Live Ventures announces performance turnaround of Flooring Liquidators

Live Ventures (LIVE) announced the performance turnaround of its wholly-owned subsidiary, Flooring Liquidators. Jon Isaac, CEO, attributed the turnaround to Flooring Liquidators’ CEO Chris Nichols and the new leadership team Nichols has built. “When Chris took the reins a few months ago, Flooring Liquidators had experienced 24 consecutive months of losses, decreasing margins, and a gradual loss of sales,” Isaac said. “In the few ensuing months since he took over, Flooring Liquidators achieved positive EBITDA for four consecutive months through July 2025, with a first month of year-over-year revenue increase in July 2025.” Isaac said that Flooring Liquidators projects Fiscal Year 2026 to be a year of record growth and strong profitability. Mr. Nichols enumerated the drivers of the turnaround, highlighting these four key initiatives: One was cost containment and expense reductions made possible by sharpening systems and focusing on logistics. “Our aggressive focus on automation, AI, vendor-direct sourcing, and limiting our warehouse footprint continues to make us more efficient,” Nichols said. Nichols emphasized the company’s ability to deliver product within three days, calling it a major differentiator. “Three-day delivery is almost unthinkable in this business. We’ve turned it into a promise, thanks in part to upgrades in our technology.” The company also made common sense changes in inventory management. For example, Nichols noted the inefficiencies of running a 53-foot truck for a single store. “Our VP of Operations & Logistics, Dr. Thomas Price, says it’s like driving a school bus to deliver a single pizza – and we’re fixing that.” A second factor Nichols cited is the implementation of individual store accountability. In years past, store managers were given out-sized discretionary authority, which was a well-intended encouragement to individual initiative. The downside, from the standpoint of overall company performance, however, was a lax understanding of comparative stores’ performance. “Although an individual manager’s authority is essential to our geographically dispersed entity,” Nichols said, “corporate-level oversight is just as essential. We’re now better able to see and replicate successful practices, as well as to identify performance lags and problems that we can address.” Third, Nichols cited improvements on the product mix and marketing side. “We have a robust and growing line of private label products, increasing private label from 12% to 25% of our total mix. This shift is significant, as private label drives higher margins while also giving us greater control over product quality.” Finally, Nichols attributed the greatest positive impact to the talent and hard work of Flooring Liquidators’ workforce and senior managers. “Our people are going through many changes – not all of them easy and comfortable to embrace. But employees don’t buy into memos and platitudes; they buy into leaders they trust – and I’m proud of our diversified management team of company veterans and fresh blood.” Nichols explained that low prices get customers in the door – but professional services and personal expertise make the sale. “And for that, our people deserve all the credit.” Looking ahead, Mr. Isaac expressed excitement over Live Ventures’ aggressive expansion plans for Flooring Liquidators. Isaac said that having one hundred new stores or more this decade “is almost inevitable if we stay disciplined.”