My Friends from Floor & Decor

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
And welcome to Cindy Stumpo Toughest Nails on WBZ and
tonight in the studio, we have one of my favorite stores,
like gotta exist. Okay, everybody's running around the studio trying
to open a coke for me? Who buys a coke
with a can and open a thing that looks like
a beer opening?

Speaker 2 (00:18):
That the only thing at the restaurant?

Speaker 1 (00:20):
Okay, I mean, like, then you gotta buy the beer
opening thing? What is this called? Wait a minute, let
me just introduce. We have Michael Dalco him Michael from
Flooring to Core. Michael, we having a little bit of it.
We're having a little people can't see us right now,
but we're holding a glass Coca Cola bottle, right and
that's the best one to Oh my god, you just
open that. Thank you so much, Harry, love you. Okay,

(00:42):
how do you open that? He opened it? Okay, I
don't know how we did it, but he did it.
Michael is from Florida. Core, Yes, I talked to me.
Tell me about your experience of Florida Corp. I'm going
right to the hotbeat.

Speaker 3 (00:54):
Here, like great, I've been there. I've been there almost
two years now. Fantastic company.

Speaker 1 (01:00):
Oh you've been there for two years. I started what
right before COVID or after, I can't remember. Twenty twenty.
I drove up in that store in Avon and I
was like a kid in the candy store. I'm like,
I really thought, like it's a big box store, like
a place that I went to. I don't build in
big box stores. Right, walked in and everybody knows the story.

(01:21):
I saw my Crystal White that I was paying like
twenty eight dollars a foot for.

Speaker 2 (01:26):
And oh, she couldn't wait to call her child guy
and tell how are you kidding me?

Speaker 1 (01:29):
Are you I'm gonna I want all that money back
the last six years I was using it. She loved it.

Speaker 2 (01:35):
She loved it so much she made them source it
from every location and ship it here.

Speaker 1 (01:37):
Oh, you guys should be contain this of it. Yeah,
because then because you guys knew you weren't going to
get it anymore, right, And I'm like, what do you
mean we can't get this anymore? Get it all over
from the country, get me as much of it, and
I still I still have it. Store it. I'm down
to like my last two three paletts. But that's my
favorite white. I'll never forget what I said to my
my boutique guy. I said, you've been knocking my head off. No,

(01:59):
it's a it's not the same it's the same packaging, idiot. Okay,
it's the same packaging. Well they must buy it for
less widal care. But I'm done buying it from you,
right So, and then I called Samy from the I'm like,
you can't believe this place. This place has everything you
can eat on tile, right, sure, unless you really want
to go way over the top, you know, like now
you brought the Porsons in which you're beautiful.

Speaker 3 (02:21):
Yes, we're the four by ten Yeah, it was the
four foot by ten foot as.

Speaker 1 (02:24):
Well, so those right now I'm using for the smaller
bathrooms are bigger. It's high pressed because our ceiling heights
are eleven twelves. Okay, but most people don't have eleven
twelve with ceiling heights, right, So we cut them, we
do designs with them, we do some crazy things, right.
I love your place, So thank you. Tell me about
your your experience there for now to you?

Speaker 3 (02:44):
Yeah, thank you. So, like I said've been there two years.
I'm running the wall.

Speaker 1 (02:46):
By the way, Michael opened up my Coca Cola that's
in the glass container and then's not a sponsor.

Speaker 3 (02:50):
For take care of business. Yes, I've been the two
years a Florica in the war. So we're in the
new market, roly On Market. It's a four first store
in the market. So even GD there I think fairly well.
I think just my biggest experience there, I think the
most thing that the most proud of is that we
give to bring people's visions and their homes to life.
Kind of like what you were saying as you walked in,
you saw some stuff that you loved and were able
to provide that for the customer and put the vision

(03:12):
of their home in play for them at the house.
So that's been my most gratifying experience. I think there
has really been able to bring people's experience to life
in their house and make their life in some way
kind of going away a little bit better because they're
more comfortable in their own Here's.

Speaker 1 (03:23):
The great things about them. Number one, bring your pickup truck,
bring you you haul whatever you buy and right and
grab all you want right. There's no waiting that the
downtime is done right none. You bring in beautiful pieces right,
the portions are beautiful, okay.

Speaker 3 (03:39):
From all over the world, from all over the world.

Speaker 1 (03:40):
And let you know where they're coming from. Right, says
it right on top. You went with the big sizes,
which were great. You know, I got hooked on my
fifty eight was a fifty eight by fifty eight the white.
I carry that for like, I don't know how many
years I thought.

Speaker 2 (03:53):
I that was about sixty four by sixty four, and
some of them.

Speaker 1 (03:56):
No, it was like fifty nine by fifty nine, the
white fifty nine by fifty nine. I bought all that
out too. By the way, so the manager call me
as much as we have the men, I know you
guys are that's it. You're not bringing it back in.
I just say, okay, let's find it all over the
country ship it to me. Because again, the dialogues change, right,
So I have to keep the dialogus together. So if

(04:17):
I mix them, God for bitch that you can't see
it till the white goes up and all of a
sudden you got one white that people don't understand. You
make the same color, but it's never the exact same
color when you buy from the manufacturers. So you got
to check that out. But anyways, bought all that out
through the country, and I just I think we're on
our less like two palettes of that one too, right.

(04:37):
So but the big size is it's just how to
explain it. If they can go on my double digit,
multimillion dollar homes, then they can go in anybody's homes.

Speaker 3 (04:49):
There's no credit's funny way called all natural stone too, right?
So you have marble slate.

Speaker 1 (04:52):
Yeah, you know the truth is I've stayed away from marble.
Now see me, how long? When's the last real marble bathtim,
I've done all my Heath Street. That's the last one.
Call to sac And if you were to ask me
literally eight nine years ago, maybe a little bit less,
would I ever not use marble in one of us

(05:12):
Sea Stumple home?

