Dura Flooring Inc.

Trini Alday has come a long way since the days of her tiny home office, but she hasn’t abandoned the values that helped to build Dura Flooring, Inc.

Over the last three decades, her company has grown from its beginnings in a residential garage to a 13,000-square-foot showroom and warehouse in Commerce, California. Dura Flooring provides full-service commercial and residential flooring services and installs carpet, hardwood, laminate, vinyl and luxury vinyl tile. The company serves the Los Angeles and Orange County areas of Southern California.

“I’ve seen her grow her business, make it a family business and take care of everyone who works for her,” says Juan Hernandez, Project and Installation Manager. “What she has done is amazing. Most of us have been here for a long time, and Trini has hired a great group of people who believe in the company and in their jobs. They believe that if the company wins, we all win. If we’re strong, the company is strong. If the employees weren’t enthusiastic about the company, this wouldn’t work.”

Coming to America

In the early 1980s, Trini’s husband received a scholarship opportunity from the University of Southern California, and she decided to follow him from their home in Durango, Mexico. When she arrived in the United States at age 19, she knew little English. She learned the language by buying a Spanish/English dictionary, reading the Los Angeles Times and attending a language school.

Her husband was eventually hired by a construction company, and Trini was hired by the same company to work in accounting, which she had studied in Mexico. Soon after, she was put in charge of the company’s carpet installation department.

“That’s how I learned the business,” she says.

That learning stopped when the company’s boss fired her. Trini says it was because she was pregnant. Despite that being against the law, she declined to challenge the owner of the same company employing her husband.

“I decided that it was an opportunity,” Trini says. “I had a vision. There was a small room in our house next to the garage, and I decided to convert that room and the garage and start my own carpet installation company. I invested in advertising, and I started receiving calls, and we started installing in apartment buildings. I knew where to buy carpet and I knew the installers.”

Dura Flooring launched in September 1986. Trini has had some bumps in the road since, including divorce from her husband and two recessions that forced the closing of four of Dura Flooring locations. Her work ethic and family values—both at home and at her business—have enabled her to persevere and turn those bumps in the road to smooth success.

A True Family Business

Trini describes Dura Flooring as a “small family business.” Family extends beyond her two sisters, Lolis Ovalle and Lisa Villavicencio, and her daughter, Vanessa Alday-Gonzalez, who work for the company, to include all 15 employees in the home office. Vanessa’s husband, Jose Manuel Gonzalez, has worked for the company for 16 years and Candy Alday, her ex-husband’s sister, has been with the company since its inception.

“My mom has the ability to bring out the best in everyone’s talents,” says Vanessa, whose husband is the warehouse manager. “She cares about our goals, and she’s a mentor not just to me but for everyone in the company. She’s open, respectful, treats everyone equally and communicates very well. We see her passion for the company and we have that passion, also.”

Vanessa started with her mom’s company three years ago and learned and worked her way from the ground up, working summers and weekends. She’s currently manager of the wholesale department, which involves staying on top of the types of products Dura Flooring has on hand to handle its installation jobs.

The company’s installation projects are split equally between commercial and residential. Each type requires different approaches.

The current trend for most houses is mostly hardwood and laminates in living areas and carpeting in bedrooms, and Dura Flooring has installers who specialize in each type, with one residential job often having two different crews.

Occupied offices or businesses can require moving and sometimes disassembling furniture or disconnecting computers.

“When we are installing at a residence, I have always told our installers that the customer is inviting us into his or her house, and we need to be extremely respectful of that,” Trini says. “For commercial installation, we’re going into the customer’s place of business and it’s much the same. We have to be detailed and careful with how we do our job.”

”I’ve seen her grow her business, make it a family business and take care of everyone who works for her. What she has done is amazing.”Juan Hernandez, Project and Installation Manager, Dura Flooring, Inc.

Keeping Current

Dura Flooring works to adapt to the changes in its industry, such as hardwoods and laminates in homes and increasing interest in vinyl composition flooring for businesses. Dura Flooring employees attend an annual surfaces convention in Las Vegas to stay current with changes.

What doesn’t change is the company’s commitment to each customer.

“No matter how small or big, we always try to be detailed on every installation job,” Juan says. “Our workmanship is our biggest plus and has kept us growing. We work with all sorts of people and always give them the same level of service. But we try to promote ourselves in the Hispanic community. It’s a point of pride that we’re a successful Hispanic business that can compete with anyone.”

Trini admits that for the first 20 or so years of the business she worried about “today” and figured that “tomorrow” would take care of itself. Five years ago, she started attending leadership and business seminars and realized that she needed to start planning. That led to her delegating and hiring more managers to free her to concentrate on the big picture. Marcos, her son, helped with networking with other companies, which has led to marketing relationships with Costco and Amazon.

“I’m grateful for the opportunity that this country presents,” Trini says. “For me, ethics and honesty and having values are more important than anything. I tell my family and my employees to work hard, don’t be entitled and be better than others.”