Rabun Flooring has New Owners and a New Location!

Around Town Rabun Flooring has New Owners and a New Location!

By Tracy McCoy

You’ve heard the term, “partners in crime”. Well this describes the new owners of Rabun Flooring. Joey and Kristina Haban met while working in uniform at a neighboring Sheriff’s office. In addition to their combined 30 years of service, Joey served on the Sheriff’s Office Elite Dive Team for over 15 years, recovering evidence in criminal cases and providing closure to families, by recovering the bodies of drowning victims. Kristina was a training supervisor teaching at the Police Academy and Georgia Public Training Center, she was also the first female firearms instructor in Hall County. Together Joey and Kristina were dedicated to serving their communities and getting drunk drivers and illegal drugs off the street. She smiles and says, “we actually really met in jail, just on the other side of the bars.” They began dating, married and started their family. Their daughter, Katie Jo was born at 28 weeks, weighing only 15 ounces which came with a lot of health issues. So after a decade of service, Kristina walked away from her law enforcement career to be there for her. Katie Jo was in the NICU for the first year of her life and continued in and out of the hospital and ER a dozen times the next year. Infectious disease could not find the cause of this baby’s infection. Finally, a doctor suggested tonsillitis and that was it, tonsils were removed at 18 month old and Katie Jo began to get well. Kristina decided to pursue a career in nursing after her experiences with her daughter, earning a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from Piedmont College; then went to work at Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville, where she worked the last two years exclusively as a Covid nurse in a specialized unit. Joey jokes, “Being a cop paid so well, that I took a side gig laying flooring.” His roots run deep in Rabun County, he is the grandson of nurse Jo Dotson well known for her work in the Rabun County Health Department. He and Kristina decided that Rabun was where they wanted to raise Katie Jo so they moved to the mountains. Both were still commuting back and forth to Hall County to work and that was taking its toll. Joey had offered sand and finish as well as installation services to Mike and Sandy Hyer at Rabun Flooring for years. He became one of their installers and a friendship and professional relationship was the result. Joey had expressed an interest in buying Rabun Flooring if they ever decided to sell it. It’s easy to see that when the Hyers began thinking about retirement, Joey and Kristina were a natural fit to take over. That day arrived and that brings us up to date… Rabun Flooring’s new owners are Joey and Kristina Haban. The location on West Savannah was great for many years but parking and space were limited. Joey reached out to Jeff Reeves and rented the old Reeves Feed and Seed just south of the main store on Mill Street. The new location is roomy, parking is ample and they’ve been able to add some new lines of flooring. Kristina has always loved decorating and has quite the eye for it, so she decided to take a break from Covid nursing and left her job at the hospital and joined Joey to run the store. If the transformation of the new store is an indicator you will be in good hands with this husband/ wife team. Joey had this to say about his new store, “We are a full-service flooring center now, offering the exceptional lines that Rabun Flooring has been known for and some new and exciting brands as well. Installation is now in-house and the store is stocked with samples from most major manufacturers. We also repair flooring and carpets.” I learned in talking with the Habans that what a flooring store has on the floor in the way of samples is what can be ordered. They updated each brand and brought in the full Stanton line of carpets, a luxury line known for dynamic patterns and fibers. In fact, they have the largest selection from Asheville to Gainesville. The Stanton line as well as any of the others they offer can be custom made into an area rugs which Rabun Flooring can also offer in-house. “If you are replacing your flooring but you have carpet that is still in good shape you can bring it in and we’ll make a rug for you.” Kristina said. The store has the new trend in washable rugs that are so convenient and popular. Indoor/Outdoor rugs for every style can be found, and they will soon have in stock area rugs ranging in materials and styles to meet every need. Rabun Flooring also offers a huge collection of Luxury Vinyl Plank (LVT) flooring which is a line perfect for kitchens and bathrooms, it is vinyl over plank so you can get the natural look of wood flooring but it stands up to life, including: water, scratches, pets and moisture. Traditional wood flooring, laminate, vinyl and carpet are all options as well. They are already seeing new customers coming from surrounding counties and even out of state for the lines they have in stock. The Habans have improved on what was already an excellent source for quality flooring in the mountains. Stop in today at 149 Mill Street in Clayton or call 706-782-4706. A new website is in the works and coming soon!