April 3, 2024

This paid piece is sponsored by Interstate Office Products.

Like many classic family business success stories, Thornton Flooring started out of a garage.

Then, it grew into subsequently larger warehouses.

And the latest location, a spacious 109,000-square-foot building in Tea’s Bakker Landing development, was the chance to design and build a space for the future.

“I’m very happy with it – it’s an amazing building, and it turned out really, really nice,” said Matt Thornton, the company’s president and second-generation leader.

“Our previous office was probably built to house 30 people, and we were up to 60, so we had multiple people in offices that weren’t designed to hold that many.”

Additionally, the inventory was spread among five warehouses, so the chance to bring everything under one roof was key.

“We reached out to Interstate more than a year ago when we had just started working on the building,” Thornton said. “That allowed us to make changes as needed, so they were very involved from the beginning.”

Interstate Office Products designers Abby Tufvesson and Marcia Young worked closely with Thornton to plan and design the massive space.

“While we’d worked together before, it was a competitive process to earn the business, so we got creative to control costs while still achieving the look and feel they wanted,” Young said.

Interstate stood out as Thornton considered his options, he said.

“It was the service and the people, and one other thing I really liked was how strong the showroom is,” he said. “It’s a great way to see a lot of product because it can be hard to visualize.”

The design concept for Thornton Flooring called for a clean, modern, industrial look.

“It’s a flooring company, but you’re not going to see the product on the floor,” Young said. “Instead, it’s in the showroom, which has a cool, open feel, and the scale of it is impressive. It will be an experience coming to select floor here whether you’re a designer or a homeowner.”

That’s intentional, Thornton said.

“Flooring stores sometimes decide to put as many patches of flooring down as possible, to show different options, and I don’t think it looks good at all,” Thornton said. “If you go into most museums today, you see white walls and cement floor and artwork with good lighting, and I tried to go with the same feel. We’re hanging product on walls, and it’s being shown like art.”

The first floor is specially designed for team members who interact with customers.

“The sales area is quite large, with monitors they can pull up to go over projects and more private meeting spaces like client cubbies and little kiosks and areas on the showroom floor,” Young said.

“We also did a really nice locker room for team members who don’t have dedicated desks.”

Throughout the process, Thornton “definitely put the team first,” Tufvesson said.

“You’ll find height-adjustable desks throughout the space, and a lot of thought went into the details behind employee experience. The industrial look helped guide consistency throughout the building.”

The private offices feature modern-looking, height-adjustable desks with black hardware that plays into the industrial feel.

“There are a lot of glass fronts for the workstations, which are in a more visible area, and overall between the furniture and the finishes, I think it came together really nicely,” Young said.

The business’ work cafe and break room is “unlike anything we’ve ever had,” Thornton said. “Most people going in there now say it feels like going into a restaurant, and that’s what I wanted it to feel like.”

Installation “went great,” Thornton added. “They were very professional, listened to what I was asking for and delivered it. They were very efficient, and we had no problems at all.”

A grand opening for the new Thornton Flooring at 2300 Bakker Landing Ave. will be held this spring.

“It all came together really well,” Young said. “It’s going to be a great space they can be proud of, and we were happy to play a role in it.”

As team members and customers are experiencing the new space, “they’re loving it,” Thornton said. “Everyone has been blown away by how different it is, how comfortable it is. I tried to make an environment where my employees are really proud to come to work.”

To learn more about how IOP can support your workplace vision, visit i-o-p.com, or call 605-339-0300.