Hardwood Floors August/September 2017

Wood Stock

Revel-utionizing the Hardwood Buying Experience By Stacy Brown

Photo courtesy of Revel Woods

For many in this industry, hardwood flooring is a way of life. For the small team at Revel Woods, the story is no different. They grew up in the hardwood flooring industry; in fact, the group even jokes that hardwood is in their blood. As part of its growth process, this startup company is using new technology to enhance its business and evolve to meet the needs of an ever-changing consumer. You might even say they are Revel-utionizing the hardwood buying experience with the launch of their new website, revelwoods.com. “A few years ago, we took a hard look at our company and tried to forecast what our business and this industry will look like in five years, and maybe even 15-20 years into the future,” says John Dupra, Co-Founder, Revel Woods. The team noticed three major opportunities in the industry. First, there is still a large portion of the consumer population that doesn’t fully understand the nuances and benefits of installing hardwood flooring. Second, with the transition to more homeowners installing factory-finished flooring, some installation professionals are not making money like they used to selling flooring materials. Third, many manufacturers are in the unenviable position of manufacturing a product without direct contact with their end user. “We’ve seen numerous situations where consumers are making a buying decision without first talking to a craftsman who understands the materials. They’re going to a big box store, or they’re shopping online. Then the contractor hopes to get the labor for the installation and makes a decent living that way, but there’s still some money left on the table for him as he’s not as involved in the process of procuring that material,” says Dupra. “When we approached this project, our mission was to create an online boutique experience that solves these challenges. We wanted to remove a lot

of the complications for the consumer, and use technology to simulate the experience of an expert craftsman walking you through every step of the process,” says Dupra. “Our goal is to make buying beautiful, responsibly sourced hardwoods easy and affordable. It’s that simple.” Reaching the Next Generation of Buyers Millennials have changed everything – from the way media is consumed to the way our culture communicates. Soon, home purchasing and remodeling will be added to that list. According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, “first-time Millennial buyers are rushing to buy homes after a decade on the sidelines, promising to kick a housing market already flush with luxury sales into higher gear.” “We’re just now buying homes. I bought my first house two years ago; I was 31. Previous generations were buying homes in their early to mid-20s. In my early to mid-20s, we hit the 2008 housing crisis, and the economy tanked. Most of my peers were not going to plunk down hundreds of thousands of dollars on a house,”

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