Nearly six decades later, our journey from Marshall Carpet to Marshall Flooring has been one for the books. What started with Grandpa Marshall in an 800-square-foot carpet-only show room in the Richmond Mall in 1966 has now blossomed into a 17,000-square-foot showroom in Mayfield Heights with the largest in-stock rug inventory in Ohio.
Only 12% of third-generation family businesses survive ownership transitions, so taking over ownership in 2021 from our uncle, Chuck, was something we didn’t take lightly. We wanted to bring a fresh perspective to the company without changing what made us a household name in the flooring industry—our commitment to providing the best customer service and flooring selection in Northeast Ohio.
Marshall Flooring’s Beginnings
Grandpa Marshall opened our doors on the Second Floor of the Richmond Mall as Marshall Carpet in 1966. After working in the carpet distribution business, he decided to make the jump to retail.
Measuring in at a mere 800 square feet, Marshall Carpet was true to its name and only offered carpet at the time. Despite our size, we quickly became a highly sought-after flooring provider due to our grandfather’s exceptional customer service and industry knowledge.
During the early days, he also juggled his role as the Safety Service Director of University Heights. However, in 1973, his Safety Director position became full-time, so it was time for a new change in ownership—his sons Marc and Chuck.
Marc & Chuck’s Takeover
Under their control, our dad and uncle began to implement new changes to the business while staying true to our roots. In 1977, we broke into the hard surface market and offered sheet vinyl, our first of many flooring solutions to come.
As our popularity grew, we needed to expand our footprint to serve more customers. By 1981, we moved to Mayfield Road, where we moved locations twice to accommodate our need for
more space. Even as we changed showrooms, our customers followed us wherever we went, as we forged meaningful relationships over the years.
The 90s was a definitive decade for our company. We made a strategic move to join the Carpet One buying group in 1991 as one of its first members, which helped propel our business as more competition entered the market. By 1996, Steve Glassman, our dad’s childhood friend, joined the team by opening Marshall Rug Gallery; it sat across the street on Mayfield Road.
With over 30 years of experience and tens of thousands of happy customers, Marshall Carpet became a household name in flooring in Northeast Ohio and beyond.
New Generation in Flooring: Wien Boys Era
Even though all five of us brothers became involved with the company at different stages of our lives, we’ve grown up in the business. From playing hide and seek in the showroom as little kids to lending a hand as teenagers, we watched our dad and uncle hustle to carry on our grandfather’s legacy.
By 2006, all of us brothers slowly started to trickle in more formally to the family business. By 2010, still under the Marshall Carpet name, we moved to our current location in the Eastgate Shopping Center. This move presented the opportunity to finally combine the rug and flooring store under one roof to better serve our customers’ flooring goals.
Uncle Chuck retired in 2021, opening the door to Ryan, Nate, and Matt to purchase 50% of the business and begin a new era of Marshall carpet. As we took over the reins, we wanted to refresh our brand image and name to better reflect our flooring and rug offerings. By now, our expansive flooring selection included area rugs and hard surface options, such as wood and luxury vinyl, all sourced within the United States, and our name, Marshall Carpet, wasn’t doing our service and product selection justice.
In 2022, we rebranded to Marshall Flooring, which pays homage to our beginnings while exemplifying our full breadth of flooring products. Now, all five brothers work in the business in some capacity, with Marc and Steve still playing a key role in our day-to-day operations.
The Future Of Marshall Flooring
Looking to the future, we’re focused on upholding the family legacy while continuously evolving to meet our customer’s flooring needs, such as offering the highest quality products and
white-glove service. We’re always looking for ways to deliver the best experience possible, whether it be in the showroom or during installation.
As our team has expanded over the years, our commitment to our customers has never wavered. As a third-generation business, our success would not be possible without our loyal customers. We get to do what we love, and work with people we love, every day because of your continuous support—thank you for being part of the Marshall Flooring story.
