Columbus, Ohio—With an impressive array of suppliers, customers, employees and state government officials in attendance, America’s Floor Source (AFS) on June 27 raised the curtain on its brand-spanking-new, 265,000-square-foot facility here. The building houses two showrooms—23,000 square feet for the general public and an 8,500-square-foot design center for builder clients—a clearance/outlet center, state-of-the-art training center and 185,000-square-foot warehouse with 17 docks.
Few flooring retailers can boast anything of this magnitude, and everything about this place is designed to benefit the customer. Take the showroom, for instance. “It’s large, so AFS has the ability to show a lot of product,” said Jason Goldberg, founder and chairman. “But we’re still showing a curated selection with a lot of space to move around. We have on-staff designers. We have the most on-trend products. We have some exclusive products. We have our own private-label brand. It’s just very convenient for customers.”
Major suppliers that were in attendance at the AFS grand opening raved about the new facility. “AFS’ new showroom is designed to elevate the overall shopping experience,” said Jason Randolph, Mohawk’s newly named senior vice president of residential sales. “The showroom features a large open concept design that is bright and inviting with a wide array of flooring options. This allows the consumer to view a broad assortment of flooring products without feeling overwhelmed or crowded.”
Randolph was also impressed with the Studio design center targeted for builder clients. “This area offers a large assortment of flooring styles with multiple trade-up options for the homeowner,” he said. “The overall design of this area makes it easy for both designers and buyers to work.”
Randolph was not the only one who came away impressed. “The new AFS showroom is incredible,” said Jonathan Cohen, CEO of Stanton Carpet. “They have a clear commitment to scalable growth through beautiful, well-thought-out showrooms and office space, proprietary warehousing technology, passionate staff and excellent leadership that delivers a great product and experience for their client base.”
David Sheehan, senior vice president, residential marketing and product, Mannington, agreed. “The facility rivals any corporate location of the leading manufacturers in the industry,” he said. “The showroom and builder/designer sections are well thought out, functional and show the products extremely well. You can tell the AFS team did their homework, bench-marked best in class and set themselves up to achieve their aggressive growth plans. This location is a textbook example of ‘doing it right.’”
And Dave Thoresen, senior vice president, product and innovation, business development, NOX, noted how the breadth of product and carefully designed displays will resonate with the consumer. “It’s obvious that AFS has taken the time to curate each category of flooring into different value segments that would address the needs of every potential customer,” he said. “Between the selection, value and leadership, AFS is a company I think we’re going to hear a lot about going forward.”
But the showroom is just the beginning. AFS strives to have the best salespeople and installers wherever it does business. And it all comes back to training. “AFSU (University) is our training platform that we developed seven years ago,” Goldberg said. “And that has training on everything: construction, application, product, salesmanship, prospecting, you name it. Combine that with actual in-person training in our hands-on training center and no one can train someone as well as we can in the time frame that we can do it in.”
In illustration, new salespeople get three months of training on salary and then switch to straight commission. “Some people do it faster and come off that program faster,” he said. “We expect after 90 days they are fully ready to be on the floor by themselves.”
When it comes to installers, someone new immediately goes to the training center to ensure he can install what he says he can before going out on a job. “We have a very large field department of inspectors and repair techs who are employees,” Goldberg explained. “So that first week, any job they take out we’re out there watching. We also run weekly reports on every mechanic who does work for us. Any issues they have we bring them to the training center and show them how to do it correctly. We’re constantly helping them improve.”
The largest chunk of the facility is the aforementioned 185,000-square-foot warehouse, which Goldberg said strictly services AFS’ Columbus operations. “We do $100 million just in Columbus, so this is only for this market,” he said. The rest of AFS’ operations are serviced by a 160,000-square-foot facility in Indianapolis; 100,000 square feet in Cincinnati; 110,000 square feet in Louisville; 60,000 square feet in Chicago; and 30,000 square feet in Lexington.
In good company
State Sen. Stephanie Kunze (R-Dublin) was among the government officials on hand for the ribbon-cutting ceremony. She commended the company on its meteoric growth over 24 years. “In its first year, a small company consisting of Jason Goldberg and six loyal employees hit $5 million in sales. But now in 2024, AFS has over 500 employees, expanded across the Midwest with diversified products and services and cemented itself as a major leader in the flooring industry.
“Indeed, AFS is now one of the top five independent flooring retailers in the United States. And though you have grown during the past two decades, you’ve never lost sight of what’s important: customer service, community and sustainability. Your commitment to outstanding customer service has greatly contributed to your success. Supporting causes such as Habitat for Humanity, Make-A-Wish Foundation and 2nd & 7 helps your team directly impact the communities that you serve.”
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