Ken Tanner knows the floor covering business inside and out, and that knowledge led him to open up a new floor covering store in Emporia, Tanner’s Carpet, 1925 W. Sixth Ave.
Tanner’s Carpet will offer carpeting, laminate flooring, ceramic tile and linoleum. The store also will stock three types of padding. Tanner said he will do in-stock and special ordering. The truck comes twice a week so special orders can be at the store in a few days, he said.
Tanner has been in the floor covering business for 25 years. A friend of his got him into the business. Tanner installed some tacking in a building and installed all 100 yards of it backward, he said. He had to do it again — this time the right way. But his early mistake didn’t deter him.
“I’ve been in it ever since,” Tanner said. “You learn from your mistakes. When I tell people something, it’s something I’ve done in the past.”
Tanner has worked in all aspects of the floor covering industry from installation to management and now ownership, he said. Tanner also owns rental property in Emporia. He entered the landlord business after the apartments he lived in came up for sale. He bought the apartments and now owns a number of rental properties in Emporia including apartments and houses. He opened his carpet store because he wanted to expand into retail, and he had been in the business before.
Tanner said it takes good salespeople, experience and know-how to run a floor-covering store.
“If you are honest and don’t cheat your customers you will keep your customers,” he said.
Good customer service trickles down into the people Tanner hires to do installation, he said.
“I want people that I would trust in my own home,” he said. “I hire clean-cut, drug-free installers. If I don’t trust them in my own home, they don’t go to a customer’s home.”
• Tanner’s Carpet will have its grand opening Oct. 1. The day will include a ribbon cutting and Bobby D’s will cater from noon to 1 p.m. In-store carpeting will be 20 percent off; padding will be 10 percent off and the store will have other specials as well, Tanner said.