Abbey Carpet & Floor kicked off its annual convention in Tampa, Fla., earlier this month with a plethora of new programs and initiatives for its members as well as a refreshed trade show schedule.
The convention itself is one of the most impactful moments of the year, according to leadership, and for 2025 the group reenergized the event. “For this convention, members were asking for excitement, and we took that to heart,” Bill Wilson, vice president of sales and marketing, told FCNews. “We started general session with high energy music, we had some great keynote speakers, and our evening events were extremely well-received starting with the opening night Havana Nights party on the riverwalk. The next evening we had an event at the Florida Aquarium where we had a self-guided tour through the exhibits with bars and food stations that led everyone up to the rooftop where we had a live band and dancing.”
However, it wasn’t just the entertainment that brought new energy to the event; the educational component was a key draw as well. “We changed our strategy a little bit,” Wilson noted. “In years past we offered multiple breakout sessions running in tandem in the afternoon, and some members were disappointed that they couldn’t go to every breakout. So this year we offered educational summits all in the general session ballroom so they didn’t have to get up and leave or run to another room to go to a breakout session. A lot of members complimented us on that.”
What’s more, this year’s educational sessions each had a retail member on its panel so members could essentially learn from each other. “Some of the feedback we got was that members wanted to get more information from their peers, so that was something we tried to accomplish,” explained Keith Johnson, vice president of merchandising. “It turns it from a situation where we’re preaching to them vs. one of their peers telling them how something has actually worked for them or how they’ve implemented it.”
Latest product initiatives
A unique aspect of Abbey is its membership strategy. Unlike some others, the group doesn’t require members to accept products or programs that don’t work for their particular markets. The group offers up the tools and al- lows its members to choose what works best for them. As such, the group is constantly revamping its products and programs to suit the needs of membership.
For this year, Abbey introduced nearly 20 new product programs from its key suppliers, including Shaw, Southwind, EF, Dixie, Stanton and Mohawk.
“We had a fairly robust introduction this year,” Johnson said. “These programs included both soft and hard surfaces. On the hard surface side, the focus was obviously on some thicker and more substantial products. On the carpet side, we saw a lot more focus on pattern and differentiating products specifically in polyester, which we saw at this particular show as being highly improved over where it has been in the past from a clarity standpoint, finish standpoint, colorations. So we’re pretty excited about these new programs.”
A digital powerhouse
In the last year, Abbey has gained 21 new members and saw the change of hands to second-generation ownership with seven of its members. And with that comes younger minds with a focus on digital marketing. That’s precisely where Abbey shines. “The generational turnover is noticeable in our group, and these younger business owners are expecting these tools,” Wilson noted.
This year, it’s the group’s lead management program that saw robust interest. “Our lead solutions program takes that lead and manages it all the way through the process to the point where the consumer has decided she’s going to buy that product and makes that order. So the program really helps to keep visibility of every lead all the way through the process. That’s definitely helped our members get excited about the potential of bringing new traffic into their store.”
In order to help its members understand and better utilize these tools, the group has also focused more on training.
“We have a newer platform called FloorHub,” Wilson explained. “It’s fully integrated this year, but that’s been a great vehicle for us to reach out to more members. There are videos walking them through everything from getting to know how to use the tools to expanding the usage within their own stores. There’s now a step-by-step tutorial they can use.”
Johnston added that the group has also setup a training section within FloorHub called “In The Know,” which also offers training on a multitude of subjects. “These are short, five-to-10-minute podcasts that we’ll record as informational training material,” he said. “We’ve already started that process, but we’re really going to expand that this year.”