For over forty years Australian FloorStyle has been a leading Australian flooring group and more recently, a highly successful co-op. With a revitalized head office administration and sporting fresh new ideas and a new look, the group of independent retailers is set to continue that tradition for decades to come.
From Mandurah to Wynyard to MacKay, Australian FloorStyle members enjoy the proven benefits of a large buying group while also benefitting from significantly lower joining and membership fees. Australian FloorStyle is not a franchise, it’s a co-operative or co-op, where members enjoy the freedom to manage their own business; the freedom to present their store and their business in any way they choose; the freedom to continue to run their business under their own company name; the freedom to keep their local identity.
Australian FloorStyle is an independent association of individuals who collectively and fairly owns and operates the business, with the intent to better serve their community (members). The advantages of membership are substantial and include equal status through equal control, access to discounted products and services, business sustainability because more people are making key decisions, more power in the market, all profits from rebates in excess of operating costs returned to members, and social and educational benefits provided through an annual conference, regional training sessions, and other members of the group.
Four Decades of Growth
Australian FloorStyle group was established in 1983 when a number of FURN1TUREONE group businesses joined a carpet buying cluster known as the ‘Blue Ribbon’ Group, which was half -a-dozen flooring retailers in the Sydney metropolitan area. Tom Basha of Basha’s Floors and Blinds in Nowra was one of the original members to initiate the talks. The group members are committed to offering the best flooring service in their area and uphold the highest level of integrity, ethics, service and standards. No-one works harder for locals than a local store with a local identity.
Initially, stores were mostly located across New South Wales but now, with steady growth, Australian FloorStyle stores can be found extensively across NSW, Victoria, South Australia, Queensland, and in Tasmania and West Australia. The group changed its name from Blue Ribbon to Australian FloorStyle in 1996 and in 2017 became a distributing co-operative that distributes any annual profits to members. The co-op now totals 54 members with 59 stores, including three new members in this past five months! Every store is unique yet offers their customers the genuine power of a large buying group, with members also able to source their own product to better service their clients’ individual design needs.
Co-Operative in Every Way
Australian FloorStyle exists for the benefit of members and as such, for the benefit of their customers. While there are guidelines, there are no hard and fast rules. Australian FloorStyle differs from other flooring groups in that they give their members full autonomy, enabling them to completely dedicate themselves to crafting and creating styles designed for the modern Australian household. Any decisions affecting the group are made democratically, and assets are used for mutual, rather than individual benefit.
Members pay an extremely small joining fee to become affiliate members. If an affiliate meets the co-operatives business criteria, after twelve months, they are invited by the Board of Directors to become accredited members and shareholders. The Directors are appointed from the membership by the group members. The current Directors are Brain Fitzsimmons (Chairperson), David Quilty, Martin Loy and John Elasi. Board members serve three years, but often commit to much longer terms. All of the directors on the board have a deep, working knowledge of the industry, and each still manage their own business under their own company name.
Leanne Drysdale is Australian FloorStyle’s General Manager with a wealth of knowledge and experience from 36 years in the flooring industry across both the manufacturing and supply of carpet and carpet tiles. Leanne brings an original perspective to the role, with new ideas built on a sound industry background. Head office is lean, determined to work effectively in order to compete successfully with only two administrative people, Wendy and Joanne. Members can call Leanne at any time and will get two visits every year to help wherever she can. And next year the annual conference will be held in Sydney with all conference expenses except travel, covered by the group.
Co-Op Relationships
In any business, relationships are often the key to success. Many Australian FloorStyle member stores have been serving their locals for generations. They are well known in their local communities and their sales mostly come through word-of-mouth references; the best recommendation any business can achieve. They understand the needs of their local customers and are committed to upholding the highest levels of integrity, ethics, service and community involvement.
In addition to extremely low joining and membership fees, Members enjoy great buying capacity through relationships with some of the best flooring providers in Australia; and access to a range of bespoke products, manufactured largely in Australia for Australian FloorStyle. Leanne has had decades of experience with suppliers. She said, “Our suppliers are great people to deal with, they offer us excellent pricing on their high quality, locally made product. Of course, we would like our members to display our core products, but if something sells in a particular area, our members are free to pursue any supplier.”
If you are a flooring retailer and want to keep your own independence, but also be part of a co-operative of likeminded individuals to achieve better pricing, access to quality suppliers and the opportunities of networking with other members, call Australian FloorStyle and find out what they can offer. There’s a lot going on at Australian FloorStyle and members are set to reap the benefits.
