Experienced installer becomes entrepreneur, opens WW Flooring store in Somerset
SOMERSET – Brian Walker knows something about every type of flooring he sells at WW Flooring, the store that he and his wife, Nicole, opened in October at 267 Plank Road in the borough.
That’s because he has personally installed each option at least once in his 30-year career as a flooring installer.
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“Over the last 10 years, I’ve been really paying attention to what people were buying and what they like,” he said. “So I stocked my store with the stuff that everybody gets, that I’ve put in already and I know it’s good.
“Everything that I have in here, I’ve put in at least one time, so I know what it’s like.”
'Gives everyone another choice'
WW Flooring offers a variety of flooring options for residential and commercial customers, including carpet and carpet squares, luxury vinyl tile, linoleum and some hardwoods.
The Walkers are lifelong Somerset residents who just recently moved to Rockwood. Because they know the area and the market, Brian Walker said, they decided the timing was right to open their own flooring store and give customers another opportunity to shop around.
“It gives everyone another choice,” he said. “There’s so much flooring out there, every store doesn’t have the same stuff. We all carry about the same stuff, but the (flooring) reps try to give each store a little bit different, so you have a little bit different than the other guy.
“The advantage that we have is, I'm the installer and the owner so I don’t have to worry about paying an installer and keep them busy. It’s me. And being a smaller store, our turnaround is a lot faster, too.”
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While the flooring options he has available are large, his Somerset showroom is small by design.
“We started a small place like this, hopefully, we can get going and move to a bigger place and stock more samples in it,” Walker said. “(Customers) don’t want to walk in and think, ‘What am I going to pick?’ You don’t know what to do, where you’re going.
“I’m not pushing anybody’s product on anybody. I show everybody the same stuff and they can make up their own mind what they like. I let everyone make up their own mind, on their own budget. Everyone has their own budget.”
Owner, seller and installer
In addition to selling the flooring, Walker is the person the customer will see taking measurements of the room and then installing the flooring, which avoids miscommunication between the steps.
“I go measure, I talk to you and when it’s time to put (the flooring) in, you get to see me again,” he said.
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WW Flooring does not have a website, Walker said, because it’s difficult to judge the actual color and texture of flooring material in an online image. He prefers to let his customers take flooring samples home instead to compare them in real-time, with their own lighting, wall colors and furniture.
“It’s better if they come here. You can take as many samples as you want and when I come down to measure, we can talk about what you like,” he said.
“When people come here, (they) can see everything that’s here ― and the price. We have prices on all of our stuff, it’s no secret. Everything is marked how much it is, so when you’re looking at it, you have an idea if it’s going to be in your budget. And that gives people a better way to compare, too.”
WW Flooring is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, and the Walkers will schedule evening and weekend appointments on request. Measurements and estimates are provided free to customers. Contractors are welcome to stop in and purchase flooring for their projects as well. For more information or to schedule an appointment, call 814-483-2938.
This article originally appeared on The Daily American: Expert flooring installer opens own business, WW Flooring, in Somerset
