October 29/November 5, 2018: Volume 34, Issue 10
By Ken Ryan
Stephen Kleinhans, CEO and co-owner of Big ‘D’ Floor Covering Supplies, a new member of FCNews’ Top 20 flooring distributors’ list, has a simple goal in business: Play to your strengths.
For more than 50 years it has been a formula that has worked for the Phoenix-based distributor, which operates out of 29 branches across Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico and Texas. “The success at Big ‘D’ is by recognizing and focusing on what we are good at,” Kleinhans told FCNews. “We know we will never be a Tri-West or Galleher; our customer bases are different. If you look at the best distributors, they all focus on their strengths and don’t try to be what they are not.”
Big ‘D’ projects sales for 2018 to be in the $110 million range, up from $98 million in 2017. The distributor offers what it believes is a superior logistical network to complement its vast product offering. Big ‘D’ concentrates heavily on installation-related products (including tools, powders and adhesives), although LVT/WPC is its fastest growing category, followed by ceramic. Among its key suppliers are: Johnsonite (and its family of commercial products), Tarkett, Mapei, Schluter, Uzin and RB Rubber Floors. Mapei is its largest supplier. In fact, Big ‘D’ has been Mapei’s largest distributor for three of the past five years.
Kleinhans, who first joined the company in 1983 to oversee operations, said more than 85% of its sales come from actual installation products. So it’s no wonder the CEO has an affinity for the installation trade.
“This craft has been underappreciated by the industry. Good installation is an art, and a good installer can make a bad floor look good just as a bad installer can make a good floor look bad. It always bugs me when I see stores [mostly the big boxes] offer free installation because it downplays the value of the installation. When you think about it, the installation is just as important—if not more so—than the product itself. We love our installers.”