The Entrepreneurial Vision of Pioneer Floor Coverings

The Entrepreneurial Vision of Pioneer Floor Coverings

QFloors customer since 2001

“At the time I bought the business, I was lucky to have really good people working for me. I increased their pay and promised to take care of them, and in turn, they helped get me through the rough learning curve of understanding the business,” Wankier says.

As CIO of a multi-billion international company, Rob Wankier did not initially envision that floor covering would be his future. His work at Nestle Waters of America was exciting and financially rewarding. But he longed to get back to his roots in the West, and the idea of owning (and growing) a small business was appealing to him. So after searching for the right fit, he purchased Pioneer Floor Coverings 22 years ago and hasn’t looked back.

Pioneer Floor Coverings started in the college town of Cedar City, Utah, over 40 years ago. When Rob and his wife LeAnn purchased it, it was a small store, with revenues of around $1M. Today the company has two locations, with revenue exceeding $11M in 2021. It’s an understatement to say the company has experienced significant growth under Wankier’s leadership.

Wankier quickly shares the credit with his employees, highlighting talented general managers and the best installers in southern Utah. He says his employees helped educate him when he purchased Pioneer Floor Coverings as a newcomer to the flooring industry. “At the time I bought the business, I was lucky to have really good people working for me. I increased their pay and promised to take care of them, and in turn, they helped get me through the rough learning curve of understanding the business,” Wankier says.

The company started primarily as a retail operation, but now 60% of the business is new builder/construction. Wankier says they’ve distinguished themselves through their integrity and customer service. “We do what we say we’re going to do. And we only say what we can do. We may not always be the cheapest, but we are competitive, and we will always take care of you. So when people come to Pioneer, they know what they are going to get. That’s the bottom line.”

Wankier also credits his ERP software, QFloors, with contributing to his growth and success. “When I purchased the business, Pioneer did everything manually. I’d used an integrated ERP (enterprise resource planning) system at my previous job, and I knew I needed software to integrate all accounting, inventory, and sales functions into one system. I found QFloors early on, and it’s been invaluable. We simply would not have been able to grow the business without it.”

Wankier explains, “You just can’t do very much business if you’re running things manually. You’re locked into a certain level and can’t expand beyond that. So to be able to automate sales invoicing and receivables and have that integrated into inventory is huge. And we turn inventory so quickly that without a system to track it, there’s just no way we could grow. With two stores and two warehouses, having a handle on inventory is absolutely essential.”

Wankier also says the real-time reports QFloors generate have been helpful. “Everything just becomes easier because you have all of this integrated reporting, and you can pull out just about any information you need at any time.”

“I like that QFloors is integrating so many wonderful things to its core system, like Document Manager and QProPay. So not only are they developing a great program, but they integrate with other really useful programs. And the QFloors help desk is phenomenal.”

Pioneer Floor Coverings plans to continue to grow, and Wankier says QFloors will be a part of that. “I’ve touted QFloors for a long time,” Wankier says. “It’s a great system.” ■ Wankier explains, “You just can’t do very much business if you’re running things manually. You’re locked into a certain level and can’t expand beyond that. To be able to automate sales invoicing and receivables, and have that integrated into inventory is huge.