Flooring and More: Pros, Cons, and Buying Guide

Regional flooring retailers occupy a sweet spot between big-box stores and boutique design showrooms — and Flooring and More is the kind of midwestern chain that has built loyalty by stocking actual brands, employing salespeople who know the product, and offering installation through long-term subcontractors instead of the rotating crews you get from a national warehouse. Whether the value math works depends on what you’re buying, how much you’re buying, and whether the install matters more than the material price. This guide walks through what to expect from a regional flooring chain like Flooring and More and how to negotiate effectively when you walk in the door.

What Flooring and More Typically Carries

A regional flooring retailer like this one usually stocks the major manufacturer lines that big-box stores either skip entirely or carry in builder-grade only. Expect to find:

• Hardwood: Mohawk, Shaw, Mannington, Anderson Tuftex, Bruce, plus mid-tier engineered like Mirage and Lauzon
• Luxury vinyl: COREtec, Mohawk RevWood, Shaw Floorte, Karndean, Republic Floor
• Laminate: Mohawk RevWood, Pergo Outlast+, Shaw Repel
• Tile: Daltile, Florida Tile, Marazzi, Emser, MSI
• Carpet: Shaw Anso, Mohawk SmartStrand, Karastan, Stainmaster, Phenix

The mid-tier and upper-tier collections — the ones not stocked at Home Depot or Lowe’s — are usually the reason customers walk in. A 7-inch wide white oak engineered hardwood, a 12mm laminate with attached cork backing, or a wool blend carpet are exactly the products regional retailers compete on.

Typical Pricing Compared to Big Box

Regional retailers sit in a predictable price band:

• 10-25 percent above equivalent big-box materials on stocked items
• 5-15 percent below design-showroom pricing on premium products
• Similar to slightly less on installation labor when comparing quality

The trick is that big-box “cheap” flooring is usually a different SKU from the same brand’s mid-tier — it has thinner wear layer, less realistic embossing, and shorter warranties. A 12mil wear-layer COREtec at the warehouse store and a 20mil COREtec at a regional retailer aren’t the same product.

Where Flooring and More Beats Big Box

Three real advantages drive customers away from Home Depot and Lowe’s:

• Sales staff who know the product. A seasoned regional flooring salesperson can talk through wear-layer thickness, attached underlayment differences, AC ratings on laminate, and species hardness without checking a spec sheet. Big-box associates rarely have that depth.
• Long-tenure installation crews. Regional retailers usually keep the same 4-8 install subcontractors for years. Big-box install programs rotate constantly — you might get a great crew or one with three weeks of experience.
• Premium product access. Some manufacturers (Karastan, Anderson Tuftex, Lauzon) sell through specialty retailers only. Walk into a big-box store and the option doesn’t exist.

Where Big Box Wins

Regional retailers don’t beat big-box on every variable:

• Price on entry-level products — a $0.79/sq ft basic ceramic tile is cheaper at Home Depot than anywhere else
• Same-day pickup on stocked SKUs
• Easier returns on unopened material
• Online ordering with shipping to home or store
• Financing terms — Home Depot’s 24-month-no-interest beats most regional retailer financing

For a small DIY project — a single bathroom, a laundry room — big-box often makes more sense purely on convenience and price.

The Installation Math

Installation is where regional retailers earn or lose customer loyalty. A typical install package includes:

• Removal and haul-away of existing flooring ($1-$3 per square foot)
• Subfloor prep and leveling ($0.50-$2 per square foot if needed)
• Materials transport and staging
• Installation labor ($1.50-$6 per square foot depending on flooring type)
• Trim and transition install ($3-$12 per linear foot)
• Furniture moving (sometimes included, sometimes $1-$2 per square foot)

Always get the install quote line-itemed. “All-in” packages hide where the markup lives, and the bid is hard to compare to other retailers without the breakdown.

Negotiation Tips

Regional retailers have more pricing flexibility than chains. Walk in with three pieces of info and you’ll usually save 8-15 percent:

1. The exact SKU and price you found at Lumber Liquidators / LL Flooring or Floor & Decor
2. Square footage of your project (let them quote, don’t volunteer this until they ask)
3. A target install date 2-4 weeks out (not urgent — gives them scheduling leverage)

Ask specifically: “What can you do on price if I commit today and schedule install in three weeks?” That phrasing gets the salesperson into negotiation mode without forcing them to find the manager.

What to Ask Before You Buy

Five questions every flooring buyer should ask any retailer:

• What’s the wear-layer thickness in mils on this LVP/LVT?
• Is the underlayment attached or separate?
• What’s the manufacturer’s warranty, and is it residential or light commercial rated?
• Are your installers W-2 employees or 1099 subcontractors?
• What’s your policy on damaged material discovered during install?

The answers tell you a lot about both the product and the retailer’s accountability.

What to Bring to Your First Visit

• Room dimensions (length and width of every space getting new flooring)
• Photos of existing flooring and subfloor if visible
• A sample of any wall paint or cabinet color you want to match
• Phone with reference photos of the look you’re going for
• A budget number you’re willing to share (or not)

Bringing accurate dimensions in advance saves the second appointment for an in-home measurement, which often gets folded into the install bid for free if you commit on the spot.

Warranty and Service After the Sale

The biggest value proposition of a regional retailer over big-box is the call-back. If a board separates, a tile cracks, or a carpet seam comes apart in year 2, a regional retailer with the same install crew on speed-dial will usually fix it within a week. Big-box install programs route warranty claims through a third-party service company, and the typical resolution timeline runs 3-6 weeks.

Ask specifically how warranty service works and whether the same install crew will return for repairs. The answer separates retailers that stand behind their work from ones that hand you off after the sale.

When Flooring and More Makes the Most Sense

Regional flooring retailers like this one fit best when:

• You’re flooring a whole house or main level (1,000+ sq ft)
• You want premium products not stocked at big-box
• Installation matters more than saving 10 percent on materials
• You value being able to walk back in with a problem and get a face-to-face response
• You’d rather not project-manage independent contractors yourself

For a $400 powder-room tile job, the premium isn’t worth it. For a $25,000 hardwood install across a main level, the premium pays for itself on install quality alone.

Bottom Line

Flooring and More and similar regional chains occupy a real value position between commodity big-box and high-end design centers. The trade-off is paying 10-25 percent more for materials in exchange for better-trained sales staff, longer-tenured install crews, and warranty service that doesn’t disappear after the sale. For larger projects with mid-to-upper-tier flooring, the math usually works. For small DIY jobs or commodity flooring, big-box stays cheaper.