If you’re looking for the best Dalton wholesale flooring supplier, you found us! Take advantage of our free sample program and shop all our floors in Dalton, Georgia. I’ll explain how Dalton has become a central hub for wholesale floors and cover a bit of its origin story. So, let’s start with a brief history of Dalton, Georgia.
Table of Contents
1. History of Dalton Georgia’s Flooring Industry! Carpet Capitol of the World!
1.1 Dalton, Georgia was a Textile Town
1.2 The Carpet Industry Boomed, Dalton Flooring Flourished
2. Wholesale Floors & Big Retailers
2.1 Local Flooring Stores Offer Value in Service
2.2 Mom n’ Pop Stores Suffered
3. Dalton Georgia Offers Big Value in Flooring
3.1 Defining Value
3.2 Dalton’s Value in Competition
4. How Do We Offer Value?
4.1 3 Pillars of Value
5. Really Cheap Floors of Dalton Address
History of Dalton Georgia’s Flooring Industry! Carpet Capital of the World!
Dalton, Georgia has been the center of the carpet universe since before I was born. By default, it has also become the epicenter for all flooring, due to industry leaders Shaw Flooring and Mohawk maintaining large market shares of virtually every segment of the flooring business. So what is all the fuss about, and can you still save money, shopping in Dalton?
Dalton, Georgia was a Textile Town
Dalton started as a textile town, mainly in the bedspread business. As handmade linens became machine-made, the factories sprang up quickly. With them came supporting businesses like yarn mills, dye plants, and transportation companies. As the business migrated into carpet due to a similar manufacturing process, the amount and size of the supporting businesses continued to grow, resulting in an industry that was centralized in Northwest Georgia. Then, like now, operations like extruding, dying, tufting, even sample production represent a huge percentage of GNP and workforce participation in the Dalton area.
The Carpet Industry Boomed, Dalton Flooring Flourished
In the ‘70s and ’80s, there were literally hundreds of carpet manufacturers (and hundreds of retailers, it seemed) all trying to find their niche in carpet production. Each mill had discontinued, overstock, and second quality material to get rid of, and the plethora of retailers made that possible. Customers drove from all over the US to shop at retailers like Carpets of Dalton or Beckler’s Carpet, owned by the Beckler family.
Then, in the late ’80s, companies like Shaw, Mohawk, and Beaulieu started buying up competitors. Soon, those 3 companies controlled over 80% of US carpet production. This meant that the market of promotional goods changed, due to fewer sources being available. At this time, the big retailers got bigger, and smaller retailers fell by the wayside. Next, let’s talk about how this affected the local economy.
Wholesale Floors & Big Retailers
As these retailers got bigger, they controlled more of the market and became integral to the flooring business nationwide. These big retailers left the promotional business behind, for the most part, and depended more on their considerable buying power (and back door contacts) to increase market share. Sadly, this growth in market share came at the expense of the mom n pop stores that were scattered around the nation. Each town has one or two of these stores. Stores that may have been in the family for 2 or 3 generations, same as our business.
Local Flooring Stores Offer Value in Service
Your local store would show you a carpet, help you make a selection that is perfect for your needs, then measure your house and give you a quote. Whereupon you might call a large Dalton dealer and ask them for a price on the same piece of carpet. No surprise, the Dalton store would be a lot cheaper. Is it because your local store was gouging you? Absolutely not. That woman that helped you with your color selections doesn’t work for free. And her son that came out to measure your house doesn’t either. The Dalton retailers had none of these expenses and could take a sale away from almost anyone.
The manufacturers enabled this behavior for a long time before they started offering programs to retailers around the USA that protected them against the Dalton stores, but it never really worked. Huge upfront costs limited participation, and in some cases the manufacturer would sell the same thing under a different name. This allowed the Dalton guys to inflict more casualties.
Then the Big Box stores entered the market, and the manufacturers had another outlet to pursue, and the small retailers another enemy to defend against. Manufacturers, ever being slow learners, were quick to lower margins for the box stores in the constant push for volume. In the carpet business, the same as most manufacturing, there is an optimum amount of production that allows the best cost to produce. Somehow that number is always just a little higher than what is currently being produced, and the boxes seemingly offered the opportunity to reach that point.
Mom n’ Pop Stores Suffered
This was a tough period for the mom n pops, as they offered services and experiences that the boxes could not match, but customers still flocked to the box stores for the savings. Savings that the manufacturers enabled, at the expense of the local retailers.
You may be wondering why I am telling you all of this. After all, you just wanted to know why Dalton is the Flooring Capital of the World. Just bear with me. It gets more interesting later.
So here we are, in the new millennium. Box stores control the vast majority of the flooring business. What is Dalton’s place in the grand scheme of things?
