Mark Lucas, Partner at independent carpet and flooring retailer Michael John Flooring, celebrates its recent 80th anniversary milestone.
Since 1946, Michael John Flooring has been supplying and installing quality carpet, wood and luxury vinyl flooring across Leicester and Leicestershire. March marked a special month for the business, reaching its 80th anniversary. The company, which trades from its two stores in Leicester and Oadby, taking full advantage of the occasion through marketing materials to an evening out for its dedicated staff.
“We celebrated with an evening out with all of our staff to thank them for their continued support,” Mark said. “For which we hired a timber lodge in the grounds of a historic hotel, where we had a sit-down meal with a live band. We are also going to hold a summer event to include previous colleagues and families, which will be an outdoor event with a BBQ and a live band too.”
Before continuing with the celebrations, Mark shared an insight into the company, its founders and some key milestone moments from the past eight decades. “The company was started in 1946 by Michael John Molloy and his son, also called Michael John. The original business was called Molloy’s and sold many things, with it being post war, many things were difficult to obtain, so it was a case of selling anything that they could obtain.
“As the company progressed it moved into clothing, work wear (many factories nearby), shoes, watches, sofa covers and many other things from several small stores. Following the death of his parents Michael John (son) took over the business, moved to new premises in 1959 (which we still work from alongside other showrooms).
“Following the abolishing of fixed pricing, meaning that we would struggle to compete with large department stores, Michael made the decision to move into something that required expertise and service, which happened to be carpets. The company continued to steadily expand over the following decades.”
Back in 2006, Michael retired at the age of 70, which is where Mark and some partners took over the business, having already served a couple of decades each. “Unfortunately, Michael passed away in December of last year at the age of 89, so he didn’t get to see the company achieve the 80th anniversary,” Mark continued. “We did reserve a place at the table for him at our recent celebrations. Currently we have four partners, between us we have been at the company for over 130 years!”
As Mark highlighted, the company transformed into what it is today back in 1959 where the focus shifted to carpets. The following year, the company purchased the property next door, which was a house at the time, extending the original showroom, while in the 1980s, the company was rebranded as Michael John Carpets.
It was this time period that saw the business grow again, acquiring a large property adjacent to the existing showroom, with the company spending two years altering the building. In 1988, it opened a new additional showroom to showcase oriental rugs, selling Persian, Turkish, Indian, Chinese and modern rugs. In 1990, the company was recognised with the Dupont Stainmaster Master Store Award too.
In more recent years, 2017 saw the company acquire a competitor’s business ‘Hardy & Draper’ following retirement, while 2018 saw the opening of an additional showroom ‘Oadby House’ in conjunction with a kitchen company and a bespoke sofa company, offering a one stop shop for retail customers, interior designers and developers.
Last year, the business closed the former Hardy & Draper building to prepare for it to be demolished ahead of plans for a new showroom to be built. Remaining tight-lipped on other plans to come, Mark said that recent trading has been positive and more plans for growth are in the pipeline.
“We have continued to show growth in the last 12 months, albeit it seems that we have to work harder to win orders. When things quieten down, there are many competitors that will work on almost no profit to win orders. Over the last 80 years, we’ve been a name people can trust, with our reputation growing to be known as Leicestershire’s premier flooring retailer.
“With flooring, the growth is still in the luxury vinyl tile sector, particularly parquet designs. Stair runners with a taped edge are also really popular. Looking ahead, for us, we never stand still. We have some exciting plans, but nothing that I can reveal at this moment. You’ll have to watch this space!”
Taking a moment to reflect once more on its historic milestone, Mark said it’s an “incredible achievement” and one, he and the staff, are “incredibly proud of”. “There are not many companies to have reached this age, it’s a big moment for us.
“We have also achieved it while continuing to expand year-on-year. We have really well-presented high-street showrooms at a time when many retailers are closing their doors. We cover most sectors, in that we have retail customers, interior designers, small bespoke developers as well as large scale developers.
“We’re excited to continue our 80th anniversary celebrations throughout the year and look to continue our growth and story.”
