring.”

Part of that turning key is measuring the floor area for a free estimate, which most out-of-towners don’t offer, Wiehl said.

 “If they want to go elsewhere, I say ‘okay, but give me a chance to give you a bid because I can be competitive,” Wiehl said. “I don’t mind bidding against an out-of-towner but let us bid the exact material they are bidding.

 “When they let us bid too, usually we end up getting the job,” Wiehl added.

He also noted that a popular Hutchinson store charges for measuring and estimates.

 “And how much is your time worth, driving two hours there and back or to Wichita for four hours,” Wiehl commented. “You take a half day off work, lose the pay, plus you spend $80 on gas going down and back. Did you really save time and money?”

Like other local businesses that offer home-improvement products and services, The Color Clinic answers calls from people who tried the non-local way and ended up with problems.

“People will order carpet over the internet after they price it with us and when they get it in it is damaged,” Wiehl explained. “And they paid $300 in freight instead of $75. They didn’t really save anything. They may have gotten the carpet $1.50 cheaper but they paid four-and-a-half times the freight.”

Wiehl also mentioned common instances of out-of-towners installing carpet only to have wrinkles show up two weeks later. Then it is The Color Clinic to the rescue to re-stretch the rug.

“If they bought from me in the first place, I am right here in town,” Wiehl said. “If you have a problem with installation, we will fix it. If it’s a problem with the material, we go back to the company and get a replacement.

“The big thing is that stores here do sell service,” Wiehl added. “We ask what kind of carpet you want, show samples and explain about nylon fibers. It’s all about knowing what you are selling. Try to get this kind of service from a 19-year-old clerk with five earrings in his face.”

He also used the example of office supplies to further illustrate his point about the importance of shopping down the street instead of taking the cyber road.

“People may buy reams of paper over the internet but what are they going to do when their computer breaks down and the locals are out of business,” he commented. “If you butter their bread on the small stuff, when something big happens and you need service they will be there.”

As store manager of Home Lumber Co., 5625 10th, Vince Friess realizes many out-of-town jaunts can affect his business and many others down the street and across town.

 “They say they are heading to Salina to eat dinner but they take their truck so they can haul 20 sheets of sheetrock back home,” Friess said, noting they also buy such items as clothing and gasoline. At least four local businesses are affected by the decision to eat dinner elsewhere.

Home Lumber has been in business here for two decades. The company offers a complete lumberyard, a full line of hardware and tons of other items for home-improvement and repair projects. It is one of 15 Home Lumber locations in Kansas and employs eight people.

 “Our employees have more than 80 years of combined experience,” Friess emphasized. “That is worth a lot. We are having a record year this year and last year was a record too.”

While the company doesn’t do installations, it sells 45 percent of its inventory to local and area contractors. The remaining 55 percent is sold to the do-it-yourselfer market.

Friess acknowledged that Home Lumber may not always be able to compete price-wise on a few items. But he encourages potential customers to provide the staff with a list of materials they need for their project and then compare prices and local service with what an outside business can offer.

 “The big box stores will take seven or eight items and low ball them,” Friess said. “But we can remind people of $4-a-gallon gasoline and what it costs in time and money to drive 65 miles (or more) to buy a few supplies. If we have their list, we can be competitive.”

Friess also cautions do-it-yourselfers to consider what happens when the package they ordered from out-of-town doesn’t meet expectations.

 “What if you get two of something you don’t need,” Friess explained. “What do you do with the leftovers then? You have to drive those 65 miles again to take it back. The same thing if you are short on a specialty item. You have to make the trip again.”

When Friess and his staff have a chance to talk to customers about these common occurrences, most of the time they decide to shop locally.

Those who do choose to go elsewhere often have to pay a later visit to Home Lumber because they were not happy with the products and/or service, he said.

“We hear it real often,” Friess said. “We don’t hear much about online stuff but many times they get a package home and it was short on a numbers of things.”

For more information, contact:

Abbey's Best Buy Carpet Outlet
1500 281 ByPass
Great Bend, KS 67530
620-793-6845
http://greatbend.abbeycarpet.com/

Kustom Floor Designs
1515 Main Street
Great Bend, KS 67530
620-792-5911
http://www.kustomfloordesignsgreatbend.com/

The Color Clinic
700 Main Street
Great Bend, KS 67530
620-792-5186

Home Lumber & Supply Co.
5625 10th Street
Great Bend, KS 67530
620-792-2146
http://www.homelumbersupply.com/greatbend.html