Speaker 2 (05:13):
So that was like you were left, oh eight or
nine ten, So.

Speaker 1 (05:16):
I would have looked at you and left. I was said, no,
I will never use anything but marbles. I don't want
the marble anymore to much up key people don't want it.
The porsons are easy, they washed, easy to clean.

Speaker 3 (05:29):
You find yourself any twelve by twelves or is it
mostly twelve x twenty four?

Speaker 1 (05:33):
I haven't used a twelve by twelve in a house
since nineteen eighty nine.

Speaker 3 (05:37):
People still come in and ask for them.

Speaker 1 (05:38):
They do. They really only have.

Speaker 3 (05:39):
Like three or four styles in the store. People.

Speaker 1 (05:42):
Okay, listen, people, Okay, if you're using twelve by twelves,
that's a problem. Okay, get off the twelve by twelves.
That's like really cheesy TACKI I don't know why using that, right,
The bigger the better, the less seams you have, the
less mortal lines you have. Like why do you go
to Italy and it looks like massive slabs, right, so
it should look very slabbish, So get away from the

(06:04):
small tiles and floridacoorp has massive towers, big towels. Twenty
four by forty eights.

Speaker 3 (06:09):
Yeah, that's really kind of taking over right now. Twenty
four forty eight.

Speaker 1 (06:11):
We've been using twelve. How long we've been using twenty
four by forty eighth A long time? Exactly exactly. But again,
you're ahead of the curve too, and I and I
literally will always call over and say I need this,
and you need more of this, and they're like, okay, Sindny,
tell us we need more of it. You got to
stop bringing posts and slabs, and you got to stop
bringing them in, and then you guys started bringing them in.

Speaker 3 (06:32):
Yeah, we got a great so we started bringing the
kitchen kitchen cabinets too.

Speaker 1 (06:35):
I saw that after Caabatry count just fash.

Speaker 3 (06:38):
We can do the whole kitchen now from head to toe.
Before when we have custom conduops, obviously all the flooring options,
but now we do cabinets, so we can do it,
you know, your kitchen from head to doe.

Speaker 1 (06:46):
But I would think still to date, and I don't
know because I have don't look at the financial records
of Floridacorp. But it's still the tile that's moving the
fastest and the easiest. In the vinyl and the vinyl
and hod with how are you doing it hotw.

Speaker 3 (07:01):
We do it. New England's a big hotro in market, right,
so it's the outer market really in the whole country
for Florida Core. So we do a really good business
up here in New England with the hotwood. But the
vinyls where it's at. The technology has come such a
long way. There's some vinyl even myself unless they get
close to and touch it. I don't know if it's
worter vinyl or not from six feet away.

Speaker 1 (07:17):
So people using vinyl instead of hotwood in their homes.

Speaker 3 (07:21):
Some are yes, and we talk about the five percent
extra value, additional value for the hodder in your home.
But people just like the ease and cleanless of vinyl
and all the vinyl flours floating so you can click
it together. It's easy to install. No nails, no.

Speaker 1 (07:31):
Glue, So you do the clicking system and you do
the glue system though too.

Speaker 3 (07:35):
We do both, Yeah, you do both, we do both. Yeah,
but people just like the ease of the click vinyl.
And it's kind like I said, the technologies.

Speaker 1 (07:42):
Come a long way, as has the clicking system come
a long way?

Speaker 3 (07:45):
Yeah, Yeah, much easier to install it used to be
in the past. Really Yeah, click together simple.

Speaker 1 (07:51):
And it doesn't separate out the old the old version
of the clicking that people have problem with, problems with.
They're not having that anymore. It's come that.

Speaker 3 (08:01):
Far, Yeah, it really has. And even the design that's ed's.

Speaker 1 (08:04):
I mean, we're used in all of our basements. Yeah,
but I see Sammy says people using it on for
a second floors they are.

Speaker 3 (08:11):
Yeah, for sure, And no one's really taken on my too.
Is the engineer at Hodwood. Yeah, it's time to get
a lot again.

Speaker 1 (08:17):
Something I thought I wouldn't put that level.

Speaker 3 (08:18):
You can put that in the basement as well, so
that's really gaining a lot of traction too.

Speaker 1 (08:21):
Well. Explain to people if they're using engineered lumber, they
can just glue that rights the concrete concrete instead of
floating wheel will you have to float.

Speaker 3 (08:30):
It correct And there's floating engineered as well. You can
do that if you want to.

Speaker 1 (08:32):
So you can float the engineer or glue it.

Speaker 3 (08:34):
Yeah, and you can stable it as well. Depends on
depends on the type. So not all types can be staple,
but some can be stable and nail as well. Depends
on what you're buying.

Speaker 1 (08:41):
Okay, So everybody that I've ever interviewed at Flooring the core,
and that's been going on for I've been on radio
for nine years. You guys have been with me for
four or five. You know, I'm gonna hold my own
thought for a second. We're going out to break I
didn't say it. Okay, thank you. This is Cidy Stumble
You listening Toughest Nails on WBZ News Radio ten thirty
and would be right back and welcome back to tap
his nails on WBZ. And I'm here with Sammy, and

(09:03):
I'm here with Chad and Mike Mike Mike Who Mike Falco?
Mike Falco. Yes, that's an Italian last name. It is,
but you have an Irish accent. It is, won't ask.

Speaker 3 (09:13):
It's long story, Okay, we won't.

Speaker 1 (09:15):
Go in that story. I'm assuming you're Italian Irish. I
don't know, because he's Irish, she's good Italian Scottish. Yes, okay,
that's like I'm looking at him going Falco. Okay with
an Irish act with English, I know, Scottish accent whatever. Okay.
So you've been in retail for years? What raid is about?
Leading at Florida Corfew.

