The International Design Guild (IDG), the design and project division of CCA Global, excels in offering elevated, high-end experiences for consumers and the A&D community. With an eye for transforming whole homes through flooring and other products, including paint, countertops, wallpaper, textiles, lighting and more, IDG has the expertise to deliver on high-level design.

“Whether it’s flooring, lighting, kitchen and bath, etc., most IDG members do very large design-oriented projects,” explained IDG president Steve Sieracki. “Many IDG showrooms are designer showrooms that work by in-store appointment for white-glove treatment, and many are also open to the public.”

IDG members focus on the customized design experience for the consumer. “With IDG, it’s all about that personalized experience,” Sieracki shared. “A lot of IDG experience is done in the home and not necessarily in the store because they’re designing the whole project. The design being done is more than a 20 x 20 living room rug, it’s taking into account the furniture and everything interior wise that goes inside the house.”

The way IDG members go to market is also different. “The experience IDG members offer is unique and very specific, there’s more handholding,” Sieracki said. “The Retail 2.0 showroom with samples sorted by color and organized by price point isn’t necessarily what IDG is looking to offer which is that more customized experience.”

IDG members’ online experience and in-store presentation is also unique. “It’s very curated,” Sieracki offered. “They’re going to have things in the IDG showroom that are not in the traditional Retail 2.0 showroom.”

IDG websites are curated uniquely to attract consumers, Sieracki explained. “Our digital and online presence is to target consumers on the IDG front rather than the traditional CCA front. Their showrooms are individual to them, not a private label curation. We’re trying to attract that unique consumer to that IDG showroom.”

Oftentimes, Sieracki explained, members will find other retailers they feel would be a good fit for the co-op. “Our IDG members find like-minded and in-kind people either in a nearby marketplace or adjacent marketplace,” he said. “The members are the ones recommending they join IDG because of the collaborating and networking, and the way they do things differently for the consumer. IDG members don’t operate like traditional retail.”

CCA supports its IDG members by presenting flooring options that match the projects they’re working on. “IDG members are working on projects for 8 to 10 months. They’re completing whole remodels and projects that go throughout the home,” said Sieracki.

IDG members are a tightknit group because of their networking and likeminded business model.

Bedford, N.H.-based Goedecke Paint, Flooring & Design Center, Sieracki said, is a classic example. “They were a Flooring America store that had a private label footprint, but they transitioned into a high-end store focusing on kitchen and bath, paint, wallpaper, textiles and countertops. It’s a uniquely curated showroom.”

A Unique Business Model

The 100-plus-year-old Goedecke moved to an IDG format about three years ago. FCW visited co-owners and brothers Herb and Peter Goedecke in their beautifully designed showroom as part our Retail Road Trip: Destination Manchester, N.H. series in the summer of 2024.

“What I like about this division is there are less requirements for buying displays,” said Herb Goedecke. “We don’t do much private label but there are some vendors that are only part of IDG so there’s that flexibility. For example, we don’t sell polyester, so I don’t have to take on huge racks of polyester products. We have more freedom to head into the higher end, and we don’t have to take on displays that we know we won’t sell.”

Indeed, the flexibility offered by IDG is key, said Messner Flooring president Ted Messner, who bought the business from his father in 2024.

“We cater our stores to a customer base that we know better than anyone else,” said Messner. “When you go into our store, we have so many different options from a laundry list of vendors. Because of IDG’s flexibility, you’re not coming into our store and seeing cookie cutter displays. We cater our entire showroom and shopping experience to an elevated service from start to finish.”

FLOOR360, an IDG member for more than 20 years and with locations in Madison, Wisc. and Milwaukee, Wisc., said being a member presents products more in line with your customers’ needs. “If you’re more design centric and offer flooring, you have access to design focused brands more so than the commodity brands,” offered president Ryan Koechel. “IDG offers a lot more of those products [that fit our model] that we can put in front of our customers.”

Goedecke too is an ideal fit for IDG because its business caters to the higher end and is design focused. “Most of our salespeople have design degrees or a design background,” Goedecke explained. “We don’t just sell product, rather we’re giving customers something to transform their house.”

Goedeke is unique too in that offers paint, window treatments and other products to elevate the home. “We’re not trying to sell the next basic hardwood job. Our salespeople have a fashion sense, and that’s a great fit for IDG,” Herb Goedecke said.

FLOOR360 also has interior designers as its sales team. “We look to customer feedback to make sure everything works together throughout their house — it isn’t just one bedroom here and there. We do complete full home projects and large remodels using our design skills to bring everything together,” said Koechel.

Network Support

Ultimately, Koechel said it’s important to FLOOR360’s business to be part of this smaller group. “Every member owner is very close so having that direct line of communication for a smaller group that has common sales, technology and business styles, you get different perspectives and a quick answer for what you’re looking for.”

It is also helpful having a network of people that are dealing with similar issues but in different places, Messner said. As well, “CCA gives us additional buying power which is great and the rebates are fantastic. Especially for me, coming into [this role] in 2024, you want to have people you can talk to.”

And because there isn’t any overlap with other IDG members in Messner’s market, “you can get honest feedback on things that work well and things that don’t. There’s a nice network of people you can reach out to.”

Being part of the co-op also means access to CCA’s extensive resources including its CCA University. “CCA offers a lot of different services and buying power, and access to training and hiring services,” said Goedecke. “We like the partnership and all the many other benefits.”

Including the power of the co-op itself. “We need to stick together to fight off the Lowe’s and Home Depots and everyone else who is after us,” said Goedecke. “It’s about the general empowerment of the independent dealer.”

Evolving Trends

IDG members are consistently keeping a finger on the pulse of what’s trending.

In his area in Northeast, Goedecke said he is seeing grays fading out. “We’re finally back to warm tones again; brushed brass and champagne bronze for finishes, doorknobs. Black handles and fixtures are huge,” he said. As well, “Lots of wire-brushed white oak and different iterations [of that]. It’s nice seeing things going warmer after grays dominated for so long. It’s nice to see cabinets aren’t all white paint but rather we’re seeing a wood finish cabinet which is great.”

In Wisconsin, trends are moving back to timeless designs. “We’re seeing longer, wider planks in wood and larger format tile and Carrera is hot. The really timeless looks [are trending] such as white oaks and we’re getting away from grays and oranges. In new home construction, people are trying to get away from LVP.” Although, Koechel noted, LVP does still offer many of the performance benefits homeowners today are looking for such as waterproof properties.