Just a hop, skip and a jump from our communities along Hwy 22 is Randy’s Local Flooring Experts, By Design. Randy’s has been serving the Iowa City area since Oct. 13, 1976, and has been seated comfortably in Coralville since 1977. Since 1999, Randy’s has held shop in Cedar Rapids as well, mainly serving the corridor area.

This October has been a month for celebration: Randy’s 47th anniversary sale. Customers still have one more week to capitalize on the special sales Randy’s is offering.

“[The 47th anniversary] is not a big milestone but the community has always supported us and so we want to give back,” Dawn Rasmussen, Randy’s Marketing Manager and Sales/Design for both locations, said. “Interest rates are high; things are just different right now. We just want to be able to have a sale and let people know they can get the updates in their home that they want to do and maybe get a good value on it as well.”

This sale specifically highlights stock items like vinyl plank flooring (LVP) that are typically priced around $3-4 but can now be found as low as $1.79 per square foot.

Randy’s is also offering 20% off select items throughout the store and carpet with a starting price of $1.17 per square foot.

“These are big things that are happening. We don’t have sales very often so it’s kind of a big deal for us. We always have good prices throughout the store, so it’s kind of a one off,” Rasmussen said.

To further celebrate, Randy’s held “parties” at both locations on Oct. 28. Here, customers got free snacks and had a chance to win an $1,000 gift card. One lucky customer at each location won the gift card. The Cedar Rapids location specially had free Willie Ray’s Q Shack BBQ, which helped attract more people.

The sale is still going strong, and if you fancy new flooring, Randy’s could be your next destination. If making it to the show floor is a challenge, you can view options online and have samples sent to your home. Most of the sales process is more easily done in-store, however.

A customer can come to either location and receive free measure, design, consultation and rendering by the in-house graphic/interior designers with no obligation of purchase. Once it is decided how much of an item a customer needs, Randy’s can deliver and install the product. Being a small business that serves a concentrated area allows Randy’s to accomplish this better than a lot of the big-box store competition.

And they pride themselves on having a large selection that remains in stock year-round with ease of access due to the warehouses. The Coralville location has its own warehouse located just a mile down the road.

Here, Randy’s stores up to a million square footage worth of flooring items and houses machinery that can cut the products to size, with precision, for their customers.

Randy’s serves up more than just flooring as well. They have window fixtures in addition to their carpet, tile and hardwood flooring options to round out any room’s design. The window fixtures include curtains, shades, blinds and shutters.

The company offered things like furniture before they shifted to an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) in 2016. This allowed owner and founder Randy Ward to retire, giving ownership to the employees.

It also began a company rebranding from Randy’s Flooring to Randy’s Local Flooring Experts, By Design. With a rebrand came a more focused showroom floor and a name that highlighted the in-house designers.

After settling into the new rebrand, Randy’s has been able to partner with the Stead Family Children’s Hospital in Iowa City. Since 2018, Randy’s has donated .05¢ per square foot purchased of the Comfort-Gel cushion paired with carpet purchases to the Children’s Hospital.

In 2022, Randy’s partnered with Shaw, a supplier for Randy’s, to donate another .05¢ when customers specifically select the Shaw Colorwall Carpet. If paired together, up to .10¢

is donated to the Children’s Hospital per square foot.

Since the program began, Randy’s has donated over $120,000 dollars to the hospital, according to Rasmussen.

This commitment does not stop Randy’s from supporting local schools and other charities when the opportunity arises.

“All of us live in different communities, so we try to help the communities where our employees live,” Rasmussen said. “We kind of do small little touches where we work and play.”