About Floor Systems

 

Get to know your Central Maine area flooring experts

 
 
 
Flooring design professionals in the Central Maine area - Floor Systems
 
 

We have the largest selection of area rugs north of Connecticut

 
From its humble beginnings in a small building in Lewiston to becoming the first to occupy a portion of Lewiston’s famed Bates Mill after the closure of Bates Manufacturing Company, Floor Systems calls its current location in Lisbon, ME home.

Today, Floor Systems is one of the premier floor covering showrooms in all New England. Boasting the largest flooring showroom in the state with the largest selection of area rugs from Maine to New York, Floor Systems is the prominent destination for flooring.

A true family business since day one, Floor Systems is and has been owned and managed by the Veilleux family of Lisbon. Gill Veilleux started in the flooring industry working for a wholesale flooring distributor in 1971 and quickly made his way up the ranks. Gill left his position as general manager with 16 years of experience and a well-respected reputation across the flooring industry. With the endless support and help of his wife Claire, Gill ventured on his own & opened Floor Systems in 1987.
 
 
 
 
 
 

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As one of the first Factory Direct flooring stores in the country, “We Cut Out the Middleman” was the tagline and foundation upon which Floor Systems was built. Taking the approach of slow and managed growth, Gill valued his customers’ interest above all else as owner-operator of Floor Systems.

Now the second generation has taken over and that mindset continues. Under the tutelage and support of his father, Richard Veilleux is now the torchbearer of the family business. Rich has worked for Floor Systems since he was a teenager. Even during semester breaks from UMaine-Orono where he received a degree in Chemical Engineering, Rich has spent countless hours learning every aspect of the family business. After working in his field of study for a year, Rich came back to the flooring industry.

Instead of directly rejoining the family business, he gained outside experience as a manufacturer’s representative for Shaw Floors, one of the world’s largest flooring manufacturers, learning the industry from the inside out. He was able to use his background in flooring mixed with his engineering degree to achieve his expertise in hard-surface flooring like tile, hardwood, and laminate floors.
 
 
Learn more about the flooring professionals in the Central Maine area - Floor Systems
 
 
 

Awards & associations

 
Chamber of Commerce
National Wood Flooring Association
 
Shaw Aligned Certified Dealer
 
World Floor Covering Association
 
 
 

Meet the team

 

Floor Systems has been a family business since its founding in 1987. As the second generation of the Veilleux family to helm the business, Rich Veilleux remains committed to his father’s vision of excellence in service and product quality.

How Rich joined Floor Systems
Rich started working at his father’s company when he was in high school. He was the owner’s son, but he didn’t get treated any differently – he started out sweeping floors and working in the warehouse. Doing those jobs still helps him to this day; Rich is always ready to jump in and help out wherever he’s needed in the company.

“I wouldn’t expect somebody to do something that I wouldn’t do myself. I still go out and jump into the warehouse and move things around and will load up customers if I need to, I’ll go out and help people on the sales floor if need be,” he says. “I need to know every single position in order to lead this company.”

Rich’s journey to carrying on the family business wasn’t without some interruption, though. After high school, he attended the University of Maine where he earned a degree in chemical engineering. While he enjoyed the science, Rich decided that working in a lab wasn’t for him; he preferred dealing with people and having a more active day to day routine.

Rather than go right back to working for his father, Rich joined Shaw Floors. This opportunity allowed him to see the industry from the manufacturer’s side while gaining experience in sales. It also helped him realize that he truly did enjoy working in the flooring industry.

Rich’s work at Floor Systems
Now at the head of Floor Systems, Rich’s work varies greatly from one day to the next. Much of his focus is on speaking with vendors and getting products for the store to ensure customers have a huge range of styles and designs available to them. Though he’s technical by nature, Rich enjoys this side of the business, dealing with people he – and his father – have gotten to know well over the years.

In dealing with manufacturers and vendors, Rich is always thorough. He wants to know every detail so that he personally knows and understands what Floor Systems is carrying so the team can recommend and provide the right products for the right applications. He does this all while securing good prices from manufacturers so that those savings can be passed on to Floor Systems’ customers.

“We treat our vendors with respect and they give us respect,” explains Rich.

Though working with vendors is one of his favorite parts of the job, it’s far from his only duty. Rich also takes on much of the company’s IT duties, deals with spreadsheets and forecasting, is the technical go-to for salespeople and does whatever else he needs to in order to keep Floor Systems running smoothly and customers happy.

As a full-service flooring store, and one of the largest in Maine, there is always more than enough for Rich to do at Floor Systems during the day. Whether he’s in the showroom, in the warehouse or in the back office at the computer, he’s glad to be there and proud of the business his family has built.

But he also knows it’s not all due to his family that the company has been successful – there’s been a dedicated team behind the success for decades. That shows in his approach to the staff, who he says are all considered like family and treated as such.

Optimistic about challenges
Running a family business isn’t always easy, Rich acknowledges. Challenges in today’s world like freight rates and price increases have been a recent hurdle, but Rich sees the flip side of that. In the flooring industry, he can help customers find alternative styles or slightly different colors to still meet their needs if they can’t get the exact product in the timeframe or price range they need. That flexibility, coupled with Rich and his team’s deep knowledge and Floor System’s extensive inventory, is valuable for customers.

Overall, though, Rich says, “Being a family business is challenging, it’s rewarding, it’s always been interesting.”
 
 
Father & son (2nd generation)
 

Father & son (2nd generation)

 
 
 
Katie, Cameron, Denise, Cindy & Elaine
 

Katie, Cameron, Denise, Cindy & Elaine

 
 
 
Team members
 

Team members

 
 
 
 

Our showroom has it all

 

You'll want to see it for yourself

 
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