Custom Floors larger, easier to find

Published 8:00 am Saturday, May 22, 2004

What used to be an unattractive used car lot along Highway 20 in Oak Harbor has been turned into a home for several new businesses.

The first of those businesses to greet the public was Oak Harbor Custom Floors, which opened last week and was welcomed to town Monday by Greater Oak Harbor Chamber of Commerce with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Oak Harbor Custom Floors isn’t new to town, but its building and location are new. Manager Cyndi Neville said it was located next to NAPA auto parts for years, when it was owned by Larry Cole. She purchased it 2 1/2 years ago with the help of several silent partners “who let me run the show,” she said. When the chance for a more visible location came up, she went for it.

“This is a much better location,” she said of the new building located at 31650 Highway 20, where the Car Depot was formerly located. The first day the store opened, she said, “we had well over 100 people here.”

Neville said in the old location, she concentrated more on selling to contractors buying items to finish newly constructed homes. Now, she expects increased retail trade from people upgrading their own homes.

“We want more remodeling business,” she said. Customers at Oak Harbor Custom Flooring will find a spacious, well-lighted store with wide-ranging displays of carpet, tile and laminate, all in stock and all at what Neville calls competitive pricing. The new location allows additional room to stock items, rather than having to order them for customers. “I was able to expand my warehouse,” Neville said. If you want something, chances are you can walk out the door with it.

Chambers members were impressed by the new store. “They dressed up the block, it’s so nice,” said Barbara Bockman, chamber board chairwoman. “It’s very open, very bright.”