The Early 60's

Like many Wisconsin stories, ours starts on the family farm. My Dad returned home after serving in the military in the 50’s and thought he might join his Dad and brother on the farm but quickly realized it couldn’t really support another family.   

So Dad went to work for a family friend in the hardwood floor sanding and finishing business. He worked there for several years, learning the craft and creating contacts within the industry. Along the way, several contractors he worked with told him that if he ever went out on his own, they would happily work with him again. 

This might have planted a seed for starting his own company but then a real opportunity presented itself. A local wood floor company was shutting down creating a gap in the market and so Ralph's Floor Sanding Service was born.

A Fateful Year

1965 was a fateful year. Dad used to joke that he went into business on the very day I was born and so my future was cast right there. The reality is a little less convenient as it was somewhat later in that year that he launched but it certainly seemed to be in the stars that I would eventually join him at Ralph’s.    

Dad and I beside one of his early work vehicles. The company was still called Ralph's Floor Sanding Service!

As Dad got rolling on his own though, he found out not all of the contractors who told him they would call, actually did. As a result he found himself in the same position as so many other small business owners - he needed to learn how to run the business, not just install and finish floors.

A Family Business

Here is a great photo from those days. You can even see a young me in the background!

Pictured from left to right are Roberta Lorenz (back to picture), Ralph Lorenz, Barb Strauch, Jim Strauch, Rod Lorenz (sitting in back), and unknown

In the early days, Dad got help from the whole family. My uncle, Gene Blake, was a farmer who lived across the street and he began helping Dad with jobs when Uncle Gene’s work was slow and Dad’s was busy. He also let us put a phone in his house, which he or my Aunt Dolores would answer when Mom or Dad didn’t pick up the Ralph’s line at our place. Gene still lives across the street from the house I grew up in. Their son, Al, is Ralph’s longest-tenured employee. He joined us in 1986 as an installer, and he has never seen a reason to leave. Al's sons, Reed and Trent, both helped us during summers while going to school. 

AL and I go way back, Here are the two of us as kids playing in the yard

The First Location

The first location for Ralph’s Hardwood Flooring didn’t even have a showroom. It was just my Dad’s garage, behind our house in the country outside Black Creek where Dad stored materials and equipment.

1970's

The seventies were a tough time for hardwood floor businesses. Policies surrounding home loan requirements changed and homeowners could now finance things that wouldn’t last the lifetime of the home, like wall-to-wall carpet. This dramatically affected the hardwood flooring business and over the next decade almost 90% of wood flooring manufacturers went out of business.

The finishing and installation business also suffered. Dad did anything to stay busy. He would do short notice, same day jobs, travel out of town for gigs and odd projects such as sanding concrete or removing old flooring. In his down time, he would help in the family farm. The roots of the Ralph’s Hardwood can do approach really go back to this time when Dad did whatever was needed to keep the business afloat.

Roberta, the rock.

Throughout these tough times, my Mom, Roberta, was a rock. Her persistence helped keep the company on course through those years. Ralph’s is her “baby”, too, and she has every reason to be proud of its success. It wouldn’t have happened without her.

She did anything that needed doing from answering the Ralph’s phone line in our home, to helping Dad with non-technical aspects of installation. She was the office manager, service manager, and even accountant.

An Early Start

I started working at Ralph’s in the Seventies too. By the time I was 7, I was answering the phone too and repeating the things I heard my parents saying.

Eventually Dad started taking me along on jobs to carry equipment or applying finish and before long, I was running the sander.

Expansion

By the mid-70s Dad’s hard work and commitment to customer satisfaction led to more and more work and he needed more storage space. So he moved the “warehouse” to a nearby 40x80 sq. ft. pole building barn.

Dad worked out of this shed from about 1975 all the way through 1992 when we built the building and showroom we have today.

1980's

The Eighties saw hardwood floors, especially oak, begin to regain their popularity. The business started getting busy and Dad began to grow it. Installations picked up and general contractors began to sub-out flooring jobs to professionals like my Dad.    

As people began to tear out old carpets, hardwood floor refinishing also became more popular. At this time, Dad hired some people who knew how to sand floors and it was also around this time that Dad also began to hire local people he knew. He hired kids from the neighbourhood and even a few friends of mine - Al, Robyn, and Randy are still with us today. 

