In January of 1997, John MacCheyne, owner of MacCheyne’s CarpetsPlus COLORTILE in Fairbanks, Alaska, signs on to become CarpetsPlus of America’s first member. MacCheyne said, “The bottom line is if you’re in the floor covering business, and not associated with a group, you need to be. Joining CarpetsPlus when we did provided us with the foundation that we needed to help start, build and continue to grow our business.”

CarpetsPlus acquires COLORTILE in 2002 to become CarpetsPlus COLORTILE. In 1953, COLORTILE opened its first store in downtown Kankakee, Illinois. With over 60 years of national retail presence, COLORTILE is still the #1 consumer-recognized flooring retailer. Today, COLORTILE is still the most recognized name in the flooring industry. Members should take full advantage of COLORTILE’s great consumer awareness and use the name in branding strategy.

The CarpetsPlus COLORTILE “Define Your Style” Design Gallery carpet selling system is introduced in 2003 at the Minnesota Summit. The new system includes a walk-up kiosk to help narrow customers’ choices by using visual aids to define three important decisions – style, durability and color. Each of the six style categories is color-coded which makes it easy to look for that color in the showroom because the colors are replicated on the display cards.

Through this unique program, participating retailers can offer customers increased purchasing power with two revolving lines of credit on one card. One line is dedicated for purchases at participating locations and the other line for Visa card purchases worldwide, everywhere Visa credit cards are accepted. Participating retailers can also offer special terms promotions on the retailer line of credit that allow cardholders to enjoy low monthly payments and no-interest rates.

The family of exclusive, private brands has been expanded with the introduction of UltraTouch carpet. UltraTouch combines both value-oriented soft BCF nylon and soft BCF polyester into one display. The UltraTouch program has maximum impact at minimum cost. CarpetsPlus COLORTILE is the first retail group to put carpet made with these two fibers together in one display. This is an advantage to salespeople who are comparing these fibers as they talk with customers.

Ron Dunn takes to the road on his first “Drive Across America” visiting members around the country. As he visits with each member, their families and their store staff, he learns about what works for them and their business. The goal is to visit every member’s store in the next few years to hear their story and then share their insights, experiences and successes.

Members are able to unleash the power of their store’s brand with this comprehensive marketing program. Media Pro and Web Pro are brought under one name – Alliance Pro Plus Professional Marketing Solutions. With Pro Plus, their brand will stay ahead of a changing marketplace and their local advertising and marketing will generate the greatest return on investment, in addition to saving them time and money.

Our first display featuring hard surface is added into our Destination program at the 2016 Tucson Convention. It will be an eye-catching, go-to display for all consumers who enter member stores. The Hardwood Destination display features a rich color palette, offering a wide range of options suitable for traditional or modern settings.

Alliance Flooring formed a strategic partnership with Nationwide Marketing Group, a large resource group for appliance, furniture and electronics retailers. The agreement names Alliance as their partner in helping members expand into flooring. Through this relationship, Nationwide will utilize Alliance’s private label brand, Floorco® Flooring Gallery to create a “store-within-a-store”. The comprehensive program will feature all product categories.

The event featured daily supplier special buys and product training. In addition, members were able to watch an impressive lineup of educational seminars and industry speakers discussing topics relevant to today’s changing market. Best Practices sessions featured Alliance Flooring members sharing what works for them to help other members improve their businesses and educate staff. Content was delivered in pre-produced videos presented in an “on-demand” format as well as some live events.