Speaker 3 (09:36):
So two things. One is the human aspect, right as
far as the people are concerned. They have great culture
within Florida Court and that's the reason why I joined
the company. They really do put people first. I think
the second thing that really makes me.

Speaker 1 (09:46):
He's saying that true, that's true, It's very true.

Speaker 3 (09:48):
That's very true. I think the second thing for me
at Florida Cole different from other retailers I've been in
we're not. We're not really. We're our volume business to
an extent trip, but not necessarily huge lying business as
you can. We do a great volume, but we can
really to the customer one on one, and we have
the ability to do that based on off volume and
the needs of the customer. So I've never been in
the retailer. We were able to develop relationships with your
clients or lasers to the customer based on what they're

(10:09):
doing in their home. Some people before they buy, and
I'm sure you before you purchase, you go into the
designer bathroom. I could see you four or five times
in the store before you can make a decision, and
you can walk in three weeks and I'll be like
the average person is you develop almost developed friendships. You
developed relationships with Coutry the only big box store.

Speaker 1 (10:29):
It's no comparisons, it's the only b box store that
you don't get this as an answer, I don't know.

Speaker 2 (10:34):
It's the only store in the world that everyone is
so happy that they like they walk in into.

Speaker 1 (10:39):
We say it on every show we do with you guys.
But the one thing is you go in thro these stores,
right and you go, where's the batteries? I don't know
where's the where's the I don't know exactly. I don't know.
You go into your store, it's like, hey, where's all
your twenty four by forty eighth? Oh, it's all in
this road the first two and you'll be escorated thousand.

(11:01):
So I've never met anybody, and I do. I hit
all the stores in our Boston area, right, I've never
ever had a bad experience in there. Now that's possible
with my personality too, because I'm pretty like, like, if
you don't know me, you're sizing me up as Okay,
she's aggressive. It's not aggressive. I'm in there to get
a job done and get out right, so correct. I'm

(11:24):
in the other time whack out a ten thousand square
foot house on things that I need, and I just
want to get in and get out. So I'm like, Okay,
these sample's gotta go. We get a little bit. But
they're all used to me, so if they can tolerate me,
they can tolerate anything.

Speaker 3 (11:37):
Not sound like an infomercial, but that is a difference
between us and the other guys. That's not a experience
that you can't get another retailers, And that's what I
think is the most gratifying thing of being there, because
even pros, pros come in same guy's day after day
and you're shaking hands, bumping, you know, bumping Mike.

Speaker 1 (11:54):
I have turned on after that day of walking in
there four years ago. Wheneveryone was that you opened up
that Avon store. I let every builder know, like, guys,
this is not this is something different. This is something different.
And then I went to my wealth Advisor fiance and go,
I need to buy that stock that's going to be right.
So it's like I knew, I saw it coming. And

(12:16):
and then then you're opening up all these stores in boom.

Speaker 3 (12:19):
Yeah, you get whacked out of COVID, right, yeah, still going.

Speaker 1 (12:24):
So you had at that time, I think they'd opened
with two three stores and they got hit with COVID here. Yeah,
but you know, look at I think that present of
that company does a great job. And what I like
about that company also, and I'm talking for you, is
because they take from within, they build from within. So

(12:44):
they give you a store. They'll say, hey, do you
want to move to Texas and open up the store?

Speaker 3 (12:50):
I mean yeah, and they give you autonomy to do
so and make decisions based on your market and your customer, right,
so we can that got store, we have like seventy
percent of course course stock course skews, and then I
have thirty percent leeway to bring in what I want
considering what you might you might ask for something, I
have the ability to bring that in. So you can
really regionalize your assortment to the customer. Like we're really coastal,
you know, and where I get a lot of coastal homes,

(13:10):
so I have the ability to bring in coastal skws
and coastal assortment. The truth is to that area.

Speaker 1 (13:16):
So there are things that will sell better in Florida,
sell things that still better in Boston, things that will
sell better in Rhode Island. So then you cater your
but you can go online and see everything, everything everything,
and we might not carry something, but another place does.

Speaker 3 (13:30):
Correct and we do product line assortments. So we get
together as a group, we gather everybody and then we
find out we see what's new, and we get to
look at the stuff, touch and feel and all that
will work great in my store. No I don't want that, like.

Speaker 1 (13:39):
So we really get to So give me an example,
like store.

Speaker 3 (13:44):
So coastal looks like right now, green is is really popular.
Light blue is really popular. Like so anything like with
the coastal ibe pebble, so pebble for inside shoostalls at
the pebble feel. So we'll like in Arizona they won't
carry any pebble skws. We'll have some, but they want that. Well,
I'll carry two bays because we did really well with
a pebble assortment. Is FA that title is concerned also
twenty four by forty eight. Anything that's like glossy and

(14:04):
kind of extravagant, we do really well, Like Jamestown, Westerly, Newport,
they love that sort of stuff. But we'll take a
chance more on some of those higher end look skews
than other markets. Then say like a door Chester might
different markets, yeah, different markets.

Speaker 1 (14:19):
And who gets you think everything Florida.

Speaker 3 (14:23):
Yeah, Florida, Atlanta, So we're based in Atlanta, right, So
they'll do a lot of the tests in Atlanta too,
as far as new SKUs and new product to see
how it you know, we'll look before we roll it out,
But Atlanta, Florida and in Texas too.

Speaker 1 (14:34):
So Sam, when I was there a few months ago,
I stopped in to see going to court there right, yep,
this is it had a lot more whites and things
that we didn't have. Right, So now I know, like
I got to go online look and say okay, then
I'll call one of the guys from our parents, say okay,
I need this. It's online, ship it here and I
need this much.

Speaker 3 (14:54):
That's interesting, and they'll be a huge tile market though,
Florida tile tile tile.

