Carpet One Floor and Home has been providing floor covering in the Columbia area for 27 years. Wayne and Nancy Kirby started the family-owned business after they got the news that they were going to have twins. Wayne was a traveling floor covering representative and needed to be home at night to help with the twins. They had the opportunity to invest in the Rhett Jackson Company, a well-respected and quality floor covering store that had been in business since 1952.
When the best dealers throughout the Southeast began joining the Carpet Co-op of America to bundle their purchasing power, Wayne decided to join too. In 1987, he became the co-op’s 86th dealer. Today, it has grown to more than 1,500 stores and is the largest purchaser of retail floor covering in the world.
Being a family business is very important at Carpet One. Presently Nancy, Wayne, Kelly Kirby and Ann Miller are the operators of Carpet One in Columbia and Lexington. Nancy was a Business English and Accounting teacher in Richland Two prior to the purchase of Carpet One. Wayne was in manufacturing for ten years with Milliken and Company and spent four years traveling, selling floor covering. Kelly studied Interior Design and Art History at Auburn. Ann received her MBA in Math from The University of South Carolina. Bob Dukes, Wayne and Nancy’s son, a graduate of Clemson, implemented the insurance business with State Farm, Allstate, Encompass and Foremost before his sudden passing on March 13, 2012.
“We take pride in customer service,” says Wayne. “Ninety percent of our business is through word of mouth and customer referrals. We have the best prices and best warranties of anyone in the business.”
An example of the warranties are:
1. Guaranteed lowest price on equal value products.
2. Beautiful Guarantee: If you don’t like your Carpet One carpet – and certain hardwood, vinyl, ceramic, laminate and cork products – within 30 days, Carpet One will replace the product for FREE, including if you don’t like the color.
3. Life Time Installation Warranty: If the carpet buckles, seams come apart, or there any problems with the installation, Carpet One will fix it free.
Carpet One’s ultimate goal is to give the customer a great purchasing experience at a competitive price, so he or she will recommend them to friends and relatives. “We want every customer to be proud that they chose Carpet One to take care of their floor covering needs,” Wayne says. “We want every customer to feel as pleased as we like to feel when we make a major household purchase.”
