THE MAKING OF NFA:

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The National Floorcovering Alliance celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. Founded in 1991 by eight of the largest and most reputable independent floor covering retailers in North America, the group came together to pool the members’ collective buying volume in an effort to provide rebates for the group. Today, this savvy group is made up of 43 of the savviest flooring retailers on the continent accounting for more than 250 storefronts with collective sales exceeding $1 billion.

In keeping with the original vision of the group, new members still are required to be leaders in their particular markets with sales of $10 million or more. They must also be recognized by both manufacturers and other dealers as companies with track records of high integrity. Additionally, any new prospective NFA member must have 100% approval for inclusion in the group from every existing member. This has provided a safe and beneficial environment for the second main purpose of the group: the sharing of ideas and best practices. The non-competitive structure among members allows the retailers to speak freely, share new ideas, and develop strategies that move the needle forward for the group as a whole.

From strategic initiatives to savvy responses to economic and retail opportunities and threats, Floor Trends looks at some of the watershed moments in the group’s history that helped to make it the success it is today. Click the blue boxes below to watch our video series.

NFA fosters a safe platform for retailers to share best practices and to collborate with vendor partners. From left: Ann McDermott, vice president national sales, Shaw; Carie Edwards Isaac, director of residential marketing and consumer strategy, Shaw; Lauren Coles, designer, Coles Fine Flooring; and Eric Mondragon, hard surface buyer, RC Willey Home Furnishings.

1991: The Power of Rebates

The NFA started 30 years ago with eight charter members who wanted to share in funds that were established by the manufacturing community to provide rebates to newly created buying groups. The retailers who formed NFA saw the benefit of collaborating to earn rebates, but these sophisticated dealers had needs that could not be satisfied by the structures provided by buying groups at the time. Fiercely independent, these retailers worked out a solution that would focus on volume buys.

"Originally we would meet and there were certain volume thresholds that needed to be reached, and each time there was an additional threshold, the precentage of rebate went up," said Sam Roberts, founder and owner of Roberts Carpet & Fine Flooring. "At the beginning, the meetings were all about who's going to buy what and put us over the next threshold. That's how the NFA started."

NFA holds its twice-annual meetings at some of the most beautiful locations in the world, like Whistler, Canada.

Partnership and fellowship at NFA.

1995: Vendor Days

In the second half of the 1990s, membership continued to grow, and vendor partners begin taking a larger role in product collaborations.  Originally, the NFA hosted a vendor day that preceded Surfaces in Las Vegas. In the mid-90s, the group added this vendor component to its twice-annual meetings. Each spring and fall, members and vendors congregate for full-scale, three-day meetings at some of the most beautiful locations in the world. Suppliers and members set aside an entire day for shared group activities, allowing for for both members and suppliers to bond  on a professional and personal level. This bonding serves as a foundation to build long-term relationships for the betterment of all NFA members and their partners.

“Shaw has a long-standing relationship with the NFA, as a founding member and original supplier of the NFA Tier One vendor program,” said Carrie Edwards Isaac, vice president of strategic accounts, Shaw Residential. “The partnership spans our residential brand portfolio and focuses on collaboration, innovation and design leadership. Each year, the membership provides valuable insights on Shaw’s products and services to ensure we have the best offerings for our customers and end-users. Innovation and design leadership are core to Shaw’s success, and the NFA has been a leader in adoption of new innovations from Shaw’s portfolio of brands."

Camaraderie is a hallmark of the group’s success.

2008: The Great Recession

While many flooring retailers were hit by the down economy, the 37 members of NFA at the time had the benefit of networking and sharing best practices. Some members reported that while traffic was down, the members worked together and strategized on how to grow their businesses in a down economy.

At the spring 2021 meeting at Barnsley Gardens in Adairsville, Georgia.

2010: Long-Range Planning

In 1998, the NFA had commissioned a consultant to assess the long-range plans for the group. In 2010, the NFA’s long-range planning committee assessed where they were and where they wanted to go. More members were showing support for NFA products and programs, and the group considered how to address membership count. They decided to allow the process to proceed organically without committing to a certain number of members. Open territories and new members would be pursued on a case-by-case basis.

Dan Mandel of Sterling Carpet and Flooring in Anaheim, California, and Cam Haughey of ICC Floors in Indianapolis, Indiana.

2014: Assessing the State of Relationships

At the group's meeting in Maui, Hawaii, leaders discussed what growth means for the NFA. “The most important thing to me is I feel we put some of the intimacy back into the room," said Phil Koufidakis of Baker Bros., who was NFA's outgoing president that year. "The relationships between the members, and the vendors and the members is what makes this group tick. More people are involved than ever and that is great for the group. The board has worked extremely hard on this and I feel with much success. Being a member of the NFA is a privilege not a right and we always have to remember that and treat it as such.”