Speaker 1 (14:58):
Oh huge, everything's tiled there. Everything's time. I'm sorry, you can't.
You cannot beat your company. What's the biggest challenge in
keeping prices low while quality stays high?

Speaker 3 (15:09):
The biggest challenge of keeping with us it's is low
while quality stays high. I think we do a real
good job of quality control in corporate so before anything
really gets to the store, the quality has done really,
really well. I think just the ever change of cost
and inflation, right, the cost of logistics, the cost of shipping,
the cost of gas, Like as that goes.

Speaker 1 (15:28):
Your price has gone up, but everybody else has gone
up triple. You're not price gouging low Interocore is not
price gouging. And I know when I'm being price scouched.
I've been out here for thirty eight years. I know
when I'm getting price gouged.

Speaker 3 (15:41):
Yeah, but we source directly from the quarry and directly
from the manufacturer, so there's no middleman with us, so
we're not paying somebody in between to get the goods.
So we literally you know, our buyers are out in Turkey,
they're out in Greece, they're out in Italy sourcing the tile,
and they get a direct from the manufacturer and direct
from the quarry. So that really helps us control prices
as well. I think we've got to head of the
tariff thing pretty quickly. So that also has allowed us

(16:03):
to kind of control costs a little bit and not
increase as to the customer as much as some of
the boxes have.

Speaker 1 (16:07):
Now, where are you originally from?

Speaker 3 (16:09):
Like did you move from Quincy, Mass?

Speaker 1 (16:10):
So you grew up in Quincy.

Speaker 3 (16:11):
Grew up in Quincy.

Speaker 1 (16:12):
What made you decide to go from whatever you were
doing prior? I didn't ask that question.

Speaker 3 (16:16):
Yeah, I was been retail for thirty one.

Speaker 1 (16:18):
Years retail, So what made you go to Florida Court Florida?

Speaker 3 (16:21):
Course, So first it was a growing company, right, they
only had like two hundred stores and the vision was
to have five hundred within four to five years. Obviously
stock Price News on Wall Street very good, right, so
very strong, very foundational company. I applied to an ad
and then I went into two or three of the stores
before I went on the interview. I just kind of
walked around, same kind of thing you did, like as
a category killer. I was like, Wow, Holy moly, this
place has everything you would need to do that kind

(16:43):
of thing in your home, so specialty retailer. I even
went and I kind of like watched before I worked,
just watched the employees, watch watched how they reacted, watch
what the customer experience was, and liked what I saw
when on the interview, and was really impressed with the
leadership that I had my interview with. And that's why
I chose Florndico. At the time, I had been to
like three or four different retailers all in the same

(17:03):
I was a district manager at bed Bath and Beyond previously,
so obviously right we went out, So within that time
I kind of had my choice, not my choice, but
I had different offers of where to go and ultimately
chose let me sto for those reasons.

Speaker 1 (17:15):
You compare your experience here to bed Bath, what's the
difference working in corporate America. Did you see what's the
biggest difference what didn't you like about bed Bath to
what you like here?

Speaker 3 (17:27):
Yeah? I love, I did not I didn't necessarily not
like bed Bath.

Speaker 1 (17:30):
Do you feel it just like a number there? No
sycasionally in the end and no at the end.

Speaker 3 (17:37):
Yeah no, but for my whole that was there for
twenty years, right, so the previous twenty years to that, absolutely,
but the last two no, and actually left before I
went out, like I knew. I'm like, we're not a
good spot here. It's the end is near type of thing.

Speaker 1 (17:48):
Just watch the stock so yeah, exactly, watch the stocks
names at all.

Speaker 3 (17:55):
Your question, like, the personal experience with the customer at
Floriadicoa is like no other retailer. I previously that. I
was at the Catholic Sports for fifteen years. I really
only had those two jobs as a career path. But
it's more like in out and out and out transact
and out transact with Florida. Course, I go projects working
on today, How can I help you? And it's oh,
I'm looking at my basement. How many what is you?

Speaker 1 (18:14):
Do you look?

Speaker 3 (18:14):
How many square fet? It's about six hundred square feet.
But you what do you? And you can really ask
a lot of qualifying you have any.

Speaker 1 (18:19):
Construction background, right?

Speaker 3 (18:21):
None?

Speaker 1 (18:21):
None, none at all?

Speaker 3 (18:22):
And I like that too. It was a new industry
for me. So it's something that I wasn't too familiar with,
and I felt like I just, I don't want to
say it wasn't learning at bed, bath and Beyond, but
I just needed to. I felt like I needed to learn, like, well,
you have something new, a stale So this was great.

Speaker 1 (18:35):
Somebody says to you, I need six hundred square feet, right,
all the tiles on twelve by twelve anymore? Right? So
now you get to break down the twenty four by
forty eighth, fifty nine by fifty Nine's right? You got
to come up with how many pieces come out to
that six hundred square feet. I can do that all
day long because I've been a builder for thirty eight years. Yeah,
but people that haven't it's a tough thing, right, But
you got to learn that whole that thought. This is

(18:56):
Cindy Stumbo and you listen to tough Snails on WBS,
will be right back and well back to toughest nails
on WBZ. And I'm here with who Samantha, let's wake
it up and Mike valgo. Okay, when I leave off Mike,
because you're the younger.

Speaker 3 (19:10):
Personal experience, and why I chose Florida go yeah, good.
So yeah, the same reason. It's just a personal touch
with the customer. That's the thing that I like the most,
different from any of the retailer I've been at. Get
the customer ask.

Speaker 1 (19:20):
So we weren't Mike, you justled we were talking about that?
We were We weren't. We're talking about breaking down square footage.

Speaker 3 (19:26):
Well that's what that's what le breaking.

