Tucson, AZ — 3/5/18 CarpetsPlus COLORTILE, Carpetland USA and Floorco dealers from around the country began arriving at Tucson’s Starr Pass Resort days before the Drive 2018 Convention even started to enjoy some well-deserved time off in the warmer climes of Arizona’s Sonora Desert. The Convention was held February 25-28.
Members getting deals at Rush Hour
Kevin Logue, the group’s co-COO and Vice President Marketing, was asked about the theme and message to members at the convention. He said, “We’re back in a growth mode. Economically, 2017 was a strong year. We feel the next few years will also be strong according to the indicators such as low unemployment and housing growth. We’re seeing an increase in retail traffic. We are encouraging members to invest in their businesses, expand and just be aggressive with their business starting now.”
Logue continued, “Product-wise, we are seeing dramatic growth in WPC, Rigid Core and SPC luxury vinyl floors, so have expanded our hard surface assortment to include more of these types of floors. We are also adding to the tools we offer members to help them be successful in store and online.”
Not only is the group focused on keeping members ahead of their competition through new products and sound business strategies, but also by addressing key ways to approach succession planning. Ryan Dunn, co-COO and Vice President Sales, said, “We want to get ourselves ready for growth with new products but with the large portion of 2nd and 3rd, even 4th generation members like Ben Case in Lockport, NY and Kelli Kadlec in Colorado Springs, we want members to be ready for the future with a succession plan. Our Buying Committee is now mostly made up of people who are in some step of the succession process.”
The CarpetsPlus Destination Boutique
During a seminar, Chick Herbert, senior vice president, Wells Fargo, shared some notable statistics, stating, “According to the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) 2017 Family Business Survey, 44 percent of family businesses surveyed said succession planning will be a challenge in the next 5 years and yet just 23 percent have a robust, documented succession plan in place.”
To successfully plan for the next generation, group co-owner Ron Dunn advised members to have a strong team in place, trust the advice of key advisors be it a CPA or attorney and set goals.
“As entrepreneurs, we don’t want our businesses to end, we want them to go on. That’s why we need to ask the right questions: What is the timetable involved? What pieces are involved?” he said. “We have to have the same passion for properly planning for the next generation as we are about other areas of our business otherwise we won’t pass it on successfully.”
Take a look at these articles about our convention that help tell the rest of the story:
