The Bargain Hunter of Flooring is Alive & Well

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!