In just five years, Ultimate Floors has grown from a regional player to a burgeoning national brand in the flooring industry. And it’s not hard to see why. With a foundation built on innovation and a commitment to customer success, this family-owned business is capturing attention across the market.
Looking back, in 2019 Ultimate Floors operated from a single 30,000-square-foot distribution center in Southern California, offering 30 SKUs of flooring product and serving 65-80 retailers exclusively in the region. In the past five years, Ultimate Floors has invested about $3 million into the company while re-investing nearly every dollar of profit. The outcome? Today Ultimate Floors has expanded to three distribution centers: two in Los Angeles totaling 80,000 square feet and a 35,000-square-foot facility in Houston, Texas. This footprint enables the company to serve over 500 retail locations across 13 states, according to Ron Dardashti, managing partner.
Additionally, the company’s product catalog has grown to over 130 SKUs, encompassing SPC, glue-down LVT, traditional laminate and a growing favorite, Aqua Armor Tech—a 300-hour waterproof laminate—in addition to a wide range of sound solution underlayments and baseboards, casings and crowns.
With millions of square feet of product in stock across its distribution centers, Ultimate Floors ensures it’s always ready to meet the growing demands of its customers, a boon to the retail community constantly struggling with an uncertain supply chain.
People and product first
So what’s the secret sauce behind Ultimate’s exponential growth and ongoing success in the market? For starters, it’s familial atmosphere and focus on people first. “Every person at Ultimate, whether it be a delivery driver, upper management or field sales rep, cares deeply for the company because we foster a family culture—everyone feels heard and some of the changes that have provided the highest ROI have come from our team.”
Next, according to Dardashti, it’s all about the product. “Our Aqua Armor Tech waterproof laminate line has been a huge hit for us and has really helped us get to the next level,” Dardashti explained. “We knew that dealers were feeling the heat from SPC and quickly learned that dealers were moving away from thin SPC and pivoting to either Water resistant laminate or thicker SPC products. So we pivoted, too.”
Tapping the high-end market, Dardashti said the company focused on what it knew best, SPC and laminate, and made the new products as high-end as possible—which meant features like 30-mil wear layers, 7mm or 8mm thick-SPC products and AC4 and AC5 12.3mm–14.3mm-thick waterproof laminates with EIR texture. Lastly, Dardashti noted, the company invests heavily in color and pattern selection, often going through many variations and even crafting its own unique colors and patterns. “When you see an Ultimate Floors display in a showroom, it really pops to the end-user,” he noted. “We have gotten this feedback from a multitude of dealer partners.”
Dealers chime in
It’s not hard to find a flooring dealer who says they are loving the growth at Ultimate Floors. From superior customer service to a small business feel with big business benefits, to the performance of the product lines.
Take Michael Rivera of Stonewood Flooring in Albuquerque, N.M., for example. His store carries the famed Aqua Armor Tech line of waterproof laminate and has never looked back. “I love working with Ultimate Floors,” he said. “The products are performing great for us; customers gravitate to the visuals every day. We like the lengths, widths and broader collections—and the product selections are for all areas of the country, from traditional to modern.”
Jed Paschall, general manager of Redi Carpet San Diego, on the other hand uses the company’s plank products, including its SPC and LVT lines, in addition to some of its glue-down vinyl, mainly within the multifamily space. “One of the key indicators for me [as to a product’s quality] is just how many claims am I getting? And if I were to go back and run an audit over the last two or three years, I’ve had no claims from Ultimate. I love their product. It’s a remarkable product. And I’ve dealt with so many plank-related problems in this industry that when I was looking at their product, I knew those problems were going to go away because it’s just really high-quality. But they also work with us on pricing to make sure that we stay highly competitive.”
But it’s not just the product that the company’s retail partners love. It’s the relationship, they say, that really makes all the difference. “I’ve been in GM roles for quite a while with Ready or with other companies as well, and I meet with vendors all the time—and we have great relationships here at Ready with our vendors—but Ultimate just sets themselves apart,” Paschall said. “The first meeting I had was with Nick Warren, the VP of sales with Ultimate, and he said something that was really fascinating to me and I wished I’d hear from all my vendors: ‘Hey, how can I help you grow your business?’ And I was like, “Wow. That’s a great question.” So I went in and explained.”
Stonewood’s Rivera, too, said it’s the customer-first atmosphere that lured him in and has kept him satisfied. “The family atmosphere is what drew me to them,” he said. “The company’s customer service is great; they are on top of every order. Tal [Dardashti, managing partner] and Ron get involved on a daily basis, and the communication is awesome. Both brothers are hands on, and they have a great father to help guide them through the waters of flooring. I would recommend them to others.”
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