By Kim Brazell, Marketing Director, Flooring Depot of Panama City
When you walk into your church or place of worship, your grocery store, or a hotel, you probably don’t think a lot about the flooring you’re walking on or where it came from. Most of us are more concerned with the flooring in our home—what it looks like and how it functions for our family’s needs—not the many businesses that we frequent.
Although the residential market is a large portion of Flooring Depot of Panama City’s business, it’s not the only portion. Not only do they help homeowners create their dream spaces, but they also help businesses and a host of other industries as well. Whether you realize it or not, you might be walking on a floor sold and installed by Flooring Depot.
Flooring Depot of Panama City opened six weeks before Hurricane Michael devastated our community in 2018. Since then, they have been helping homeowners and businesses get back to normal. “Residential is a huge part of our business and it’s our privilege to help homeowners with their houses, condos, and rental units, but sometimes people are surprised to learn there is more to our business than just the retail or residential side,” says Barry McEntire, owner of Flooring Depot of Panama City. “Now that things are moving back to normal, nearly four years after Michael, and as Panama City, Panama City Beach, and the surrounding areas boom, we’re seeing our clients and projects diversify.”
Rebuilding combined with the community’s growth of homes and businesses means the flooring market is growing and changing too and Flooring Depot is continually looking to expand its working relationships with commercial and residential contractors.
“Our customers represent a diverse group of industries from new home builds and planned communities to hospitality groups building and renovating hotels and restaurants, to industrial buildings, doctor’s offices, gas stations, retail spaces, and churches. Wherever there’s a need for flooring—we can help provide solutions,” says McEntire.
This is most evident in the partnerships Flooring Depot is building with local churches. For Shiloh Baptist Church Family Pastor, Forrest Smith, whose church is in Chipley, the service provided by Flooring Depot was invaluable according to his Google review of the business. “From the owner to the office staff, and to the installers, they were all first-class and easy to work with. They helped us determine the right flooring for our needs as we renovated our Youth Room. They communicated throughout the process. The installers were professional and quick, and we couldn’t be more pleased with the experience.”
Another large portion of the business is housed in its installation department. “We manage a lot of commercial projects,” says Rob Morrisseau, installation manager. “We are a full-service business where we can bid for the job, sell you the product, manage the job and complete the installation. We often serve as the flooring subcontractor for a lot of construction firms so that they don’t have to worry about that component of their build. We work closely with them to make sure that the job is done correctly, on time, and on budget.”
Installation crews work both commercial and residential and are scheduled based on their specialties such as carpet, LVP, or tile. “It’s a lot of moving parts and pieces but they coordinate well with planning and communication,” says Morrisseau.
Whether it’s a commercial or residential client one thing holds true for Flooring Depot—providing exceptional customer service. “We really want to exceed our customer’s expectations with every project,” says McEntire. “We plan to be here to help customers for years to come so we aren’t looking for a one-time sale, but a lifelong customer.”
