Jenna and Darrell Mayzes of United Floors
NANAIMO – Buying into a business is an exciting and nervous time for anyone.
Buying one at the beginning of a pandemic? That’s another level of stress altogether.
It has been two years since Jenna Mayzes became a partner in United Floors.
“Buying a business during a pandemic is pretty interesting, but it’s been pretty good,” she says. “We’ve been really fortunate that way. People have been spending a lot more time at home, so they look around their homes and they want to invest money in them.”
Jenna and Katherine Englund bought into the business founded by her father, Darrell Mayzes, in 1986. Darrell has since retired, but her mother, Debbie, still works in the store. Her dog, Steve, has become a fixture in the family business, as Jenna adds “people come in looking for him now. He’s become a bit of a staple in our showroom.”
Jenna herself started in the store at age four, and has worked there steadily since 2008, beginning in sales.
As one might expect, demands for different floor covering styles, colours, material and textures have changed over the years.
“Everybody wants something different,” Jenna notes, pointing to what is popular this year. “Vinyl plank is a very large category, but it’s definitely decreasing as laminate is starting to come on strong again. People want hard surface products including wood, laminate and vinyl.”
Carpet continues to be in demand, as clients still choose that as one of their floor coverings in their homes. Just not as much as has been in the past.
In the past few years, grey was a popular choice amongst consumers, but Jenna is noticing that now, “people are starting to get away from that, choosing warmer tones and more natural wood colours, a cleaner wood look that is not ‘distressed’ as much.”
Pandemic-related supply shortages are becoming more of an issue.
“We started seeing delays in getting material around the beginning of the year,” she observes. “It’s definitely a challenge now to get material. It’s more expensive, and we are getting price increases weekly. It’s a very unstable time when it comes to shipping and the price of raw goods. It’s hard to navigate.”
“We are very up front with our customers about the way the industry and construction is right now, and they’re not surprised by it. At some point they’ve experienced the way things are now, as well.”
Through it all, United Floors continues to grow steadily. Jenna notes there are 11 staff members and an equal number of sub-contractors who install all of their product.
The key to the store’s success?
“We’re always trying to offer the best service we can,” she notes. “And we stay involved with being a part of our community.”