Commercial Flooring Company The Gillespie Group Celebrates 30 Years of "Making Floor Perform"

(April 2015) The Gillespie Group is celebrating a major milestone this year, having entered into its 30th year in business. What began as a one-person carpet cleaning service in 1985, has grown to become what is today one of the largest commercial flooring providers on the East Coast. Headquartered in East Brunswick, NJ, the company installs and maintains an extensive range of commercial flooring products, including carpeting, wood, concrete, vinyl, tile, and resinous flooring.

Much has changed in thirty years, explains Bob Gillespie, founder and CEO of The Gillespie Group: “Customers were looking for convenience, so we rented a space where people could drop off their area rugs for cleaning. We also provided on-location cleaning services. In the beginning, we had one truck from which our cleaning crew could service both residential and commercial customers.” Within three years, the company added additional personnel and an additional truck, as sales exceeded $1 million.
           
The business continued to expand rapidly as commercial sales started to overtake the residential side of the business. “In the late 1980’s, we took commercial carpet cleaning to a whole new level by offering maintenance programs,” Gillespie recalls. “Instead of waiting for carpets to get dirty and then cleaning them, we introduced monthly and bi-monthly cleaning programs.” While more common today, The Gillespie Group was one of the first to offer scheduled carpet cleaning and appearance management to commercial customers as a service.
           
A growing reputation for excellent service and increasing product knowledge enabled The Gillespie Group to take a significant step in 1992. Gillespie explains, “Customers began asking us for advice on which carpets offered the best wear and cleaning characteristics. They also asked us to add repairs to our cleaning services. We started selling, installing and repairing carpets ourselves, in addition to flooring.” The company began representing brands that included Armstrong, Mohawk and Mannington, selling to both residential and commercial customers.
           
The 90s and early 2000s marked a period of continuous expansion for The Gillespie Group on many fronts. The company continued to take on projects of increasing size and complexity, and moved into new markets such as education, hospitality, restaurants and healthcare. Sales remained on an upward trend, and the company continued to invest in talent to support larger, more intricate projects. By 1994, the company had expanded its service region to include the entire Tri-State area.
 
In 2005, The Gillespie Group became a member of the StarNet® Worldwide Commercial Flooring Partnership. This elite organization is comprised of more than 170 locally owned, full-service flooring contractors representing more than 300 locations throughout North America. With $2 billion in combined annual sales, StarNet is the single most influential organization in the commercial flooring industry today.
In recent years, The Gillespie Group continued to focus exclusively on the commercial market. Affirmation of this is evident in several strategic partnerships with unique, high-performance commercial product lines, such as Acrylicon®, a specialized resinous flooring solution. The Gillespie Group is one of only a very few installers in the U.S. approved for AcryliCon installation. Other specialty brands in the company’s product portfolio include Altro Wall Panels, a decorative and practical alternative to ceramic tiles, and Nora® rubber flooring systems. All of these product lines require highly trained technicians for installation.
 
The company’s geographic service region continues to expand as well. The Gillespie Group now has an office in Philadelphia, PA, servicing Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Connecticut and satellite locations in Florida, Arizona and Nevada.
 
Bob Gillespie recognizes that one reason for the company’s continued success is the influence of several family members involved in the business. “My sons, John and Joe, grew up around the company, and both play important roles in the business today,” says Gillespie. “We all share the same business philosophy, and clients can expect to experience the same level of service, expertise, and quality for many years to come.”
 
Much has changed in the flooring industry since the company was founded.  “The pace of business has increased, projects have grown more complex, new technologies have been introduced, and environmental issues have had a profound impact,” Gillespie notes. To stay current, The Gillespie Group readily invests in training and education, and in the most advanced installation and maintenance equipment, while remaining attentive to the latest trends in flooring design and emerging products.
 
The ongoing investments in talent, equipment, training, and technology have paid off, as the Gillespie Group is routinely called upon to work on some of the largest and most complex flooring projects in the country. Recently completed flooring installations include The Children’s Hospital and St. Peter’s Emergency Room in New Brunswick, NJ; BASF world headquarters in Morristown, NJ; Brooklyn Cruise and Staten Island Ferry Terminals in NY; Universal Studios in Orlando, FL; and Sea World in San Diego, CA.
 
“We are very proud to have reached the 30-year milestone,” Gillespie acknowledges. “And we will continue to make commercial floors perform with the goal of delivering lasting results that exceed our clients’ expectations.”  In the years to come, the Gillespie Group looks forward to continued success, to providing the same superior service it has become known for, and to the rise of the next generation of Gillespie leadership.
 
 
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About The Gillespie Group
The Gillespie Group, with headquarters in East Brunswick, NJ, has been a family-owned New Jersey-based business since it was founded in 1985. A leading nationwide commercial flooring and carpet company, The Gillespie Group offers a unique combination of consultation, product knowledge, industry experience, technical expertise, responsive service, and proven reliability. All company representatives have a deep knowledge of carpet and flooring materials and their performance characteristics. The company offers one of the strongest carpet warranties in the industry. The Gillespie Group team of expert technicians and installers are trained and certified by major manufacturers to ensure the highest quality workmanship.
 
For more information on The Gillespie Group, please visit: www.thegillespiegroup.com.
 

 

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Ed Delia

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