Permanent Carpet One Floor & Home promises that you’re going to love your new floor
By Patricia Nugent
You cannot succeed in business for more than 70 years—meeting the flooring needs of several generations of Clevelanders—without trust.
At Permanent Carpet One Floor & Home in Parma, that level of trust is forged on its Beautiful Guarantee.
Flooring is one of the most expensive items a homeowner will ever invest in. And at some point in the selection process often comes the nagging self-doubt, “What if I don’t like it once it’s in my home?”
“Our Beautiful Guarantee is simple,” says Shelly Szabo, whose grandfather, Ken Kassouf Sr., started the business in 1947.
“There are no restrictions or small print. If a customer doesn’t love their new Permanent Carpet One floor after it’s installed, we replace it for free. No questions asked.”
“Seriously, Who Does That?”
Ann Huber is one of the clients who actually took them up on the Beautiful Guarantee.
She explains,
“Last spring I went back and forth selecting carpeting for my whole first floor, which included the living room, dining room, bedroom, bathroom and closets…the whole shebang. I selected a cream-colored shorter nap carpet. After it was installed, the more I walked on it, the less I liked it. The feel wasn’t as soft as I’d hoped it would be.”
So, Ann called Shelly, who had already explained the guarantee to her during their visits.
“She said ‘no problem.’ We filled out the paperwork and the installers came and replaced my carpet with a much softer one that I love. They could not have been nicer about it.”
As a local business owner of a travel agency, Ann says she makes a point to stick with other locally owned, family-operated businesses, as she knows she’ll receive a better level of personalized customer service. And Permanent Carpet One did not disappoint.
“When I heard about the Beautiful Guarantee, I said to myself, ‘Seriously, who does that?’ I was thinking it sounded too good to be true,” she says. “But making sure customers love their carpet is the most important thing with them.”
According to store president Ryan Mackey, who is married to another one of Ken’s granddaughters, the Beautiful Guarantee has been around for more than 20 years and is something they take particular pride in.
“Solidifying relationships with our customers is one of the reasons we’ve been in business for so many years,” he says.
Trendcast
“People are opting for grays, whether for hard surfaces or carpeting,” says Barbara Rusinko, interior designer.
“With hardwoods, ceramic planks or luxury vinyl planks, the planks are trending wider, up to nine inches, which is what I had installed throughout my own home.”
When it comes to carpeting, she says patterns are making a big comeback, from very subtle textural or tone-on-tone variations, to animal prints, bold geometrics, stately checks and perky plaids.
With sales of hard surface flooring edging out carpet, Barbara reports area rugs are making their own design statement. You can shop from an eclectic selection of rugs, or have them custom-cut and edge one in any shape or size to fit your room.
Barbara and her niece Shelly work with people to coordinate styles and colors of flooring with the interior décor of their home, including picking out paint colors.
And just as styles have evolved, so have the technologies behind the manufacturing of carpet and engineered surfaces such as luxury vinyl tile and ceramic tile that mimics the look of hardwood floors.
“Many of our carpets and hard surfaces are now literally 100 percent waterproof, allowing them to last decades longer than their predecessors,” she says.
“They are pet-proof, child-proof and practically indestructible.”
The sprawling 2,500-square-foot showroom hosts a mind-boggling selection of samples from good-better-best to fit any budget. Shelly says thanks to their association with the national buying group Carpet One, they also pass along savings to the customer.
Their newest carpet brand—Lee’s—joins other nationally known favorites such as Mohawk, Shaw, Dream Weaver, Mercier and Karastan, just to name a few.
A Higher Level of Craftsmanship
“No matter how luxurious the carpet or flooring is, proper installation means everything,” says Shelly. “Some of our installers have been with us for more than 30 years. They are true craftsmen in every sense of the word.”
The Permanent Carpet One Floor & Home Showroom is located less than a mile south of I-480 at 5620 Ridge Road in Parma. They have beautified homes all over Northeast Ohio. Hours are Mondays and Thursdays, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Tuesdays and Fridays, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Wednesdays, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Call 440-884-3300 or visit PermanentCarpetOne.com for more information.