Carpet Ride

The first time Rufus Ashby rapidly grew a flooring and carpet business, in the 1990s, a corporate parent that expanded too fast for its own good stained his future.

Ashby had built up a chain of Tampa-area stores, Carpet World, from one to seven. He sold the chain to Carpet Max in 2000. But Carpet Max, publicly traded, had management and operation issues that ultimately doomed the entire business. “They bought more and more stores,” says Ashby.
“Then they bought themselves out of business.”

Ashby, in turn, was out of a job, since he ran the company's Tampa division after the acquisition. So in 2000, he started again. He stayed in the flooring and carpet industry.