flooring department, with Deborah
DeChristofarro, president.
Company: PJ’s Carpet and Window Fashions
Location: 475 North Broadway, East Providence
Owners: Deborah De-Christofaro and Kim Ferro
Type of business: Custom flooring, wall-coverings and interior design firm
Employees: 5
Year founded: 1969
Annual revenues: WND
After more than 30 years in business, Deborah DeChristo-faro said her company’s number one problem remains the same – its name.
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Started by her mother and father Pauline and John, the name PJ’s Carpet seemed to fit perfectly. But, according to DeChristofaro, it doesn’t begin to tell people about the business.
“We are more than just a floor covering store,” she said. “People are amazed when they come here; they don’t realize exactly what we do.”
DeChristofaro, company president, added that though she has considered changing the name, it’s a difficult decision because the business is known by many as PJ’s.
And though when the store first opened it was primarily a floor covering store, DeChristofaro said over the years her family has broadened its scope to include window designs, wallpaper, upholstery, slipcovers, as well as interior design. DeChristofaro herself has received certification in Interior Design from the Rhode Island School of Design.
“We can do entire rooms from flooring to wall-cover to windows,” she said.
When DeChristofaro started working for her parents 21 years ago, she never dreamed it would become a life-long profession.
“I was working in the travel industry and they needed help,” she said. “I came in to help and learned while I was here.”
In fact, DeChristofaro said, it was she and her mother who decided to expand into window treatments. “We had people that kept coming in and asking about where they could get window treatments to go with their new flooring and we were recommending other people. Finally we realized that we could do other things and the rest is history.”
Though a small company with five employees, PJ’s has sought new markets in recent years with the surge of development building. Networking with contractors has afforded DeChristofaro the opportunity to decorate many homes within one community – working with new homeowners and creating a wider clientele base. The company was recently featured in the newsletter for the Rhode Island Builders Association.
“I will stop at new homes and talk with both contractors and new homeowners,” she said. “Some contractors have been with us for years. When contractors build they give their new homeowners a list of people from plumbers to interior designers that they recommend. We have been lucky to find a place on those lists.”
Doing work at housing developments all over the state creates its own set of challenges, DeChristofaro said.
“Contractors often need their jobs done by a certain date,” she said. “That means we need to work with the customer to meet that deadline. No matter what it is, we have to meet the deadline.”
Assuring customers that bigger isn’t always better is another challenge for a business as small as PJ’s.
“With so many large superstores around we do come up against people who think they can get a better price by either going through these larger companies, or doing it themselves,” she said. “But our prices really do compare — and most of the time that’s with installation.”
Many of the store’s customers aren’t even required to come to the store. DeChristofaro and her sister, Kim Ferro, who is also vice president of the company, will make an initial home visit, go back to the store, select samples and then bring it back to the customer at her home. It’s a time consuming process, but one DeChristofaro said she learned the importance of by watching her father.
“We started really small and he really went the extra yard for people,” she said. “He went out of his way and I saw it succeed, so that’s how we’ve kept it.”
And according to DeChristofaro, it’s the company’s service that has made it successful.
“Referrals are very important,” she said. “So we try and do our best for all of our customers.”
The company does both commercial and residential work, but according to DeChristofaro, it’s mostly residential.
“We do some commercial work including hotels, and office space,” she said. “But most of what we do is residential. A lot of our clients have been with us for 15 or 20 years. We have a very loyal client base.”
Though DeChristofaro said she would like to expand to another location outside of the store’s current home on North Broadway in East Providence, she said right now it’s near to impossible.
“Like other businesses in the state I just can’t find people to work,” she said. “I have always wanted to expand, but I want to be able to serve my customers like they deserve to be and I don’t think we could do both right now.”
And at the end of the day, DeChristofaro said one the hardest parts of running the business is knowing how much more could be done.
“There are so many things that I want to do,” she said. “I am a marketing person and could spend all of my time marketing the store. But when you are in charge, you can’t do that. You just have to do what you can.”
