The oldest flooring store in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Floor Craft has become a landmark. As a trusted authority in flooring since 1942, with deep generational knowledge and a reputation for exceptional service and integrity, there is no wonder why it was voted Best of Colorado Springs—it simply is and has been for four generations.
Legacy businesses don’t survive through happenstance. In fact, the rate of failure of these generational businesses speak for themselves, which means the Strauch family has unlocked the secret to longevity. Now, with brother and sister team Ethan Strauch and Kelli Strauch Kadlec onboard alongside their father Mark, they are looking to take the business to the next level in a big way by reinvesting in capacity and people to make their mark on the legacy of the company for generations to come.
More than a commodity
Certainly, Floor Craft specializes in flooring, but it is the level of service delivery that sets it apart from the rest.
From its 30,000-square-foot facility in Colorado Springs, which includes a 10,000-square-foot showroom, a 5,000-square-foot area dedicated to in-house customization, and an adjacent warehouse, the company offers the foremost selection of carpet, hardwood, LVP, tile, laminate, and the various installation materials needed to create an impeccable finish. It has the products and the know-how to get any job done.
Serving everyone from DIYers to builders and contractors and commercial clients, the team at Floor Craft can support projects from start to finish and over the last several years, there has been a major push to build in-house capacity to be able to scale the company to deliver even greater impact. “A huge part of our growth is definitely attributed to our dad,” says Kelli. “He’s really the one that took it from a small mom and pop place that did well, but wasn’t nearly as big as we are now,” which is attributed to his ability to build relationships and his integrity as a person.
Speaking with Ethan and Kelli, you quickly get a sense of the person Mark Strauch is. Categorically one of those “salt of the earth” types, he is responsible for a significant part of Floor Craft’s growth and success and laid the groundwork for its future trajectory.
Credited for being process-oriented, which has enabled the company to remain service-centric as it has grown, his children now look to do the same through modernization and strategic hiring. And the timing was right, too.
“We went paperless in 2019 via PDF editors and a cloud-based ERP system, and we had no idea COVID was coming, but it did and that enabled us to have a couple of employees who worked remotely,” notes Kelli.
“A lot of credit to Dad,” Ethan reiterates. “He could have easily been resistant and told us to wait until he was out of the business, but he’s given a lot of freedom for us to implement ideas.”
The siblings pay credit to their father for being a remarkable and present dad, knowing what it takes to achieve a work-life balance in that role, which is another motivating factor for why they wanted to modernize company processes—they want to be able to run the business and enjoy life with their families at the same time. “It’s not like we overhauled the workflow; we just basically digitized it,” explains Ethan, which enables them to work remotely and more efficiently.
Kelli and Ethan also credit their mom, who held down the fort at home while Mark handled the business. With no stay-at-home parent to undertake those duties on their behalf, Kelli and Ethan are consciously investing in capacity so that the business and their families can both thrive. “What we’ve done over the last five years with our growth is find the right people and treat them in a way that lets us hold onto the right people and allow good people to run a good business,” says Ethan. This approach supports growth “without all of that growth going through our inboxes.”
Investments have also been made in a new ERP system, which Ethan refers to as “the last piece of the legacy technology puzzle.” With high interest rates, rising costs, and greater economic uncertainty having an impact on the market, the time was right to implement a change of that magnitude without interrupting business, which would have otherwise been impossible between 2021 and 2024 when COVID backlogs dominated the day to day.
Investing in the future
By investing in people and capacity, Floor Craft continues to ensure it brings quality flooring and service that is second to none to the market, all while creating an environment where people succeed. As a family-owned and operated company, the sense of family and belonging extends beyond the bloodline to those who drive value for the company each day, which results in loyalty from customers and employees alike.
Certainly, the company’s longevity is impressive, but so too is the tenure within its ranks. Throughout the years, Floor Craft has had several 40-plus year employees, with one having worked with all generations of Strauchs. This level of expertise plays well at every level—whether a small project or a substantial one, every customer receives the same high-end service.
According to Ethan, the goal is to “set things up where the high tide raises all boats,” ensuring that when the company wins, everyone wins. “If we’re doing well, we’re sharing that with the company,” he says of an incentive program that extends to the entire team, as well as a generous benefits policy to take care of the people who take care of their customers. “We believe that everyone from the warehouse to the accounting team makes the job happen, whether or not the customer directly interfaces with them or not,” he continues.
This reinforces the commitment of the team to drive value day in and day out for customers and further emphasizes that integrity is at the heart of everything Floor Craft does.
A path forward
For Floor Craft, the path forward is simple: continue to live the values that have served the company and the market for over 80 years. Its people-first focus from start to finish is why the company continues to ride out challenging market conditions to remain on top.
“We’ve been very fortunate that we’re a generally pretty stable company. We’re not immune to the economy’s variations any more than any other company, but the fact that we do retail remodel, new construction, and commercial, it’s generally a pendulum: when the builders slow down, the remodels pick up, or when the builders are booming, the showroom might be slower,” Ethan explains of the market diversity that sustains the firm.
And, while some things might change, like ERP systems and modern processes, one thing will always remain the same, just as it has for more than eight decades: the core of the business will be built upon integrity.
“At our core, that’s what I feel is most important, is being a company of integrity. We’re always trying to do the right thing and do right by our customers,” says Kelli, who takes it to heart that this is more than just a family business; it’s a legacy in which she and her brother are playing a major part.
