About Ron's Carpets

Ron’s Carpets was founded by my Stepfather Ron Hayse and my Mother Carol Hayse. He was a flooring installer for most of his life but wanted something more. His dream was realized in 1992 when he purchased the original property at 1003 NE Adams St., and opened his own store. In the early days, his focus was on the service side of the industry and catered to his vast customer base that he had worked with for nearly 3 decades. In those early days, Carol did the bookkeeping in her evenings and weekends as they worked hand in hand building the business.

The business was growing quickly and needed to have regular hours to service the customer base. In 1994, she started working full-time to help customers with their flooring needs. With a focus on customer service, our customer base was the source of our growth with positive word-of-mouth testimonials. In 1995, during my honeymoon, I discussed with my new bride the possibility of coming to work with Ron and Carol. Ron had thrown the idea out previously, but I was attending Western Illinois University and felt like my time was best served by getting a degree. Something was calling me to return to Peoria and start a new life in the flooring industry. The early days were tough to learn 30 years of knowledge that Ron was trying to share with me, but he did a wonderful job teaching.

At this same time, Ron’s Carpets entered an expansion from the original building that was purchased. Ron was able to purchase some adjoining properties and expand operations in the same location. Many of his friends and colleagues told him we would never survive in this location, but he was determined to prove them wrong.

God had a plan for me and Ron’s Carpets. In January 1997, while Ron and Carol were out for a mid-week lunch, Ron unexpectedly passed away. It was a very tough time, but my mother had the wisdom to not make any rushed decisions on our future. I remember talking with her that we would return to work like normal and sit down in 6 months to decide on our future. Six months later we had growth that had us Incorporated, and the combination of Ron’s shared experience and Carol’s brilliant business mind, we knew we could succeed. I often tell people that if Carol and I did not start full time when we did, I do not know that we would have had the knowledge to continue.

From 1997 to 2022, Carol led Ron’s Carpets as the owner, and I was proud to work beside her to continue Ron’s dream. It was not always easy, but we always knew that we had each other’s back. Our growth continued because of our great customers and the desire to make the customer the primary focus of what we were doing.

The TEAM that we have developed at Ron’s Carpets is not just a bunch of workers, but we are a family. Each of us depends on the others and together we strive to reach our business goal of Total Customer Satisfaction.

At the end of 2022, Carol was fortunate enough to retire, when I succeeded in the role of owner. I can only hope to have as much success as she had over her time of leadership. I have the support of great installers; and the in-store TEAM continues to be a vital part of our success. I am fortunate to have my son return from college to work by my side as we look to move Ron’s Carpets into the next generations of the flooring industry.

While the area around us has changed, some of the faces are different, Ron’s Carpets Inc. has withstood the test of time for over 33 years. We still work with the values that Ron and Carol instilled in us to focus on the customers and to have fun with what we do.

John Vollrath - President
Ron’s Carpets Inc.