Speaker 1 (19:28):
Down Okay, And I said to you, what makes uh
my brain just came awake. Okay, it's very late night. No,
my brain came away. So you had to learn you
didn't have a construction background. What I said was you
had to learn how to figure out this person's I
need twenty four on square feet. But again we're not
buying twelve by twelve like I said. So now you
get through it, how many pieces they actually need, then
how much waste they need. So you had to learn

(19:50):
all that.

Speaker 3 (19:50):
Yeah, the massive easy part. But it's more like some people.

Speaker 1 (19:53):
It's very hot to install it that some people just
making the sale like that. They don't know how to
break down the square footage, so you weren't in the industry.
Usually the guys are coming in that are laying the installing,
they know exactly what they have to buy, right, They'll say,
I need this many pieces of this whatever. Right, But
you're they're over there with calculators trying to figure it out. Right.

Speaker 3 (20:13):
And I've looked as much of my pro customer as
I have anybody, like they're come in the store, asking
them questions about how they're installing things and what they're
doing and what product they use it like they They've
taught me a lot too, which has been great.

Speaker 1 (20:22):
By the way, I had an aha moment kids, right
like your mom had it. Aha. Uh huh. I remember
what I said? Was that? Because Chatlie says you don't know, well,
you don't remember what you say, so I'm just reminding
you I had it AHA moment. Okay, there we go,
all right. Mike grew up in Boston. Yes, how'd you
end up in a Rhde Island store.

Speaker 3 (20:42):
That was the market that was open that I was
interviewed for so brand new store, brand new market. M Yeah,
and that was the one that was so if they
had some experience in Island with Bath.

Speaker 1 (20:53):
If they said to you, Michael, listen, we're going to
give your own store. It's going to be in Fort Worth, Texas. Whatever,
what would you do? Because I've seen a lot of
the guys come and go studio and in Florida Corps
just pick up a move.

Speaker 3 (21:03):
Yeah. If I was twenty years younger, maybe, but today No. Today,
now I know kid's family, wife and a mom shows
with me.

Speaker 1 (21:11):
So there's no just picking up on my corn.

Speaker 3 (21:12):
Just yeah, there's no picking up the Yeah, it's a
little different than it would have been. But in years
past for this company that, without question, I would have.

Speaker 1 (21:18):
How many more stores and masks will they open?

Speaker 3 (21:20):
Do we know two this year? Open to more this year? Yeah?
So one is due to open, Springfield is due to open,
I think in like three weeks.

Speaker 1 (21:29):
Three weeks, like three weeks. Yeah, and the other one.

Speaker 3 (21:32):
Call the calling manor that's a little bit. That's why
I think. I'm not sure when that one was going
to open, but soon but by year end.

Speaker 1 (21:38):
So when you first started, when you first opened, we
would do it. I was doing the giveaways like you
had trucks. I don't know you guys still doing that
doing trucks.

Speaker 3 (21:45):
Yeah, Florida recently just did a boat.

Speaker 1 (21:47):
Florida did a boat a vote and.

Speaker 3 (21:49):
We just had a pro giveaway too. We did a
Mercedes Sprinter van. Really it's pretty cool.

Speaker 1 (21:53):
Yeah, I haven't been keeping up to any that.

Speaker 3 (21:55):
Yeah, and that was even for a grand opening. That
was so like a pro giveaway we were doing. But
the grand opening. Yeah, and then for my store, we
did ten thousand cash.

Speaker 1 (22:01):
So okay, so the pro the Sprinter, they gave away
what all the business guys put their cards in certainly.

Speaker 3 (22:08):
Ranged it on the QR code, give the QR code
in the store, entered the wind or you go online,
you could.

Speaker 1 (22:13):
Enter that CMO fashion. I think business cards are going
to the basket froll it up right.

Speaker 3 (22:17):
I was going to say, that's like nineteen fifty by yeh.

Speaker 1 (22:19):
Nineteen fifty, that's nineteen ninety, nineteen eighty two. Okay, no
one even carries business cards anymore. So and then the
guy that won it, I don't.

Speaker 3 (22:29):
Think he was from the state, so I know she
wasn't from around a, mass US. So it was a
country wide gave away.

Speaker 1 (22:33):
Oh country wide, Yeah, got you.

Speaker 3 (22:35):
But my store was a ten thousand dollars. That was
the giveaway that we had for the grand opening and
who got that local pro pro Yeah it was.

Speaker 1 (22:43):
They were excited.

Speaker 3 (22:44):
It was awesome. My kids have been with Big Launch.

Speaker 1 (22:46):
When we've gone around giving gifts of the gates around
flowing the core and it's pretty big. Posters of Cindy Stumple,
the lifestyle you know what, they call it, lifeles, lifelives
life size.

Speaker 2 (22:55):
Yet out of everything that exhausts my mom about this business,
thoroughly enjoys to go to your store. It's like happy
hour for her.

Speaker 3 (23:04):
I love it.

Speaker 1 (23:04):
Yeah, all the other like how.

Speaker 2 (23:05):
Many times Chad has she text you? Like three?

Speaker 3 (23:09):
I'm there mostly on average a day.

Speaker 1 (23:12):
Two two times a day, Chad, go pick up we
need and seven more piece of this and get it
to that. Oh my god. My nephew Mikey too.

Speaker 3 (23:24):
He's got PTSD. He's been there way too much.

Speaker 1 (23:27):
There are some weeks that my guys are in there
literally like three four times. Right, they just stop it
because we've got so many jobs going at one time.
This guy needs this, this guy needs that, and make
sure I have to say, check the skew numbers. Check
the number make sure it's the same. Okay, I got,
I got it. But no one time I've ever had
a problem with it returns.

Speaker 3 (23:47):
Everything's been solid there they take we do. We considered
a partnership, right like you were in partnership to do
what you're doing and to try to make your life
easier and what your product is. And yeah, we got
consider us a partner in your business and we're gonna
do whatever we can to make it right.

