MDG Flooring America puts its customers in the winner’s circle

By Ken McEntee

For many people, the past year has reestablished the importance of family bonds and the support of friends and neighbors in the community. Family-owned MDG Flooring America has emphasized those same relationships since the business was started almost 20 years ago, says President and co-owner Steve Walbolt, who runs the company with his cousin, co-owner and Vice President Donny Green.

“Family is what sets us apart from many other flooring stores,” Steve insists. “We are a very close family, but we also enjoy close relationships with our extended family, which includes the 20 people on our team, as well as our customers. We like to think of ourselves as the place where friends send friends.”

Steve’s uncle, Mike Green, whose monogram provided the company’s name, started the business in 2001 and quickly got his children—Donny and Sales Manager Christie Jackson—involved.

“At first, Uncle Mike focused on new construction, but the emphasis eventually changed to residential remodeling,” Steve recalls. “He opened our retail location in 2004. My cousins have been working here since they were kids.”

Three years after opening the store, Donny and his mother, Carol, took over the operation after Mike was seriously injured in a car accident. Later, Steve, who was looking to exit the corporate world after 13 years, partnered with Donny to purchase the store from Mike and Carol, beginning the second generation of family owners.

“We knew that 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. I think our customers enjoy walking into a friendly, family-oriented atmosphere.”

Today, he says, 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.”

The MDG team is continuously kept up to speed with daily training.

“We have people who have been working with us for a long time—including an installer who has been with us for almost 20 years—but we still want to emphasize close attention to detail,” Steve says. “We do continuous training—literally on a daily basis—even if it’s a seemingly small detail that we need to go over.”

Many people assume that volume buying gives national retailers an unmatchable price advantage.

Not so, Steve assures.

That’s because MDG Flooring 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 that you don’t love.”

The MDG family, Steve says, treasures its relationship with the Medina County community. During normal times, the company organizes a variety of charity events throughout the year, including a toy collection and a coat drive for kids, a school supply drive and a food drive.

“During our Toys for Tots drive, we give customers 10 percent off their flooring materials, with the balance going for toys,” says Steve, who serves on the board of directors of the Northern Medina County Chamber Alliance. “We partner with organizations like Feeding Medina County as well as the Medina and Brunswick city schools. The community connection is an important reason to support local businesses.”

MDG Flooring America is located at 3812 Pearl Road, Suite C, in Medina. You can find more information by visiting MDGFlooringAmerica.com or by checking Facebook @MDGFlooringAmerica. You can call the store at 330-725-5252.