Greenville, S.C. – Orders Distributing Company,
Inc., one of the Southeast’s oldest and largest wholesale floor covering
distributors, has been purchased by Kraus Carpet Mills, a large privately-held,
North American integrated carpet and fiber manufacturer and flooring
distributor, headquartered in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
Orders Distributing Company was founded by William
H. Orders in 1955 and has been family owned and operated for 51 years, serving
flooring dealers in a seven state region of the southeast. The new company,
Kraus Orders Inc., will operate as a separate wholly-owned subsidiary of Kraus
Carpet Mills with Orders’ entire management team and all employees.
C. Michael Smith, formerly
Orders’ President and CEO, said, “We are extremely excited to announce this
sale and are confident this new association with Kraus Carpet Mills will
provide our dealers, our company, our employees and our suppliers with
opportunities for growth like never before. We believe this is a perfect fit
for both Kraus Carpet Mills and Orders Distributing Company.” Orders will join
the Kraus Distribution Group managed by Brad Vollrath, Executive Vice President
Distribution.
Gary H. Witt, President & CEO of Kraus Carpet
Mills stated, “Kraus already operates full-line distribution coast-to-coast
throughout most of the northern United States and all across Canada. The Orders
transaction is our seventh acquisition of a regional distributor. Step-by-step
we’re building a high-service nationwide distributing network for our carpet
and complementary flooring products.
“We did not have a major distributorship in the southeast,” said Walter Eckhardt,
Senior Vice President, Marketing for Kraus. “A sales force like Orders would
take us a decade or more to build. We will introduce a complete range of
contract and residential carpet that will complement the other flooring product
lines offered by Orders, creating a total portfolio package offered by only one
other flooring manufacturer in all of North America. At the same time, we also
want Kraus Orders Inc. to continue aggressively marketing their hard surface
lines with Armstrong by Hartco, Berry, Interceramic, NAFCO, Tarkett, Witex, and
their other fine suppliers.”
Contact:
C. Michael Smith, President, Kraus Orders Inc., 864-254-1213
Gary H. Witt, President & CEO, Kraus Carpet Mills, 519-884-2310
Walter Eckhardt, Senior Vice President, Marketing, Kraus Carpet Mills, 519-884-2314
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