Speaker 1 (23:59):
So you do have that pro desk, and I'm sure
I got I don't even God knows how many points
I have explain to people, especially for people in my industry,
what that point, what of those points do, how they
accumulate and what can they do with the points?

Speaker 3 (24:13):
So you build points on what you spend. Yea, they
accumulate America Express according to that. And then we have
like a catalog we can go in and you can
spend your points on anything. We have anything from red
Sox tickets like you know, concert tickets, the Waltz product,
circular saws, wet saws like anything you can use for
your job, as well gas cards. We're recently we're gonna
run a promotion that starting next week, we're in there.

(24:35):
But the pros can now turn in their points and
get flour Unicote gift cards and the points to come
back in and return the gift cards in and spend
the money in smart Way very smart, right. And then
they've been asking for that for a while, so we're
starting to launch that, which would be great for them
as well. But I think it's kind of good. You
can kind of get something for yourself or something.

Speaker 1 (24:50):
For your family, no matter what you get to God,
pretty be happy to get that bonus check out points.

Speaker 3 (24:59):
I have check out to check them when I get back,
you know.

Speaker 2 (25:04):
Okay, I think every one of us has an account
because they've met everybody in the family.

Speaker 1 (25:08):
So I think the hounds need to be combined. Yeah,
I think they said that before. We have to combine
a lot of your accounts together. I'm like, uh, okay,
I just get me out of here.

Speaker 3 (25:17):
So you probably have none and they have.

Speaker 1 (25:18):
Yeah, I had something, don't you know? My kids used
my points by flying my ear my real my express
this point that point as we just flowing the co
What's one way you've seen a contract use your services
to win a client?

Speaker 3 (25:33):
Design services, the Designers Design Service. We have some designers
in store and house. You can make an appointment, you
could all you could also walk in, but it's really
just a one on one experience between the designer and
the client. Client or customer comes in with a vision
for what their project is and the designer helps them
realize that that project. You can want appointment, ten appointments,
however many appointments it takes, but it's really a nice

(25:54):
one on one personal touch. A lot of the contractors
that come in that I've experienced notn't good at designing
that sort of thing of designing the space. Yeah, so
they'll come in. We have several.

Speaker 1 (26:04):
Clients that think green is blue and blue is yellow
and they tell you the color line and like, huh,
what are We're doing it together for sure?

Speaker 3 (26:11):
And a lot of the pros and of the patients
for how many times they change your mind within the process.

Speaker 1 (26:15):
Correct.

Speaker 3 (26:15):
So our designers they have they are just that they're
very patient, They asked the right questions and they can
take the store from being one hundred and fifty thousand
square feet to two thousand square feet in the product
that they want them. It's so funny because they need
but that's been.

Speaker 1 (26:27):
I have two kids. He's got a better eye on
design than she does. She's horrible and he's unbelievable. The
problem is she doesn't know. Wait, hold on, Michael, she
doesn't know she's horrible and he doesn't know he's good. Yeah,
and that crazy right, Like she thinks she's good at
it and he doesn't think he's good at it. But

(26:48):
the truth is he's great at it. Like I've gone
with him many times, said Chad, just just give me
a hand here, and I'll say to him, find me
a hot with it's got gray, whited it And I
once tested took three of the guys with me, and
he comes back with the right gray white, the other
ones that bring me gray, blue, gray, green, gray, and yellow.

(27:12):
Do you know what I'm saying. So he's got it it, Yes,
he has that one he wants to when he wants to.
But he has that eye, which is amazing, and he
should use that eye more often. Right, But you're either
born with it's the natural talents, like you know how
to play an instrument and you don't. Right, some people
can just put a guitar on their hands and play
away and just go right by the music and never
have to take a lesson. It's just it's a natural ability.

(27:35):
Can you also explain to the listeners what the job
site delivery works and why it's a game changer.

Speaker 3 (27:41):
So we delivered straight to the job site. I think
the biggest thing for us is we carry product. I
mean you've been in the stores. We carry productive, massive quantities.
So we have job locked quantities for the pro so
you know most of the times, you can give us
a call on a Thursday, say on a Friday, and
we'll deliver great strike to the job site. We have
also warehouses you know throughout the country, so the warehouses
can live straight to the job site as well as
well as the store. And that's really a game change

(28:04):
of for us, especially the job block quantities. You can
come in. You four thousand square feet of a title
in the store, there's a chance we're going to have
it and house and have it a few in days,
and if we can't get it that day, we'll get
it very quickly to your job. Get out there fast,
directly to the job site.

Speaker 1 (28:16):
You get out there fast. I have to be honest
with you, and I won't use no names because I'd
love to use the name. And absolutely dismantle this company,
but one of my not your company, another small company,
but I won't. I'll be kind. I could, but I won't.
This one client wanted this one talent from the small
boutique store, and I'm like, we can't find it over here, right, okay.

(28:39):
It was the heartache of this one nine thousand squaret
for us, Like it was horrible customer service check. Come on,
you're there the whole way. It was horrible everything. Then
they sent me different dialogues. They sent me different dialogues
and tiles didn't match. It was a show from the
beginning whole that thoughts. We'll be right back. This is

(29:01):
Cindy Stumpo Toughest Nails on WBZ, and welcome back to
Toughest Nails on WBZ. I'm here with Samy, I'm here
with Chad, I'm here with Mike. So that's my my terrible,
horrific story, right, like, I'm never doing that again. Never
it was. I mean, we walked in, they come out
with six guys, right, they got intimidated. They thought I
came here with like, I don't know what they eye book.
They're here for a reason. They're not here to jump

(29:23):
over the desk and hurt you people like we're all
here for a reason. Right. It was like five of
us that came in there. It was horrible, horrible, horrible experience.
One day I'll blow them up, but right now, be kind. Anyways,
So my my buddies there are Florida Corp. And again,
I can't emphasize enough to the listeners that are listening.
If you are redoing a bathroom, if you are we

(29:44):
using toau hardwood, vinyl, whatever it is, I promise you
it will not be a bad experience. It will not.
I've never had all the emails that come into iHeartMedia
after you guys leave and my I tag you guys
and everything you know that I use you guys. People
always say, are they really that could just go in there?
You got to go in there to understand. If you

(30:06):
don't walk through, then you're not going to understand. And
that's why I say, and I never ever have got
a complaint. We have never got a complaint on iHeart
and we've never got a complain at see stumpo. Right,
And people have to say like, oh, cities said that
word asked or something. Okay, so I said the way
and we get an email. You can't say the way
well I just did. Okay, so there so yeah they

(30:27):
go four times right, but no it is what is Okay,
let's go back to more. I have more, Sam, you
got a question from Mike.

