Perque Floor Covering 3rd generation of Perques look to ‘be remembered’

Perque Floor Covering in Houma has withstood the test of time. The business is now in its 56th year and third generation of giving area residents some place to stand.

How has the family business done so amidst the onslaught of worldwide chain competitors coming into the Houma area? That’s simple – they stay true to the roots of their business under its founder Harvey Perque, who always stressed the importance of service.

“Our biggest motto around here now is to be remembered,” Houma location owner Brian Perque said. “After 50 years, it’s easy to assume that everyone knows your name and that you’re the first place that people come to, but it’s not the case. We have stores out there that are throwing around millions of dollars in advertising and it’s something we can’t afford to do, so with every customer that walks through the door, our sales people, our installers and myself, we try to be remembered.”

Perque stepped into the flooring industry in 1955 when Brian’s grandfather, Harvey Perque, founded the business.

“Paw Paw,” as Brian refers to his grandfather, held a location on Barrow Street. The initial focus of the business was putting carpet into people’s homes.

“It was basically a very small carpet store,” Brian said. “He started out installing the carpet. He’d hand-sew the seams and everything. Eventually, he started buying a few rolls of carpet for himself and the demand was there for carpet and that pretty much started it out.”

Family is one of the staples of the Perque history.

That’s not by accident, as Brian said Harvey Perque always wanted to leave his company to his children. He succeeded, as all five of his children spent some time with the business.

“His main goal in doing a business like this was to give his children something to have for their own,” Brian Perque said. “He passed his stores onto his children the second that he thought they were ready.”

Today, Perque has built on the grandfather’s humble beginnings and has six locations across the state, including in Houma, Luling, Kenner, Metairie, Gretna and Mandeville.

“Paw Paw” isn’t in the business anymore, having retired several years ago. But he’s never far away, according to Brian, who said he keeps close contact with the business to make sure things are running smoothly, while also offering advice if needed.

Brian said those watchful eyes are 100 percent supportive, as Paw Paw lets his family learn the bumps of the business on their own.

“He always calls, he calls every day,” Brian Perque said. “But he tries as best he can to stay out of it. He’d love to be able to give any kind of input that he can, but he knows it’s our store to run and he tries to let us do it. Sink or swim, it’s ours to do it.”

The game the children and grandchildren are playing is different than Harvey Perque’s start, as Perque now does commercial and residential installations.

“There’s not much that we’ll turn down and no place we won’t go to do flooring,” Brian said.

Trends in the market are different now. This also keeps the family store on its toes to stay one step ahead of the competition.

“It’s changed a ton,” Brian Perque said. “That’s the most fun challenge in this business – trying to keep up with market demand and trying to stay ahead of the game as far as trends and what’s to come. For example, when I started, we probably sold 60-to-80 percent carpet with a little bit of ceramic mixed in and the rest vinyl. … Now, carpet is probably 15 percent of our sales and 75 percent is made up of ceramic, laminate or wood. Hard surface is the trend now and it doesn’t look to swing the other way for quite a while. It’s amazing how little carpet we actually sell.”

Despite the chess match that is business competition, Perque Floor Covering never loses its roots and its “small-store vibe”.

After all, they are still trying to be remembered.

“If people can remember us later on – for more than their flooring needs, if they can just remember us as a friend or as a peer or as someone who cares about the way their home looks, then word of mouth will carry us and that’s the only way to get new business in a small town,” Brian Perque said. “If you get away from the roots, then you’re just like everyone else. Customer service, honesty and those types of things got us where we are and that’s what we constantly preach. So hopefully the general public recognizes it when they walk into the door that you’re going to get a fair response from us.”