New Space

By the end of the 1980’s, the company was up to 8 people and needed some new space. In 1988 Dad decided he needed a place for customers to visit and see with their own eyes what Ralph’s could do for them. That was when we made our move into town, buying an old building to create our first showroom.

College Years

By the mid-Eighties I was off to college. At the time I didn’t think I was going to come back to a career at Ralph’s but time went on, I was drawn back to the business I never really left. I worked in computers and technology at the end of the Eighties and by 1992 I was back to work with Ralph’s

Not college but maybe the only photo anywhere of me looking studious.

1990's

By 1992 Dad determined he needed help with the business side of Ralph’s and he asked me to take over the company. I said yes. Looking back I remember thinking the hardwood floor business was booming and I had my business degree so, “how hard could it be?”. Little did I know all the hardwood I was setting myself up for. Nevertheless I put my education to work, created a business plan and got busy.

Under One Roof

That first showroom was a great step up for Ralph’s, but it wasn’t an ideal situation. The building was terribly old and we had to share the space with another tenant. So when Dad passed the company on to me, one of my biggest priorities was getting us into a better location.

In 1993, we built our current building in Black Creek. It allowed us to bring our showroom and warehouse together in the same location, and it gave us even more exposure to customers.

Our current location at 404 W. State Street (Hwy 54). We’ve expanded this building three times - quite a step up from a garage!

More People, More Products

In a way I followed the template my Dad created when he expanded for the first time in the Eighties. I also started hiring people to crew the company and expand the products we were using. Most of the floors we were installing were oak and maple but by the end of the decade, we were installing species from all over the world.

Going Digital

In the late Nineties we also joined the internet revolution. I had always been interested in technology and so launching a website was something I was keen to do. It was a far cry from our site today but it was still a thrill to type Ralph’s Hardwood Flooring into AOL and find our site.

2000's

Wood floors continued to boom at the turn of the century. In 2005, we took on a major expansion, doubling our square footage to 4,000 sq. ft. of showroom space and a 19,000-sq.-ft. warehouse. The expansion and remodel also included rethinking our parking areas. Here’s a fun story about some police officers who quickly realized our parking lot was now a muddy field and the staff pulling a pretty great prank on me.

Award Winners

We were also doing more specialty products like Brazilian Cherry and Red Birch and every customer seemed to be looking for something unique. For example here is a project we won a 2008 NWFA Floor of the Year Award for that featured an antique-looking map insert.

Pulling together as a team

By 2008 the recession was in full swing and like many other businesses, we had to adapt to the new reality by controlling costs and streamlining operations. We endured the next few years losing a few people voluntarily but keeping everyone else. It was a tough time but I look back in pride at how our team came together.

2010's

By 2012 the economy was rising and our business started to take off again. We became more specialized by adding skills such as levelling concrete, hand scraping floors and taking on even more custom and intricate flooring work. The trend towards wide boards also created opportunity as we developed both in-house expertise and added new product lines.

Our 50th Anniversary

My Dad passed away in 2014 and it was a tough time for the extended Ralph’s family. I miss my Dad everyday but I’ll always have memories of him like how he loved to tell stories.

In 2015 we celebrated our 50th anniversary which was only made possible by Dad’s steadfast belief that “If you’re not moving forward in business, you’re moving backwards”.

Staying on top of Trends

In 2016 we did an extensive remodel of our showroom adding several new displays and features to give customers a better experience, allowing them to see, touch, and walk on the very latest in hardwood floor trends.

We learned how to install Luxury Vinyl Tile (LVT) and Luxury Vinyl Plank (LVP) adding more floor styles to our long list of services.

COVID and Beyond

The Twenties have been all about COVID. To start we slowed our production down to match our customers' requests but it didn’t take long for things to swing the other way. After a few months of being home, a lot of homeowners started renovation and upgrade projects and we went crazy with work. When you combine demand with supply chain issues and labor shortages, the decade has started with a few challenges.

Overall though this is nothing new. The times change but in some ways the business does not. For as long as there are customers who want great floors, installed by craftsmen who really care, Ralph’s will continue to create a legacy.