Editorial

Nationwide Flors & Windows - Brining the Showroom to You!

Franchisees for Nationwide offer a valuable service to local businesses and their customers anxious to make changes and improvements to their home or office.

Unless you’ve been out of the country for the last several years, you are probably aware that interest in home decorating is sweeping the nation and decorators are becoming the new pop superstars. There are entire cable channels dedicated to room makeovers, house makeovers, decorating on a budget, decorating with $100 grand -- in short, everything about making a home more livable, beautiful, comfortable and inviting.

Nationwide Floor & Window Coverings, America’s premier shop-at-home floor and window coverings franchise, is seeing an increase in business from people who are looking for beauty and comfort, and also want to build value in their homes.

Convenience is what sets Nationwide apart from other floor and window coverings dealers – the mobile showroom comes to your home, where you can see the carpet next to your walls and match the color to your furniture. Imagine – no more standing in a huge warehouse under fluorescent lights, trying to flag down a salesperson while you wonder if the celery green of the carpet will complement or clash with the celadon of your loveseat.

“ What we offer our customers is convenience,” says Greg Schmich, president and founder of Nationwide. “We bring a complete selection of floor and window coverings right to our client’s home or office. No more packing up the family to drive to various stores just to drag samples home and then back again. Our clients are not only homeowners, but business owners as well. We cater to many businesses, such as, builders, realtors, general contractors and insurance companies. They love the unique service we provide.”

Nationwide offers much more than carpet. They also have ceramic tile, wood, laminate flooring, wood inlays, vinyl and designer rugs. If your windows need a redo, Nationwide can provide you with everything from simple blinds to formal draperies and shutters. Even more impressive is that they do it at a competitive price.

“We have contracts with major suppliers and our buying power ensures we can offer great prices on all of our products,” says Schmich. The franchisee buys directly from the mills and manufacturers. Nationwide helps the franchisee find local installers, so the franchisee is strictly in a sales and marketing position.

Nationwide began in Milwaukee in 1992 as a buying group and began Franchising in 1996, going national in 1998. They currently have 100 franchisees from coast to coast and seven in Canada. “Our goal,” says Schmich, “is to bring on only 40 to 50 Franchise partners per year. We plan to have a total of 300 franchise partners nationwide, representing a thousand mobile showrooms.”

Schmich credits the success of the company with their unique marketing plan. Instead of expensive newspaper, TV and radio advertising to the public, Nationwide is a business-to-business franchise where the service is marketed solely to the trades, including insurance adjusters, Realtors, builders, commercial property managers and interior designers. These clients become repeat customers and are offered membership advantages such as discount pricing and financing options. This advantage program also offers members special promotions, rewards programs and a wide selection of the most popular styles and colors, including products from Shaw, Mannington, Daltile and Hunter Douglas.

The typical franchisee is a sales and marketing executive, from mid to upper level management. Current franchisees in the system are former sales and marketing executives, managers, doctors, ex-CEOs, – people who are great networkers and accustomed to making a good income.

They buy a large, meaningful territory, and generally the owner manages one or more salespeople and an office manager. This is a low overhead business requiring limited or no office space and no inventory. The salesperson has samples in a van, the “mobile showroom,” and can work out of a home office.

Nationwide is in partnership with ASID (American Society of Interior Designers), NARI (National Association of the Remodeling Industry), and BOMA (Building Owners and Managers Association).

“We only market to the trades,” says Schmich, “keeping our marketing costs low, and our average sale high. Nationwide offers hundreds of styles and thousands of colors to choose from. We have an excellent customer satisfaction rating and we develop strong partnerships with clients. Our business is all about building business relationships.”

One example of how this business-to-business relationship works is that of a Realtor who wants to sell a home and tells the homeowner to paint the walls, remove the clutter, and replace the outdated carpet. The homeowner can paint the walls, but needs a professional for the carpet. Nationwide, working with the Realtor, can replace the carpet and offer 180-day same-as-cash financing. The house then sells for more money in a shorter time on the market. The homeowner has put no money down and receives an additional amount from the sale greater than the cost of the carpet. Realtors who use Nationwide to improve a home’s appearance sell more homes, for more money, in fewer days on the market.

Why is this a good time to investigate Nationwide Floor & Window Coverings? The sale of existing homes is at an all time high and new home construction is also at its highest rate in history. Flooring is a $50 billion per year business and window coverings are about $6 billion. Industry statistics show that 70% o those who buy carpet will buy new window coverings within the next six months. Nationwide has an extremely high closing rate on sales and their standard of customer satisfaction results in a high rate of referrals and repeat business.

The franchise investment is modest, but the growth potential is high. And, you’ll own two businesses (floor and window coverings) in one! If you want a business with a low royalty, high average sales and great corporate support, this is the Franchise Opportunity you’ve been looking for.