MDG Flooring America is so confident you’re going to love your new floor, if you don’t, they’ll replace it, for free
By Ken McEntee
Mike Green learned the carpeting business from the ground floor up.
“Dad was a teenager when he went to work in a carpeting warehouse,” shares Christie Jackson, Mike’s daughter and sales manager at MDG Flooring America, the family business Mike established 20 years ago. “He worked his way up from the warehouse to installation and eventually into management of flooring stores. From there, he had the opportunity to put all of his experience to good use by starting his own company.”
Although Mike has been retired from MDG since he was severely injured in a car accident in 2007, the store remains a family enterprise owned by Christie’s brother, Donny, and their cousin, Steve Walbolt. Christie was involved even before her father became an entrepreneur.
“From the time I was little, I had always kind of hung out with my dad,” she recalls. “When he was an installer, I would go with him and help pick up carpet scraps. At the time, he was still working at another store in Strongsville. I later started to work with him in the Warranty Department before getting into sales.”
At first, Mike’s new business—MDG Flooring Wholesalers—supplied flooring to building contractors from a location on East Smith Road, in Medina.
“He had built strong relationships with new home builders,” Christie says. “The emphasis on retail sales came later.”
In 2004, Mike opened the retail showroom at its present location on Pearl Road. Three years later, following his accident, Donny and his mother, Carol, took over management of the showroom. Later, Steve, who was looking to exit the corporate world after 13 years, partnered with Donny to buy the store from Mike and Carol, beginning the second generation of family owners.
“We knew we’d make an awesome team,” Steve says. “My background was in retail and Donny knew flooring inside and out. It’s been so much more fun coming to work where we continue to build a family legacy. Besides working with my cousins, my mom also works here. It makes it fun, and I think our customers enjoy walking into a friendly, family-oriented atmosphere.”
Today, Steve explains, MDG offers a full assortment of carpeting, tile and other floor coverings, along with professional installation.
“Our family has always taken pride in doing things right and providing superior quality service,” Steve says. “There’s a lot more to the flooring business than many people realize. Maybe anybody can measure a room, but not everybody is able to anticipate obstacles and understand technical issues like when you might need to build up a sub floor. That’s why we employ our own in-house installers instead of using sub-contractors. It’s important that we can compete with anybody on price, but it’s more important that our customers are satisfied throughout the sales and installation process. When you buy from us, we’re with you every step of the way until the job is finished.”
And when you shop at MDG, Christie assures, you won’t be pressured. “We’re here to help our customers from start to finish, but we don’t want to be overwhelming,” she promises. “We are a locally owned business and active members in our community. We want to be known as more than a business. We also want to be known as philanthropists who support the people in our community while offering a personal, casual experience in the showroom.”
Many people assume volume buying gives national retailers an unmatchable price advantage. Not so, Steve assures.
That’s because MDG Flooring America is a member of a national buying co-op that leverages the same volume discounts as the big box stores—and those savings are passed along to customers, he explains.
MDG Flooring America’s Confidence Plus helps to reduce the stress of making a final decision. Under Confidence Plus, if, within 30 to 90 days after installation —depending on the product—you’re not happy with your new floor for any reason, MDG will replace it with a floor of equal value.
“A product may look different in your home than you expected when you saw it on a sample board,” Steve says. “With Confidence Plus, you’re not stuck with a color you don’t love.”
Mike, Christie says, is proud of the family legacy he started 20 years ago.
So is she.
“That legacy is the reason I’m still here,” she says. “I want it to continue. I watched Dad work very hard for many years to create this business, and 20 years is a real achievement.”
MDG Flooring America is located at 3812 Pearl Road, Suite C, in Medina. You can find more information by visiting MDGFlooringAmerica.com, or checking out the latest news on Facebook @MDGFlooringAmerica. You can call the store at 330-725-5252.