Hardwood Industry Rising Costs
January 24, 2024
A small farm off Macon Hwy in Tecumseh is home to a busy boutique hardwood flooring company owned by Scott and Laura Schafer. The phone lines ring like alarms in the office as the labor force works diligently to fulfill orders in the mill. Together, Scott and Laura Schafer have expanded the umbrella under which custom hardwood flooring jobs fall. They have diversified their supply chain well, as Laura likes to say “to make the finest flooring, you must begin with the finest in raw materials”.
They have developed extensive and meaningful relationships which grant them access to an impressive array of technology, collaboration, and material. Not only can the Schafers proudly say that they only purchase materials from sustainable forests, but they also exercise their immense knowledge of the market to confidently understand which raw materials will best serve any given job. For example, Schafer Hardwood Flooring Company prefers their Walnut from a certain region in Iowa while only purchasing their Maple and Red Oak from the northern half of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula. Having amassed immeasurable experience as owners of a wood flooring business, The Schafers look at raw material differently than most industry players and, most importantly, with respect. They understand that they must work with the natural product as opposed to against it and they analyze environments by region: assessing each region with metrics of horticultural value, yield, and more.
This year alone, they have completed orders all over North America and their commitment to quality is realized more with each order fulfilled. Recently, a Developer from Virginia called Laura Schafer to express how impressed he was with the construction, quality, and overall capability of V3 flooring, further extending the reach of V3 to other areas of the United States. The Schafers’ unique, one-of-a-kind product and its patented process have paid off nationally. They have just completed a job for the World’s largest International IT Company. Schafer floors are proudly displayed at the Company’s Headquarters in Manhattan. Exposure like this has lent opportunities for an expansion of the business model, including V3 flooring showcased in a Premier Furniture Manufacturer’s Design Center at the Navy Pier, NYC. Schafers will be supplying flooring to the Nation’s largest Pharmaceutical Distributors Headquarters in New York City, with a completion date of December, and the jobs just keep coming. Implementing a unique team with diverse backgrounds has helped to expand sales capabilities and strategic planning which have allowed Schafer to move forward with ease in the competitive national marketplace.
The Schafers are finding their stride in big business while staying true to their family values and business ethics with the help of their devoted team. Outside the office, in a cluster of industrial buildings, a hardworking team races to fulfill one custom order after another. The Schafers continuously express their gratitude for their employees’ display of commitment.