“We need to build on the work Phil got started, namely making the committees more viable and proactive," said Dave Snedeker of Nebraska Furniture Mart, who was elected the group’s new president in 2014. "We have always had successes with them but as business changes and evolves we must change as well. One of the areas we believe we can have more of an impact with is our committees. We also need to continue to refine and improve ways to grow our businesses with our key vendors, it is a fast moving climate these days and we have to make sure we all have clear communications on every opportunity. We also have to remember why we are together—we are a network of successful stores and individuals, and we have to continue to leverage member knowledge to the group so that everyone might benefit."

At the Fall 2020 meeting in Savannah, Georgia: the COREtec team with Coles Fine Flooring of San Diego, California.

2015: The Rise of LVT

In 2015, Piet Dossche of USFloors shared his excitement for the recent patent the company received for COREtec. “This is an opportunity to work with the manufacturers who want to bring this category to a whole new level, with what I believe that can become a $1 billion plus category—and not be destroyed by the wrong competition that drives the quality and price down.”

2016: Changes in Advertising

Retailers reported that business remained difficult and competitive since the recession—with volumes and margins shrinking concurrently. NFA members talked about how they are shifting ad dollars away from newspapers to direct mail and the internet.  

Emily Holle, creative director, MSI, gives insight about the latest trends in tile during the Spring 2021 NFA conference.

2017: A Lack of Qualified Installers

At the spring meeting in Truckee, California, retailers discussed a variety of pain points and opportunities at the meeting, including the lack of qualified flooring technicians, how to recruit and train retail sales staff, the increasing costs of goods and healthcare, and how to approach product assortments and merchandising to make shopping easier for the consumer.

2018: Increasing Diversification

Having a product diversification strategy is an important form of business development for NFA members. Small businesses can diversify their product range by modifying existing products and adding new products to their current range. This results in unique opportunities to grow the business by increasing sales with existing customers and experiencing the benefits of entering new markets.

NFA President Jason McSwain, owner of McSwain Carpets and Floors in Ohio, learns about the latest rigid core offerings from TruCore at the Spring 2021 meeting in Adairsville, Georgia.

2019: Talent Development and Building Gross Margins

At the spring meeting in Whistler, Canada, members came to the conference prepared to share methods and metrics used to take talent to the next level. “The value in our business is the people we have,” said NFA President Jason McSwain. “Performance reviews help you align individuals with your company objectives, but if you do that year after year, sometimes it gets kind of stale. So, to leave the conference with new ideas to think about as we work with developing our talent is super valuable.”

At the group’s fall meeting in Nashville, Tennessee, each of the members came prepared to share, gross profit within retail. By stripping out new store acquisitions or openings, builder and your commercial, and drilling down, the group looked at year-over-year retail gross margin as a percent. “It’s a metric that helps identify a healthy retail company,” McSwain said. “If it’s trending down, if it’s trending up, what are the indicators?”

2020: Collaboration During the Coronavirus Pandemic

Flooring retailers and manufacturers, customers and employees were nervous and anxious about COVID-19.  As a result, the group canceled its spring meeting. Come fall, the 43 members of the NFA met in Savannah, Georgia, for their fall meeting—a first for many retailers who have been on their home turf and not traveling since the pandemic. A small group retailers, including the Canadian members who weren’t allowed to travel due to government travel restrictions, joined the meeting via teleconference.

2021: The Stainmaster Brand Leaves Specialty Retail

Invista sold the Stainmaster brand and certain associated assets to Lowe’s, in mid-April 2021. Flooring retailers were given a September 1st deadline to remove all Stainmaster signage and labels. NFA members had mixed reactions to the announcement and shared plans moving forward.

Vendor partners stepped up to create new programs that could replace the Stainmaster brand in stores. To help Stainmaster Flooring Centers rebrand quickly, The Dixie Group  developed a new selling system and retail merchandising program,  the Premier Flooring Center.

“We had a lot of ideas to make improve it and make it better but we weren’t able to do that with Invista,” said T.M. Nuckols, executive vice president, Dixie Residential. “We had the opportunity to create something similar but more relevant for today’s environment.”

Shaw's Anderson Tuftex unveiled Pet Perfect, a collection created with Anso High Performance fibers, and a merchandising plan to replace sample labels on impacted styles. Phenix Flooring developed a new brand—FloorEver PetPlus—made exclusively of solution dyed nylon styles. Stanton offers its StainSafe carpet, made of solution-dye nylon, as an alternative for Stainmaster PetProtect products.

Meeting of minds at NFA.

Hiring & Supply Chain Issues

The flooring industry lived through a market-shaping year. Members of the National Floorcovering Alliance met in Adairsville, Georgia, for their spring meeting where board members shared a feeling of optimism for what's next in flooring—despite supply chain issues and

The Future of NFA

With residential business booming, the sky’s the limit for the potential growth of the NFA.

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