Family-owned business paves their way to Best of Airdrie Readers’ Choice Award

Airdrie Carpet – The Flooring Retail store has won gold in the flooring retailer class in the 2022 Best of Airdrie Readers’ Preference Awards.

The household-owned business obtained its start in Airdrie in 1993. Upon his parent’s retirement in 2016, current operator Kyle Twells took above functioning the retail outlet.

Not long ago, Twells has boosted the flooring stores’ social media presence, which is why he thinks the companies took residence gold this calendar year.

“Every working day we’re posting, so I’m guessing the social media [prevalence] had some factor to it,” he stated.

Whilst social media may perhaps be new to Twells, working the family business enterprise is not, as it is a place he’s been groomed for since he was younger.

“I can bear in mind [being] 7 a long time previous and sweeping the showroom flooring, to staying 12-yrs previous, following school, heading out and serving to the guys on the put in facet of matter,” he reported.

Twells appreciated the installation aspect of the small business so considerably, he made the decision to make a occupation of it. He attended SAIT upon his graduation from significant college, and speedily turned a journeyman flooring-covering installer afterwards.

Just after his parents’ retirement, Twells switched from flooring installation to operating the retailer. While Twells is now the official owner, his mothers and fathers stay concerned in the business and they are thrilled about this year’s Best of Airdrie Readers’ Preference Award, in accordance to Twells.

“My dad continue to comes a few times a 7 days to have a coffee with me and see how things are going, and help out in the warehouse. If we want to go absent for a 7 days, [my parents] occur in and observe the shop,” he reported.

In the meantime, Twells’ mom assists with the accounting side, and is currently coaching Twells and his girlfriend on how to handle the flooring store’s accounts.

However, when his parents retired, they marketed the initial flooring retail store creating. At this time, Twells is leasing a smaller sized warehouse to run the flooring retail store. In the foreseeable future, he is hoping to buy a extra extensive warehouse to go on increasing the business.

“I see a slow, comfortable growth, absolutely nothing way too mad vertical exactly where you choose on too substantially shortly and you cannot seriously back out if some thing takes place,” he added.

Twells’ growth designs will continue being rooted in Airdrie, as the lifelong Airdronian has no ambitions to tackle massive-metropolis lifetime.

“We’re pretty neighborhood-based. I grew up here as a kid. I went to college here, I played hockey right here, so I just want to proceed to provide the community,” Twells stated.

Element of serving the group incorporates obtaining Airdrie residents the most effective benefit for their dollar, a thing that has been a struggle this previous calendar year because of to inflation.

“A whole lot of our costs are up 30 to 50 for every cent, so it is surely been a battle attempting to get a value on products and still give any person a fifty percent respectable flooring,” Twells mentioned.

Irrespective of the increase in fees, the flooring retailer is busier than at any time, according to Twells.

“As significantly as growth goes, Airdrie just looks to be ever-increasing,” he claimed. “We really don’t really do a ton of advertising, but our stroll-in site visitors and anything has unquestionably greater by means of the pandemic.”

Twells thinks the raise in targeted visitors has to do with the COVID-19 pandemic limitations trying to keep all people at dwelling for so prolonged, which inevitably led to an raise in dwelling renovation projects.

“A whole lot of folks weren’t travelling [so] a whole lot of that money went into renovating and fixing up the household and things they could do there,” he added. “We were being very fortuitous all through the full pandemic. We didn’t truly put up with like other companies did. We ended up open the total time and we have been chugging alongside at any time considering that.”

Twells said a key to the store’s results all these years is putting customer pleasure to start with. In actuality, the store’s signature is prioritizing buyers.

“That’s kind of anything that we stand guiding. At the conclusion of the day, client pleasure is our range one,” Twells additional. “I think which is why we have been productive is just to target on customer gratification and generating the shopper delighted.”