New venue, new location, new dates and a whole new vibe. That describes the upcoming 2025 Floors & More annual convention, set to take place March 24–26 in St. Petersberg, Fla.
Typically held in Las Vegas two days prior to the kick-off of Surfaces—followed by a summer event eight months later—Floors & More opted to hold one longer, dedicated event moving forward. “This is the result of feedback from our advisory council as well as our vendors,” said Vinnie Virga Jr., the newly elevated president of the company. “We’re very excited about the format, which will take place over multiple days. We have some incredible things planned.”
Indeed, Floors & More— which includes Floor to Ceiling and Big Bob’s Flooring Outlet dealers—has organized a value-packed, interactive yet fun-filled convention for members. In keeping with this year’s theme, “Outshine,” Floors & More management is focusing on ways to not only engage members but also provide the tools for them to succeed in today’s market.
“For this year’s conference we’re really going to focus on how to outperform the industry and the competition,” Virga stated. “The goal is not to perform at average; you need to be above average—and the only way to be above average is to run your business above average. That’s above average service, above average ethics and work ethic, really dedicating yourself to the process and trusting in the process. That also means you can’t pull back on marketing. You’ve got to put resources into marketing if you’re going to be successful in a tough economy. You can’t wait for the business to come to you. You have to go find the business.”
Floors & More also plans to unveil extensions to private-label programs and new vendors at convention. These include partnerships on the technology side of the business as well as vendors specializing in cabinets, paint, countertops, etc. Additionally, the group is launching new digital initiatives and is in the process of updating its member portal. According to Virga, this will provide a much more efficient, user-friendly experience to help members get the information they need quickly.
“We are best in class in digital marketing, and we’ve invested in upgrading all of our member sites,” Virga said. “We’re nearly through the transition of moving them over, and we are upgrading them to our new provider, which specializes in AI technology. Moreover, with our new provider, we can enjoy industry exclusivity.”
But it’s not all work and no play. For its fun-night-out event, Floors & More has reserved portions of Busch Gardens in Tampa. Here, it will have its own private section with exclusive ride times on three of their most popular attractions. The festivities will also include a fully catered dinner, an open bar and DJ, caricature artists, arcade games and an animal petting experience.
For the finale, Floors & More plans to shuttle attendees to Raymond James Stadium, home of the 2021 Super Bowl Champions, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Members will get a tour of the Pirates Cove, where they will have the opportunity for photos. “They’re going to be giving stadium tours to all of our attendees, so they’ll get a chance to learn about the history of the stadium and the team,” Virga said. “We think it’s going to be an incredibly strong event.”
Membership on the rise
Floors & More is especially enthusiastic about its 2025 annual conference in light of a trend that shows a spike in membership. In 2023 the group added 22 new members, bringing the total that year to 100. In 2024 that number grew to upwards of 125 locations—which includes Floor to Ceiling dealers as well as Big Bob’s discount stores. It was quite a feat, according to Virga, given overall economic conditions during that period.
“We grew membership by 30% in 2023, which was the greatest growth number we’ve ever had,” he stated. “Although that growth has continued, it’s a little harder to continue to grow by high double digits as you get bigger. However, we’re still growing rapidly. We’re operating in 40 states and one Canadian province.”
While membership has grown across the board in key territories, Floors & More is seeing particularly significant membership activity in the South and the Northeast regions. “Those two markets have been where we’ve gotten a lot of growth, and it’s been focused attention on just building out the network,” Virga explained. “Once upon a time, those were our smallest markets and now they’re our largest markets. Looking at 2025 we expect to continue aggressive growth in the middle and western parts of the country.”
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