Ever-growing Carpet Company Has the Local Community Well-covered

As American Carpet One celebrates its 39th Anniversary as a locally owned and operated full-service home floor and design center, the company continues to grow and improve along with the communities it serves.

It began serving Hawaii on Jan. 2, 1974 in a 1,000-square-foot space with just five employees. Fast forward nearly four decades later, and American Carpet One has grown to include 110 employees from administrative staff to installers working out of its current Sand Island locale, which includes an 8,000-square-foot showroom and 33,000 square feet of warehouse space. The ample storage capacity allows the company to stock the most flooring product in the Islands, while also expediting the delivery and installation of products for its customers.

American Carpet One was the first to introduce Stainmaster to Hawaii in 1986, and became a Stainmaster Flooring Center — one of 200 nationwide. The distinction gave the company access to the exclusive products and services, as well as the Ultra Life Advantage, which affords customers a warranty on the products.

The company also benefits from its involvement with the Carpet One cooperative, which it joined in 1988 and serves as the seventh largest cooperative in the world. The cooperative includes roughly 1,200 other locally owned and operated businesses across the U.S., Canada, New Zealand, Australia and Guam. According to American Carpet One sales manager Aaron Okamoto, collectively last year the cooperative generated more than $3.8 billion in floor covering purchases, and the resulting savings are passed on to the customers here in Hawaii.

In 2001, American Carpet One introduced its insurance division. While the operation does not sell insurance, it is the designated floor covering installer for State Farm, Allstate, USAA, Fireman’s Fund and Farmer’s Insurances. The service is set up as a direct repair program through which the insurance carriers have enrolled, so when customers file a claim, the carriers then assign American Carpet One to handle the job.

Three years later, American Carpet One became the first to offer one of the most popular flooring options on the market in Karndean — a vinyl floor covering billed as “The Perfect Floor.” The Luxury Vinyl Tile represents the fastest-growing floor covering category in the world. As Okamoto explained, “It’s a pure vinyl that provides a stain resistant flooring option. The product fits with our island lifestyle. When installed properly, it makes your floor pretty much water resistant, so in the event of flooding, it will survive. Anytime wood, laminate or carpet gets damaged, you need to rip it out, throw it away, and start again. This is one floor that will survive, and termites haven’t figured out how to eat it yet, so we’re calling it the perfect floor. The design applications are endless.”

For large industrial flooring replacement projects, American Carpet One acquired a secret weapon: The Terminator. The ride-along scraping machine pulls up all sorts of flooring, from vinyl to wood and carpet, and makes way for new applications. The process has led to substantial reductions in labor costs, which equate to savings for customers. Three years ago, the company also introduced a Healthier Living installation process, which guarantees to improve the indoor air quality during a flooring installation by killing bacteria and allergens and purifying the air.

Last year, American Carpet One became the first company in Hawaii to have all its journeymen carpet installers approved by Certified Floorcovering Installers (CFI), an international non-profit organization established in the early 1990s.

The installers are trained and certified with the end goal of assisting homeowners and customers by ensuring that those working on their projects are indeed qualified. Installers working at the company need to pass both written and performance tests in order to gain CFI certification. These certified installers are identified by the CFI seals on both their uniforms and work vehicles.

“We don’t just sell flooring; we build relationships in the community,” said Okamoto. “We make friends and that’s what it’s all about.”

To set up a free consultation, including measurements of a home or business, log on to www.AmericanCarpetOne.com or call 447-2752.

AMERICAN CARPET COMPANY
contact // 447-2752
address // 302 Sand Island Access Road
web // www.AmericanCarpetOne.com