Business Spotlight: Hardwood flooring business offers exotic choices

Nothing is more timeless than a solid wood floor. These days, hardwood-flooring products run the gamut, according to Cindy Hiatt, president of Phoenix Hardwood Floors Inc.

A quick look around Phoenix Hardwood Floors' showroom reveals the many flooring options that are available. You can get a hardwood floor made out of cypress, walnut, mesquite, maple, red oak, white oak, hickory, birch, beech, alder, cedar, bamboo, native cherry, Brazilian cherry, mahogany, juniper, ash, teak, cork or pine. The company also carries several exotic woods, which have a distinctive look.

Then there are the engineered wood products, which are available in a wide variety of wood styles and finishes. Given the number of choices, even the most decisive customer can feel a bit overwhelmed when it comes time to choose a floor.

"Picking out a hardwood floor is a big decision," Hiatt said. "Hardwoods add value to a home, and they last a lifetime."

Hiatt, who has a bachelor's degree in nutrition, began working in the hardwood floors business in 1976 when she was living in Colorado. In 1984, Hiatt and her husband Rod Brown began specializing in hardwood flooring, and in 1988, they relocated to Rolla where they opened Phoenix Hardwood Floors. In 1995, Hiatt and Brown moved the business to Springfield.

Since moving to Springfield, Hiatt and Brown have managed to retain part of their customer base in Rolla, and the company's nine employees travel to job sites located within a 100-mile radius of the city. One-third of these jobs come from commercial clients while the other two-thirds come from individual homeowners.

"One of the first things we did when we moved here was try to make our business stand out from the other hardwood flooring companies in the area," Hiatt said. "There were about 25 other companies in Springfield at the time, and most of them were mom-and-pop operations."

Early on, Phoenix Hardwood Floors worked on several high-profile jobs. The company installed the floor at Hooter's Restaurant and rebuilt the stage at the Grand Palace in Branson. Many of the homes in Emerald Park, Millwood, Cooper Estates and Highland Springs also contain floors installed by Phoenix Hardwood.

According to Hiatt, most new homes contain some type of wood flooring due to consumer demand, she said. Wood flooring has increased in popularity in Missouri since the mid 1980s, when a number of low-maintenance, no-wax, hardwood floor products hit the market.

To ensure customers' satisfaction, Hiatt said Phoenix Hardwood Floors only sells the best name-brand hardwood floor products currently available, which come with a manufacturer's warranty. In addition, the company is bonded and insured.

As a service to customers, Phoenix Hardwood Floors also does specialty work, such as staircases, decorative wood trim and marble and tile inlays. Other customers call on the company to do routine maintenance work such as screening and coating. This process, which should be done every three to five years, prevents re-sanding and gives wood floors a fresh, new look.

Some of the most challenging jobs, however, are those that require repair or patch work to be done on an existing hardwood floor. For example, if a homeowner decides to remodel their house, it can be difficult to get a section of new flooring to match the existing wood floor. According to Hiatt, the company has done repair and patch work on hardwood floors that were more than 160 years old.

Although good service attracts and retains customers, Hiatt also has tried to help the company grow by doing a little networking within the local business community. Each year, Hiatt participates in the Parade of Homes, and she is a member of the Springfield Contractors Association, the Home Builders Association of Greater Springfield and the National Wood Flooring Association.

Hiatt also believes in the power of informal networking. Over the years, she has established and maintained friendships with other flooring contractors throughout the country, and they frequently exchange tips and information about how to install, repair and refinish various flooring products.

"Sometime in the future, I'd like to open a separate showroom in the downtown area," Hiatt said. "I think having a showroom downtown would increase walk-in traffic and help take our business to the next level."