Dalton Georgia Offers Big Value in Floors
The Big Boxes like Home Depot, Lowes, Lumber Liquidators, and Floor and Décor fight 24 hours a day to offer their customers the lowest price, and they are good at it. Unfortunately, with the lowest price comes the least quality. There is no way around this for massive flooring liquidators. Buying power will not make you the cheapest option. Selling the lowest quality product possible is how you do that, and the boxes are great at that.
Hey, don’t take my word for it. Ask a box store what the thickness of the wear layer is on their LVP. Or what kind of yarn is that carpet made from? At best you get a blank look. Maybe you get head swivels….upward glances. They don’t want you asking those questions. They want you to ask “how much is it?” and “how long is the warranty?”. These are signs of an uneducated consumer, waiting to be plucked. Don’t be this person.
Defining Value
What is value, and why is it available only in Dalton? First of all, value can be found anywhere. Low price is all about the numbers, while value is based on price, but is relative to your needs. Do you need a higher quality wood product? Many times a consumer can spend another 10-20% and get a floor with specs that are much better suited to the application at hand. When shopping for a floor, pay less attention to the price per foot and more attention to the job price.
I don’t know how many times I have seen a customer looking for a small lot of flooring, say 500 sq ft, freak out over a 20 cent upgrade, regardless of how much quality difference, until you tell them it would be $100 more. “Oh….just $100? And I get an attached back and twice the wear layer? I guess I can do that”.
Dalton’s Value in Competition
How does Dalton offer value? Mostly, plain competition. There are still many, many retailers in Dalton, and the surrounding areas. And they have learned to get by on very low margins. There are about a half dozen, including ReallyCheapFloors.com, that maintain a retail location in Dalton as well as having a considerable web presence. Even among these retailers, there are different approaches to what we offer, and how we offer different types of value.
Most manufacturers, having learned from the past, have some sort of internet policy in place. Some will not let their products be sold online, while others require the retailer to observe a Minimum Advertised Price policy. The Minimum Advertised Price policy is put in place to protect the thousands of dealers across the USA that offer a professional and skilled service. All of us at ReallyCheapFloors approve of these policies. My mother and father started this business as a local floorcovering store in 1973, and I grew up with Dalton stores being a mere 80 miles away. It was tough at times, and I appreciate what the manufacturers are doing with regards to the internet business.
ReallyCheapFloors.com Dalton Wholesale Floors
Contractors Love the Dalton Wholesale Values
Contractors especially take advantage of the Dalton wholesale floors specials that we offer at ReallyCheapFloors.com. Our power buys and closeout deals on luxury vinyl tiles and planks, as well as hardwood floors that are perfect for a one room job or a castle. Our company has been serving contractors, flipper, and landlords, as well as consumers, for over 50 years with their hardwood, laminate and tile flooring needs.
How Do We Offer Value?
So how do we offer great value in our Dalton location? Let me count the ways…..
- Wholesale Floors
- Promotional Products
- Flooring Returns from Big Box Stores
- 1st Quality Floors at Low Margins
- Private Label Products
- Call about Somerset, Coretec, etc. deals we can’t publicly post online
Honestly, it depends on the manufacturer as well as the product. For some companies, we sell their promo goods. If they have too much of something, they call us. Another company will send us all of their returns, mostly from the Box Stores. One major manufacturer sells us first quality inventory at really low margins, in hopes that we can get their volume numbers up to that happy place!
We private label products to pass down savings as well. Private label floors typically offer our best deals. Others, like Coretec and Somerset products, are available, but we do not show them on our website. Wanna great deal? Call us! Or come browse our hardwood flooring as well as luxury vinyl planks and tile.
3 Pillars of Value
There are 3 aspects of value. First, we have to have a great product at a great price. Second, we have to know a lot about our product, as well as the market, so we can give you good advice.
The third, and most important part, is having an educated consumer that knows enough to separate the lowest price from the best value. The lowest price makes you happy today. Buying a great value makes you happy for years. That’s why many are looking for discount hardwood flooring in Dalton, Georgia. We believe people want real value.
At ReallyCheapFloors.com, we as a family-owned company have a reputation of knowing what we are doing, and have tons of blogs and videos to help you make an informed decision. Please use these opportunities, and do not hesitate to phone or email with questions that are specific to your need, or even to clarify a point. We love helping and sharing information! If you want to view our selection of in shop flooring visit us today! If you like to shop online, visit our products page to see all of our inventory.
Really Cheap Floors of Dalton Address
2752 Dug Gap Rd
Dalton, GA 30721
Store Hours
Monday – Friday: 8:30am – 5:30pm
Saturday: 9am-4pm
(706) 428-0400
Really Cheap Floors of Dalton Warehouse Bay 2
