Startown Carpet, member of American Home Surfaces Group, has had to improvise like all retailers since the beginning of the COVID pandemic. But other than pushing back some scheduled installations at the beginning of stay at home orders, their business has continued steadily. While traffic in the store slowed initially, their retail sales staff stayed busy fielding increasing numbers of calls requesting quotes and information from homeowners. After implementing safety measures, such as employee masks, social distancing guidelines on the showroom floor and multiple hand sanitizer locations, showroom traffic has increased since reopening. People receiving stimulus checks also contributed to people returning to the showroom.
According to Startown owner Marty Lawing, new home construction business has never slowed down although their sales team has had to communicate with builders more via FaceTime, Zoom and email rather than in person. In addition, commercial business has been especially strong all year as they have seen pent up demand from many businesses using the unexpected down time. Restaurants for instance, have been able to proceed with projects that had been previously planned but never started.
