Home Carpet One is owned by a second generation husband and wife team, Joel and Debbie Schreier, who live and breathe their flooring business. You will find one or both of us at the showroom every day. We spend much of our time sourcing product from the leading manufacturers and making sure our valued staff is well-trained on those products. Our overarching goal is to make luxury affordable by leveraging our buying power to benefit our customers. Family owned and operated since 1970, we understand the importance of building successful client relationships by providing memorable service and overall product value.

"We value our clients' time and they value our professional help in selecting the best flooring materials for their homes."

 

Joel and Debbie Schreier

Longstanding Chicago Ties

Leon & Lynn Engel

Debbie’s Mom and Dad, Lynn and Leon Engel, founded Home Carpet One in 1970 at the corner of Barry, Greenview and Lincoln. They weren’t, however, the first family members in the carpet business in Chicago. Leon’s father (Debbie’s grandfather), William Engel, opened his first store in what is now the Old Town neighborhood in 1946. William helped Leon purchase the building that now houses the first of three contiguous buildings that comprise Home Carpet One.

Lillian & William Engel

Early on, William would often drop by the showroom to mentor his son. With his guidance, Leon and Lynn’s business began to thrive and they eventually purchased the next two buildings that now comprise Home Carpet One’s 14,000 square foot showroom. In those early days, Leon would do it all and could be found at the store from dawn to dusk. The business focused on neighborhood families, real estate management companies and small home builders.

As you can see in the photos above, we have completed a major renovation here at Home Carpet One. The goal is to provide a modern, customer friendly facility for years to come. Some of the major changes include opening up the showroom floor, all new windows, lighting, interior finishes and adding a Cabinet department to the mix.
Come check it out!

In 2002, we took over Home Carpet One. Debbie had worked in the business for years and seamlessly took over the operations side of the business (while still raising our three young children). Joel, on the other hand, never had spent a day in flooring or retail. Like his father had done for him, Leon mentored Joel in those early days. To Debbie’s dismay, Joel quickly learned that he loved to buy product. And buy he did. Soon enough the showroom was filled to the gills with suppliers never before seen on Lincoln Avenue. (In fact, a new 21,000 square foot warehouse in the South Loop was purchased to address this expensive habit.) While the business’ focus has evolved toward selling nicer goods, the lessons Leon taught both Debbie and Joel are utilized daily and guide our decisions. Unable to outspend the national chains on advertising, Leon preached the importance of forming lasting relationships with our customers based on trust and mutual respect. Today, that basic principle governs how we interact with our employees, subcontractors, vendors and, above all else, our clients.

Experienced & Knowledgeable Staff

"Our service and delivery department will apply a white glove approach."

We know choosing flooring that best suits your needs and budget can be tricky, which is why we have specialists on staff. Our sales team is trained to help select the ideal flooring materials for your home or office. Our staff includes a dozen sales associates well-versed in all types of flooring. We have designers that can assist with more complex design decisions often encountered when you are working on bigger and more elaborate projects, like bathroom and kitchen remodels. Over half of our sales team has been working at Home Carpet One for over twelve years. They are excellent at what they do and are essential to our overall success. Once it is time to get the product installed in your home, our service and delivery department will apply a white glove approach. In fact, some of the original subcontractors that worked with Leon, continue to perform some of the most skilled work required by our clients, like custom-cut stair runners.

Cutting Edge Products

The biggest change in the business over the last twelve years has been our focus on sourcing cutting-edge products. For example, we now carry virtually every line of wool carpet made and have the widest assortment of in-stock wool carpets in the Chicago market. Our tile and wood business has evolved in a similar fashion. Home Carpet One no longer relies on local distribution to source tile. Instead, we buy directly from niche manufacturers throughout the country to provide the latest in mosaics, glass tile and natural stone. In addition, we import the latest porcelain styles directly from Italy, Spain and elsewhere, so our clients can enjoy high style at an affordable price. Likewise, our key suppliers in the wood industry, like Preverco, sell to Home Carpet One directly thereby eliminating the middle man.

"Unlike our competition,
we aren't afraid to inventory the latest products..."

Perhaps our most unique feature at Home Carpet One is our in-stock program. Unlike our competition, we aren’t afraid to inventory the latest products whether it be oil-finished floors, long-length porcelain wood looks, viscose carpets or Wilton patterned wool carpets. This focus allows our clients to access higher-end flooring products at more affordable prices. We don’t only focus on these unique products, however. We stock the largest selection of carpet in Chicago including dozens of nylons, polyester carpets, Smartstrand carpets, wool carpets, patterned carpets, berbers, solid loops, plushes, and commercial carpets. We also stock hardwood and import natural stone and porcelain tile, including mosaic tile, from around the world in an effort to provide you with beautiful products and great values. Every day we try to live up to our tag-line: In Stock. In Style. In Chicago.

Giving Back to the Community

Each year Home Carpet One donates carpet, area rugs and other flooring products to local schools, shelters and other Chicago based not-for-profit organizations in need of new floorcovering. In addition, we have raised thousands of dollars for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and have participated in the JDRF walk for the last five years to help fund research to cure Type I diabetes. Lastly, in honor of Leon Engel’s memory, we sponsor the annual Chicago Floor Covering Association’s Retail Salesperson of the Year Award to recognize a sales person in the Greater Chicago area that demonstrates professionalism and devotion to our field.

JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes