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Messner Flooring Still Going Strong
MESSNER FLOORING began as a one-man operation founded by Benedict J. Messner in 1962 serving the Rochester area. As owner/operator, Messner oversaw the entire process-from measuring to installation for his commercial flooring business. In the beginning, his focus was only commercial flooring and he operated with no retail space for 15 years before his son Peter Messner (the second of nine children) joined his father in 1977. Together they maintained the commercial flooring business and developed the residential dimension adding their first retail space of 1,000 square feet located in the heart of Pittsford Village. "I knew that to continue to grow, we had to break the mold," says Peter, a 1975 graduate of St. John Fisher College and now president of the company. "Sooner or later, [the name] Messner had become synonymous with carpeting. In order to survive, we needed to differentiate ourselves [in the flooring business]. In 1988 we made a conscious decision that we could no longer remain like the mom-and-pop business that people thought of." Peter said that his goal was to make the company large enough to serve and focus on the things the big competitors couldnot do, such as detailed service. Every job, he says, is handled like a custom job. Today, he employs 15 full time staff members and numerous installers. Re:Source is the commercial flooring part of the business located in downtown Rochester; the Strong Museum expansion and new Pittsford library are among its recent projects. Messner explains that expanding and developing the family business became an important testimonial to their father, who died in 1987. At that point, Peter purchased the business (a succession plan was already in place before his father's death). Naturally, a few family challenges occurred in the transition period, but the nine siblings and their mother worked through those issues. Peter worked continually to develop the many dimensions of Messner Carpeting-Rugs-Flooring, both the commercial and residential aspects of the retail business. His younger brother Greg (the sixth of the nine children) joined him 17 years ago. "For a long time, it was a real struggle to get our customers to work with a non-Messner," notes Peter. He says that people still come in today and often ask for someone from the Messner family. "Customers need to realize that we've grown beyond that and they will receive excellent service from all staff members." In discussing other common business growth challenges, both brothers agree that employee issues tend to be tougher to resolve than customer-type issues. "Taking care of customers is the easy part we help them make a choice and then deliver and install the quality product," Peter says. "With employees it's not transactional-based, but rather issue-oriented," he says referring to pay structure, benefits, and other issues related to employee satisfaction. What advice would these two brothers give to others in a family business? "Our father always believed in surrounding himself with excellent advisors," Greg notes. "He always said that businesses need a good accountant, lawyer, and insurance advisor." Peter adds that a successful business today also needs good marketing professionals and technical support to grow. |
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