Back Row: Brian Bennett, DaveShriner Front Row: David Lemon, Margaret Lemon, Ron Thomas, Mike Leitem,  Debby Leitem

Blakley’s Floor Covering Professionals

November Small Business of the Month
Sponsored by Lafayette Savings Bank

There’s no secret to success in a floor covering business, says David Lemon. “If you can show them you can take care of their needs, it’s a gratifying business to be in.”

Lemon would know. He’s been in the floor covering business most of life and since 1995, manager of Blakley’s of Lafayette, the Chamber’s November Small Business of the Month. His wife, Margaret Lemon, works alongside him handling business development for the six-employee business that operates out of a 7,000-square-foot showroom and warehouse at 3311 Imperial Parkway, Suite D, 477-6870.

The Lafayette Blakley’s serves a geographic area of about an hour’s driving distance, selling and installing all major brands of carpet, ceramic, hardwood, laminate and vinyl tile floor covering for commercial, new home and apartment replacement clients and, by referral, some residences.

Headquartered in Indianapolis , the family-owned business has operated since 1898.

Locally, you can spot their new home work in houses built by Citation Homes and their commercial work at Silent Thunder, the new PEFCU branch on County Road 350, the Industrial Federal Credit Union on Sagamore Parkway, Fairfield Manufacturing, numerous public schools, Purdue University, and countless more businesses. Most of their business comes from referrals or direct marketing calls, the Lemons say.

Innovation Their Hallmark

One popular product right now is carpet squares. “We go in about 5 p.m., lift the cubicles with special equipment, pull out the old carpet, and slide the new carpet tiles in,” Margaret says. “We can do about 100 yards a night, and when they employees come in the next morning, it’s done.” No unplugging and no moving computers or furniture is a plus, she says. The squares are easily replaced, if needed, because they are installed with a re-sealable sealant. Another trend is using carpet as the baseboard.

Innovation is one thing Kirby Risk’s Director of Operations, Tom Porter, hails about Blakley’s. “They recommended I try a new product for flooring, and it did exactly what they said it would. I’m really pleased. That’s what I look for – a quality product, quality workmanship and innovative products for the location and application.”

Service Their Trademark

Porter also appreciates their service. “They’ve always been very responsive. They come up with good, quality products, and they stand behind their work 150 percent,” he says.

Ron Clark, owner of Consolidated Property Management & Realty Inc., turns to Blakley’s for carpet replacement in his apartments. “They’re there to serve, not just pump out the product,” he says. “They want to serve, and they’re always trying to improve our community. I think that’s good.”

Strong Community Ties

Community involvement is a priority, Margaret says. Among other contributions, the business supplies floor coverings for Habitat for Humanity every year, has helped Cary Home through Lafayette Breakfast Optimist Club and been involved in church projects.

David has taught for Junior Achievement and is a 10-year board member of the Tippecanoe Apartment Association. Margaret is a mentor to an Edgelea Elementary School student through a Lafayette School Corp. program.

Hailing from Bloomington and Michigan

A Blakley’s employee since 1985, David served the Lafayette area from Indianapolis until he convinced the company to open its first branch.

“We had a good base here,” he says, and it would help to have a local office to develop relationships with the independent subcontractors who install carpeting. “We had worked with subcontractor Mike Leitem before moving here and he has his wife, Debby, who is also our office manager, have been in charge of operations in Lafayette since the beginning.”

Margaret, a fellow Blakley’s employee, joined him in Lafayette a year later.

David has been around the floor covering world since he was a youngster; his father operated a retail carpet store in Bloomington . The business didn’t interest him at first—David studied two years at Vincennes , then got a teaching degree at Indiana University. “I taught 4^th grade for three years, then Dad offered me a job for more money, and I said, ‘OK.’”

Margaret hails from Michigan, coming to Indiana from Michigan to attend the Northwood Institute, a college that once operated in what is now the West Baden Springs Hotel. She studied performing arts her first year and secretarial science her second, then went to work in the paint and carpet department for Wickes Lumber in Ellettsville, Ind. That was her entrée to her life’s work in floor covering, bringing her to Blakley’s in 1983, where she later met David and they married.

One of her first stops after transferring to Lafayette was the Chamber of Commerce. “They told me to get on a committee,” and she’s been active ever since. For 10 years, she’s been the greeter at Business After Hours events; she’s now on the board.

When they’re not working, the couple enjoys escaping to Monroe County’s Lake Lemon, named for a cousin of David’s. They own a four-acre site with his aunt. Margaret enjoys swimming; she also likes animals and singing. David’s hobbies are genealogy and golf.

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Nominate a Small Business!!

The Small Business of the Month Award is open to Chamber members who own or co-own a business that has 25 or fewer employees, been in business for a minimum of three years, and the business or it’s owner has a history of community involvement.  Nominations may be submitted to the Chamber of Commerce for consideration by the Small Business Selection Committee.  Nomination forms are available on the Chamber of Commerce website or call the Chamber, 742-4041 .  All monthly winners will be eligible for the Small Business of the Year Award presented in January.  

The Small Business of the Month is sponsored by 
Lafayette Savings Bank.