What can you tell us about the business?
Well Carpet Interiors is a Family run business that started very, very small and just kept growing through the past 43 years. And we’re really proud of the fact that over the years it’s not just been my family directly, but my employees’ families too. Like Aiden, our manager, his father worked here. A lot of our fitters are brothers, or cousins. I suppose its generational with a real family feel. I suppose we do flooring too, that feels important to mention haha
What’s your secret to staying in business for so long?
I can’t tell you that secret, I’d have to kill you haha.
But I think a lot of it is down to luck.
It can’t all be luck.
Well, hard work. Good products, good quality, good pricing. I think the local people, our customers, know that we are reliable. And of course, we’ve grown throughout the years and have much more to offer now than we did then. So, we do domestic flooring, but I think expanding into commercial flooring we’ve been able to widen our reach and diversify our offerings.
Another aspect is how we deal with our customers, and not being the company that is going to run away from problems our customers are facing. You know, things do go wrong, but we really have to be the company that stands by our customers.
How has the local market changed over the years, and what steps did the business take to meet trends.
I think it helped being an established business in Letterkenny for so long, but over time there have been a lot of issues that we are retailers had to survive. Like the many recessions, especially in 2008, which hit our industry pretty hard.
We sadly had to let some of our staff go, and because we are a business comprised of a lot of families it was particularly difficult. Some of the people had worked here for a long time. Now thankfully, we have managed to get many of the same people back. I was actually one of the people who was laid off then.
In a family run business?
I was.
What was that Christmas like?
I’m still not over it haha
But it was the only fair way to do it, last in, first out. How could we say to someone who worked in the business for 10-15 years, that I having only worked here for a few years, could keep my job when they couldn’t? We obviously discussed it as a family and agreed that it was the only fair way to run the company.
And I always have it to hold over their heads
With that being said, is it hard not to take work home with you?
You do. Its constant, just ask my husband or mommy haha. My Dad and I are always talking shop, and it’s because we enjoy it, we live and breathe what we do. I think anyone that’s passionate about their business knows this, when you walk out that door it’s not when it ends. There are times we have to stop ourselves, but we’re mostly just excited about it!
What’s your favourite memory in this place?
I think funnily enough some of my favourite memories are maybe when I didn’t work here haha.
Because I used to come to the business when I was younger, I’d clean, make tea, and climb things. But there’s some really lovely memories with our staff too, of course. And there’s been some really good customers too over the years. It’s nice now because its generational, they come in because they knew my family, or their daddy said don’t go anywhere else but Carpet Interiors! Which is really lovely to hear.
Who’s the longest serving employee?
Besides Mick who started it all 43 years ago. Currently I would say its probably Aiden O’Neil and James Black and both are still here. Aiden is the general manager, and James is the store manager. They’ve been with us for over 30 years now.
What are some key qualities you look for in a new hire?
I think someone who can learn quickly, someone who is personable, who can work as part of a team but is self motivated, and someone who is happy to be here haha. Now a new hire isn’t going to be all knowledgeable but they have to have the enthusiasm to want to learn. And its like learning a new language, there’s new products coming out constantly, there’s new things to learn, and that’s what’s interesting about the job. To a lot of people, it might be boring, but to us weirdos in here, we actually really love flooring!
How do you see the role of technology in the future of your business?
Facebook and Instagram are great ways to get people in the store, but I am of the mind that if it moves to online retailers then we could be in bother. Part of our USP is that we have so much stock, and customers come in and want to see things like the texture of a product, colours we have, or how it would look on the floor of their home. I think of course technology has its advantages and we always strive to remain current, but nothing can replace that in-store experience.
What are some trends you people don’t know they want yet?
Trends in flooring follow a lot of everything else. But we are moving away from grey. Grey is gone. And it was everywhere for a while, that Scandi, minimalism. I suppose LVTs (Luxury Vinyl Tiles), they are absolutely unstoppable at the moment and are going to be everywhere. Like, they look and feel like wood or tile and are completely waterproof. And they’re completely beautiful! Every time I put a floor down in my house, I always regret it because the next product comes out!
How do you stay on top of trends?
I like to think I have an eye for what our customers would like, and we always try to cater to all different tastes. What I do find interesting is that we speak to a lot of others in the industry. It’s always surprising what can sell here but that might not necessarily sell in Derry, and vice versa.
It’s that localised?
It’s that localised.
And a lot of the same things will sell, but there’s sometimes a range that’s flying-
I remember years ago somebody told me, plaid and tartan sold very well in the North and not so much here. But I think because the internet has made everything so universal, everyone sees the same things and it’s kind of standardised what people want. Whereas years ago, people would buy what they saw in friends and families’ houses. So, you had this faster moving stock in certain areas.
You’re in a buying group in the North, so how did Brexit affect that?
It was definitely tricky.
Trying to figure it all out at the start. So as a business it was a really uncertain time. Initially we had plans in place to potentially take much more stock than we normally would, because we have suppliers in England and the North, and we really feared our stock getting held back by border checks. Thankfully, a lot of our UK suppliers pivoted and created hubs in the Republic as a result.
Just One more thing…
One restaurant?
Umi in Derry, I always get the pork dumplings. Always the Beef Maki. I get small plates, but I order so many you couldn’t call it that haha-
One Colour?
Green.
One Film?
Years ago, my most watched film was The Matrix. That and Fight Club were the only DVDs I had at Uni so I’d literally just repeat them over and over.
One Holiday destination?
Bora Bora. But you have to caveat that with me not having been there yet haha-
One Song?
Anything Elton John, probably Tiny Dancer or Someone Saved My Life Tonight.
What’s One thing you wished people knew about your business?
That were here! No, but I think I’d like to get across that we are more than just carpet. People come here and say, “we didn’t know you did wooden floors”. I did think of an advertising campaign, Not Just Carpet. I think it’s because of the name Carpet Interiors. More than Carpet!
One Gift Card?
ShopLK!