Speaker 2 (30:36):
Not right now?

Speaker 1 (30:37):
Not right now? Okay, can you break down the financing options?
What makes it accessible for every customer to come in there?
So not every can write a check? Right? So what
are the finance options there?

Speaker 3 (30:47):
So we have we do six twelve, twenty four and
forty eight, so we have different finance options. We do
have it. It is interest free based on your first
purche of an interest free option as well to finance,
there's you know, term limits like six thousand bucks twelve
months is twenty twenty four months whether they go out.

Speaker 1 (31:03):
So you go. So flo undercour has its own credit
card outsources finance.

Speaker 3 (31:07):
Credit card, own credit card, new credit card. Yeah, so
it's our credit card built in house. So but yeah,
you can findance on those terms interest free. Any projects
you want.

Speaker 1 (31:17):
A lot of people using credits of the.

Speaker 3 (31:20):
Uh yeah yeah they will. I mean we yeah, we do,
we do do a lot of credits, you know what
I mean.

Speaker 1 (31:25):
But yes, now that you've been there, for two years.
Do you know there are busy times and others will
you stay?

Speaker 3 (31:32):
Yeah, the spring and now okay.

Speaker 1 (31:34):
So spring and now fall. And as you go into holidays.

Speaker 3 (31:38):
Tax turner. As you're going to the holidays and want
to get in there.

Speaker 1 (31:40):
Every mommy wants to show off to their friends and
family they got a new bathroom, right, and the new
kitchen floor or whatever. Right, So holidays makes people spot
for us. Yeah, and then remember June July, it's gone vacation.

Speaker 3 (31:52):
July a little slow. December slow. People are just shopping
on the retailers and spending their money elsewhere. Right. So
with Black Friday, we don't do much with Black Friday.

Speaker 1 (32:00):
Well, how can you're always Black Black Friday every day?
What I mean? You do have a sale when you're
you know, I see it in the back area of
the store. There's always those pieces that either you're not
going to bring them back, so they all go and sale.
But otherwise I don't think people understand how not expensive

(32:21):
and how great the products are that you bring in.
I'm using words very carefully because they if they went
and really knew what they were doing. And there are
a lot of people that are listening right now, end users,
you have to believe me when I say you'll go
to this boutique store and you will pay quadruple and
double and triple to what their prices are. Is it's

(32:42):
work called quadriple? No double triple? Is quadruple? Thank you? Yes,
I say, that's why I got my kids in the studio. Okay.
But the truth is some of these small boutiques will
charge whatever they want to charge, and then sometimes they
judge there there's no prices, so then they'll judge on

(33:03):
how you look. Oh she's wearing a big diamond. Oh
she's got a rolllecks. Oh she's I'm gonna charge your
even two dollars more square foot, right, So, I don't know.
I just like the concept. I think it's amazing. I
was really surprised, and I just changed a word to
quite probable.

Speaker 3 (33:16):
Now. I was surprised when I first got there you
could do a five hundred square foot space and tile
for like seven hundred bucks.

Speaker 1 (33:21):
Amazing? Is it like?

Speaker 3 (33:22):
It's not like it'ld expect it to be a lot,
a lot more than what it is. In most cases,
it's a four.

Speaker 1 (33:28):
So the one design trend that you're seeing right now
is you said earlier twenty four by forty eighth, Yeah.

Speaker 3 (33:34):
Twenty four by forty eighths are big, and then four
by ten is start to get some tracks. Not in
all stores. A Waaltame location is called a hub store. Yep,
they have them on display there. Shrewsbury has him on
display as well, but those are pretty impressive as well,
doing a lot of pro education on those as well
as far as installation, making sure they have the right
tools to get it done. But the twenty four by
forty eight is, yeah, it's really pushing forward the big stuff.

Speaker 1 (33:55):
God have we been using it for so long? Yeah,
but I don't know what the four by tens look like.

Speaker 3 (34:00):
So they just four four feet by ten feet?

Speaker 1 (34:03):
Oh the four foot okay, fourth four.

Speaker 3 (34:05):
Feet by ten feet?

Speaker 1 (34:05):
Yeah, those huge, Yeah, the excels It is only going
to get bigger and bigger.

Speaker 3 (34:09):
Yeah, only got to get bigger.

Speaker 1 (34:10):
And so you guys are carrying what what's Fluondercourt carrying
about fifteen different colors right now?

Speaker 3 (34:15):
If you want a wallfam, I'm gonna say they have
probably a fifteen Shrewsbury as well, but company wide there's
probably up to twenty five really in the store at
a time, you'll see about fifteen. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (34:22):
Really, I gotta get on that site because I haven't
looked recently. Yeah crazy, Okay, tell us about hydro shield.

Speaker 3 (34:30):
Why is that such a hit hidro shield? Wood based
lamin it? You know, we have like as far as
a durability rating, it's an eighty four, which is a
higher durability rating for a laminate floor. Lambited floors in
the past weren't waterproof. This is waterproof. They're water resistant,
So it's a waterproof flooring at a really really good price.

