Joe Dobbs started Dobbs Mills in late 2002, early 2003. Dobbs Mills had one customer — Lowe’s. They sold mostly low-end polyester products. Mr. Dobbs then moved to Lowe’s as the head of its flooring division. Yes, he bought most of his carpet needs from his old company.
In 2006, Dobbs Mills decided to start a new division so it could sell directly to independent flooring dealers. Phenix was born. (It is my understanding they knew they weren’t spelling Phoenix correctly; but Phenix was available for website and national brand and trademark, so Phenix it is.)
Why would these folks think that the industry needed another carpet manufacturer? Didn’t Shaw, Mohawk and Beaulieu have every conceivable product ever imagined? Maybe. But the Phenix product line-up was all pre-dyed yarns. Phenix was solution-dyed cool before Engineered Floors made it very, very cool.
Phenix knew one other thing: Unbeknownst to flooring retailers, Lowe’s was and is a very demanding company. It might negotiate hard on prices, but it is unrelenting on its service demands from manufacturers. You had best have the goods on a truck by the time the order is received. And because it (Lowe’s) doesn’t have great sales folks, mistakes are made as to quantity, etc. and the manufacturer had best be ready to help Lowe’s fix its (Lowe’s) mistakes.
From day one, Phenix has built its reputation on excellent delivery service of pre-dyed polyester and nylon. It decided that Stainmaster Pet Protect was perfect for its nylon offerings. Customers loved it and Phenix took the next marketing step: Phenix offered a compatible LVT line that used the same Pet Protect application.
Then, before anyone else, Phenix decided to use Stainmaster Pet Protect as its marketing umbrella, if you will, and created a design solution display for LVT and carpet. It showed the customer LVT and carpet together; quickly the customer could see how these two textures could and do work in any home. This wasn’t just some carpet and LVT but specific designs and colors of both that were styled to work together. (Since the customer buys mixed textures, this is a very big deal.)
Its promotional material (POP) for these two products working together used words like “holistic” and “curated.” (It is my understanding that in Colorado, if you go to a marijuana retailer they will talk about curated offering — little buzz to super strong — and how its weed is somehow holistic. Or so I have been told.) Now, our industry and many others are hot on curated and holistic!
Phenix’s Design Solutions shows the customer how she can use both products together. And, they are visually or stylistically compatible. And, if she doesn't like the matching, she can choose from the whole color line to see what works best for her. The key is that the retailer can show the customer that it (retailer) knows the best way these products work together. It helps the conversation along.
Quietly, Phenix has become the fifth largest carpet mill in the U.S. It is first in service and very cool and curated in design.
Jonathan Trivers, a regular contributor to Floor Covering Weekly, is also the author of the marketWise section of FCW’s Statistical Report. He can be reached by email at jonathantrivers@gmail.com.