Floor & Decor Opens Second Location in Tampa

Hard surface retailer, Floor & Decor Outlets of America is opening its second store in Tampa Bay today, according to the Tampa Bay Business Journal.

The 65,000-square-foot retail outlet is slightly larger than normal for the Kennesaw, Georgia-based operation and cost between $2 million and $3 million to build.

"We've been working on this site for three years," said Michael Froning, president and chief executive officer. "I know the Tampa market and our two stores are in the center of the market."

Floor & Decor expects to take market share from small, independent retailers, as well as giants Home Depot and Lowe's, Froning said.

"We expect to equal the market share of Home Depot and Lowe's within 18 months."

The store will offer more than 1,400 choices of hard surface flooring materials, purchased direct from more than 26 foreign countries. By disdaining distributors, Floor & Decor can offer prices 20 percent to 50 percent lower than its competition, Froning said.

But Floor & Decor won't offer carpet products because the pricing doesn't vary much and there's not much room to price cut, Froning said.

"We like to stay with products that the customer has a hard time finding," he said.