Speaker 1 (34:46):
In a dishwasher leaks, good to go, nothing's going to happen.

Speaker 3 (34:51):
No, Nope. You can even sit there for a day
or two and nothing. You'll be fine.

Speaker 1 (34:55):
You think people are just looking for no maintenance type homes.

Speaker 3 (34:57):
Yes, yes, yes, and that in the wood based lament.
It can go in the basement as well. It just
looks in some cases, like I said, vinyls come a
long way, but it's wood based, so it looks more
like wood versing plastic versus like plastic. Right, But some
of the vinyl floors really like they've come a long way.
Like I said, I could be six feet away from
one and have to get closer to it to know
that's not wood and that is vinyl. But the Hidro

(35:20):
shields a really really affordable price, really good way of layer.
So it's not kind of you could take a key
and scratch and it's not going to scratch the violin
and it's a waterproof.

Speaker 1 (35:26):
Oh good. Now here's an express question, because this is
now like the trend since COVID, everybody wants exterior living.
Now I'm putting pools in on every house. Right. We
stopped putting pools in night from nineteen eighty eight. When
I started, eighty eight or eighty nine, seventy.

Speaker 2 (35:42):
Well, I was you had made eighty seven, so you
figure out the mess.

Speaker 1 (35:45):
Okay, eighty eight. She pushes it like she's like, okay,
let's say eighty eight, eighty eight, eighty nine, ninety ninety one,
niney two. People ask for pools after that once in
a great while, from the early ninety until COVID. Now
we have pools at every house.

Speaker 3 (36:02):
I think everybody bought a pool.

Speaker 1 (36:04):
So where I'm going with this is.

Speaker 2 (36:05):
Before that, if you had a pool, your house was
a deter and no want to buy it.

Speaker 1 (36:08):
No want to buy a house, with a pool because
they were double incomparents thought, oh my god, what if
my child runs to the pool and the nanny's not
paying attention. They dropped. It was not as selling. It
wasn't that it was a you know, a great No,
it was the opposite. But now outdoor living has become
so big, which you never think we'd see in mass right,
because we got eight nice weeks here. But I'm out

(36:31):
there buying exterior tile all the time, so that I'm
setting you up for this question here. Now, how big
are you guys getting into exterior stone? Because last time
I was in there, they were like four or five
that were literally certified for exterior stone. Right, So but
some people will use these persons, they'll use them outside

(36:52):
and they're going to crack and they don't know it
because they're not buying the right thing. So how big
are you guys getting into exterior stone?

Speaker 3 (37:00):
So most of our porcelain is rated to go outside.
It's all the way is freeze rated. Yeah, so you'd
be good to go up there in New England for that.
We also carry pavers now like in the Royland Story
of four Pavers, but we just that product line of
so many has talked to you about. We decided you're
bringing another set of papers, so we'll have eight moving
forward to expand out to a Soma because it's done
pretty well in the store. But most of our porcelain
is star rated or freeze rated and you can take

(37:22):
it all outside ceramic, no, but porcelain waterproof.

Speaker 1 (37:25):
So we bought a beautiful twenty four by forty eight
for a cabin. All that exterior gray twenty four by.

Speaker 2 (37:32):
Forty eight, right, wait, that was all from there? Yes,
I didn't know that.

Speaker 1 (37:36):
Yeah, yeah, and it came out amazing outside twenty four
before amazing the way that flor wall or use it.
All exterior walkways from the you walked out the door. Yeah,
and all the way around. Oh god, I don't even
know we feet of that to see a picture. It
was a couple of thousand square feet of that. Wow. Yeah, yeah,

(37:57):
And I got nervous cover not covered, not covered, we
mean covering the walkways are covered? O. No, No, nothing's
covering that.

Speaker 3 (38:03):
Amazing.

Speaker 1 (38:04):
So then winter time came and I went, okay, summer, spring,
summer's coming, let me see what it looked like. Great,
I'm like, oh god, let me go buy this house
and check it out before the client calls me. No
one crack piece, nothing had moved. But I get My
guys are good on laboring, right, they really are good.

Speaker 3 (38:23):
Important.

Speaker 1 (38:24):
But everything was perfect, and I was so afraid to
use it, and we did and it worked out great.
The exterior the home. I have to check and see
where we got that one. But you guys had helped
with that one too. I gotta remember that one. We
built a lot out here, but no exterior. So I

(38:44):
don't like the little papers. That's just not how I built.
I want the big twenty four by forty eighths on
my walkways.

Speaker 3 (38:51):
Because we had sixteen by forty eighth Now rout door
papers as well too.

Speaker 1 (38:54):
Seen by forty eight a little bit of.

Speaker 3 (38:57):
A different size, but yeah.

Speaker 1 (38:59):
I didn't see. Oh I'm holding my own thought again.
You got the clock in front of me. Okay, I'm
city stumbling with's the Toughest Nails on WBZ. We'll be
right back and welcome back to Toughest Nails on WBZ,
And I'm here with.

Speaker 3 (39:10):
Samantha Chad, Mike Falco.

Speaker 1 (39:12):
Okay, Mike, how do people find you that don't know
Florida Court take it from here, buddy.

Speaker 3 (39:17):
So always you can find us on the website. You
can google Florida Core. You can go to floridacourt dot
com to find the site nearest you. We have Like
I said once, I'm in the Road Island Market, one
store in Royal corad Island. So my name is Mike Falco.
If you're in the Road Island Market you want to
come see us, please do so.

Speaker 1 (39:33):
Are they hiring?

Speaker 3 (39:34):
We are hiring. We're always hiring. But yeah, but if
you want to come get a personalized service, free design
services for all the pros out there and contractors out there.
Are you ready to service your needs whatever you need
and be a partner in any build you have?

Speaker 1 (39:46):
Perfect everybody, have a great, safe weekend. This is City
Stumbo WBZ and we will see you next week.