Lynn
Lawson, owner of Ralph Opfer Floors, Moves to a Beautiful Showroom
By
Bob Cox
When
Lynn Lawson decided to move her business (Ralph Opfer Floors) to a
larger location, she took a huge leap of faith. Aside from the
obvious increase in rent with no guarantee of increased sales down
the road, Lynn was risking her well-established reputation for being
“The Bargain Hunter of Flooring”. With an increase in overhead,
would Lynn still be able to go the extra mile and find the bargains
that would save her clients big money on flooring? I followed up
recently with Lynn to ask her several questions about this subject.
Here’s how our conversation went.
Q:
You have a reputation for being “The Bargain Hunter of Flooring”.
How did that get started?
A:
That is something that my dad always did. Suppliers would call him
and say, “Hey, we've got these leftovers, do you want them? And
he’d say yes! So, he had a warehouse full of decently priced
quality merchandise and I've just kept that going.
Q:
How are you able to give people such great bargains on flooring?
A:
Well, I do the same thing now that my dad did. My suppliers all have
close-out lists and I check those all of the time for special buys I
can pass on to my customers.
Q:
How often do you get close-out inventory?
A:
I get the lists sent to me on a regular basis, so I always have
access to special buys.
Q:
What criteria do you use to make a buying decision?
A:
The criteria is whether or not one of my customers needs something (a
specific type of flooring) first of all. If there is something that’s
a really good deal, then I’ll bring it in and keep it in my stock.
At this point, it’s hard to stock because what everybody wants is
different. I could stock a whole warehouse and still not have what
you’re looking for, so I have to be careful to not overstock.
Q:
Can you recall the last time you purchased a really good deal on a
close-out?
A:
Oh, I just bought several pallets of Pergo because it was three
colors they were closing out that I already had in stock. They wanted
to totally close them out, so they lowered the price to where I
bought everything they had left. Now I can sell it at a lower price.
Q:
What do you have your Pergo sale priced at?
A:
Normally, it sells for around $1.99 to $2.29 a square foot. It’s at
$1.39 right now!
Q:
Pergo is a laminate floor that looks like wood but has the durability
and other benefits of laminate, right?
A:
Yes.
Q:
Does a bargain on the flooring ever mean inferior quality?
A:
No. I will not ever buy anything that I think is inferior quality. I
could go to a couple of suppliers here in town and buy laminate for
59 cents a square foot. I won’t do it because the quality is not
there. The items I buy are usually name brand items where the color
has been discontinued. It’s not discounted because it’s a lower
quality, it’s because either the color has been discontinued or the
distributor is not carrying it anymore and they want it out of their
warehouse. Usually, it’s high quality, name brand merchandise.
Q:
What are some common problems that happen with inferior flooring?
A:
The laminates will fail. The will start buckling and separating and
they just don’t look good when they’re down. They will basically
fall apart easier and that’s because of the way that they are made.
I’m very picky about where I get my bargains from.
Q:
Does being a bargain hunter mean either inferior service or no
service?
A:
Absolutely not! My service never changes, whether it’s a bargain or
a full priced item. I will work with somebody as much as I need to
work with them to find what they want. I don’t ever look at things
that way. I’m here to help people make a big decision and I’ll
put in as much time as I need to help them make that decision,
whether it’s a bargain or not.
Q:
You now have this big and beautiful showroom. Does that mean higher
overhead and the end of the bargain hunting days?
A:
Well, it does mean bigger overhead but it doesn't mean the end of
the bargain hunting days. I will always be looking for bargains for
people. That’s just part of me. I can’t not look for the
bargains, that’s part of my make-up and it’s in my D.N.A.! It
just means that I have to work harder to have a nicer place. I don’t
want my prices to reflect this building. I still want to have good
pricing on everything, not just the bargains.
Q:
Now that you have a big showroom, do you have more variety versus the
old warehouse location?
A:
Not really. It’s more comfortable and visual here. It was hard at
the old warehouse because the lighting was bad and the temperate was
bad. We were either too cold or too hot. I might have a few more
displays here, but most of these displays were over there. They’re
just much easier to see now and to shop here than before.
Q:
Now that your overhead is higher, what pricing strategy will you use?
Will you rely on a higher mark-up or more volume?
A:
I would like it to be higher volume. I don’t want to go for a
higher mark-up, that’s not what I’m about. Also, I might expand
in here, I just haven’t decided with what yet.
Q:
What are you leaning towards?
A:
We've had several people throw ideas out. I'm not sure yet. Maybe
window coverings or antiques or some home decor!
