When you walk into Schumacher Carpets and More, you’re sure to bump into one of the owners.
And they all look a little bit alike.
President Tom Miller, who has worked in the carpet industry for many years, has been at the helm of the business since 2005, when he and his wife, Sue Warner, bought it from the Schumacher family.
In 2016, Miller’s sons — Chris, who serves as vice president of finances, and Nic, who is vice president of operations — bought into the business, making it a true family affair.
“You are always dealing with one of the owners,” said Chris, noting they are the only three employees aside from the installers with whom they subcontract.
“We try to make sure everyone can do every job here,” added Tom. “But Chris handles things around the store, like the books and paying the bills. Nic and I are often out measuring and quoting jobs and working with our installers.”
“We like to make an appearance on the job as the owners,” added Nic. “We as the owners see every job through from beginning to end. And we go the extra mile because it’s the right thing to do.”
Schumacher Carpets first opened more than two decades ago, and Tom said they kept the Schumacher name because of its familiarity.
“We kept the name because this place had such a good reputation,” he said. “There was a value to the name.”
“We have a lot of repeat customers, people who come in because this is where they’ve come for years and they continue to get great service,” added Chris. “Word-of-mouth is really our strongest asset.”
Though the trio only has been working together at Schumacher Carpets for a few months, they seem to have hit their stride.
“We know each other’s strengths and weaknesses and work well together because of that. But we also know things that bug the others, so we can push buttons if we want,” Chris said, laughing.
“I think it’s really great to come to work with two people you really care about,” added Nic. “And I was excited about the opportunity to own my own business, especially after talking with my dad and hearing about the great experiences he’s had with our customers and how much fun he’s had getting to know them and transforming a room for them. So many of our customers are extremely grateful and happy with the end result of their projects, and that really makes coming to work worth it.”
It’s clear Tom — who hopes for semiretirement in the not-so-distant future — is happy to have his sons on board.
“Your business is kind of like your baby and you want to make sure it’s passed along in the right direction,” he said.
“We have the same vision for Schumacher Carpets as it has had for the last 30 years,” Nic said. “We will always be a service-first carpet store with a focus on community and treating people the right way.”
All three Millers agreed that customer service is a top priority.
“It feels good making people happy,” Tom said. “To us, that’s the way it should be. We are a small business so every customer that walks through the door is important to us.”
“It’s the little things that count’ is another one of our mottos,” added Chris, “because it means so much to our customers.”
The Millers said customers often are surprised at the variety of products one can find at Schumacher Carpets and More.
“That’s why we added the ‘and more,’” Tom said. The business offers a wide variety of flooring products — carpet, wood, vinyl, ceramic tile, luxury vinyl tile, and cork — and can handle a variety of projects beyond flooring, including backsplashes.
“You name it, we’ve got it,” said Chris, noting that project timelines range from 10 days to two weeks. They work most frequently with homeowners but do some commercial work, which is particularly busy right now, Tom said.
“We may get a call that one of our business accounts needs something measured so we drop everything and go do that right away,” Tom said.
“Our week can change pretty quickly,” added Nic, noting that flexibility is a key to keeping their business running productively. “We make sure we keep our installers on the job so we can get a job done as efficiently as possible to get our customers back in order in a timely manner.”
“And we are a faith-oriented business,” added Chris. “We stamp ‘In God We Trust’ on every envelope that goes out of here. When you focus on this first everything else seems to fall into place.”
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