ATR Commercial Flooring, LLC Owner/President Elissa Merritt.

ATR Commercial Flooring, LLC installers approach each job with precision and attention to detail.

ATR Commercial Flooring, LLC (ATR) started in business more than 20 years ago as Above the Rest Floors and More. Since that time, it has tripled in size under the leadership of Owner/President Elissa Merritt. She has positioned ATR as a leader in the flooring industry using her business experience and vision for ATR, which focuses on commercial clients, people before profits and a complete line of flooring services.

Merritt’s vision has included the addition of gypsum underlayment to ATR’s offerings, an innovative approach for the flooring industry designed to create a one-stop shop and alleviate headaches for general contractors. That, combined with her strong commitment to her staff—driving her to bring subcontractors in-house and involve them in strategic decision-making—have helped propel the company forward. Formerly a real estate agent, Merritt came to the business 10 years ago during a time of economic recession to help with the books and invoicing. “This company began as a guy in a truck installing carpet in apartments and single-family homes. When I came on board, the face of the company changed dramatically,” she says. “Our sales doubled during a time when everyone else was lowering their prices. We kept our pricing the same, but used my real estate experience to begin working directly for designers and builders of high-end homes.”

Pivoting the Business

Serving the greater Minneapolis area, ATR has grown to more than 100 employees and has transitioned from residential to solely commercial work. Its biggest job to date is for a large general contractor serving the Twin Cities: a 25-story luxury apartment and townhome development in the St. Anthony Falls Historic District in Minneapolis. Merritt attributes this job to helping ATR break into the commercial flooring industry. “Now we feel like we can take on almost anything,” she says.

The majority of ATR’s work is in the private sector, including multifamily housing structures, office buildings, senior living centers and hospitality venues, such as hotels. Merritt says ATR was able to translate its high-end residential quality to the commercial industry, which is typically focused primarily on volume.

Merritt describes the company’s transition as a transparent, communal decision among employees. “Everyone has a voice here, and it was something everyone wanted,” she says. “We were profitable in residential work, but with commercial, we gained a higher volume of sales with less of the emotion involved.”

Full-Service Flooring

The ATR team prides itself on being a full-service flooring provider for general contractors. According to Merritt, ATR is the only company in the United States offering what she calls a full line of flooring services, including specialized expertise in gypsum underlayment and substrate mitigation. She says their full service package is a game-changer, placing ATR 10 to 15 years ahead of its competitors in terms of innovation.

ATR’s addition of gypsum underlayment services was a defining point for the company. Gypsum underlayment is a fire-blocking material that is spread as a liquid underneath flooring, also serving as a padding and sound barrier. Its application is typically outsourced to a separate contractor, along with the leveling required to create a smooth, flat service for floor installation. Last year, ATR was approached by Kinzler Construction Services, based in Iowa but with a branch providing gypsum services in the Twin Cities. Kinzler invited ATR to assume its local staff and clients, which ATR subsequently took on last October.

The company’s newest specialty offering is substrate mitigation, which consists of floor leveling and waterproofing. It also recently added a leveling division and hopes to expand this area of the business in addition to offering moisture mitigation, a liquid preventative placed underneath flooring.

“We are the first company in the nation to offer a complete flooring package to general contractors, which solves a lot of problems and alleviates headaches on the job site,” Merritt says. “If you can walk on it, we install it.”

People First

Merritt believes the success of her organization starts with its people. For her, that means collaborating with and maintaining relationships with ATR’s more than 100 employees.

She emphasizes the importance of giving a voice to staff and involving them in the company’s big decisions, as was done in the shift from residential to commercial work. As a result of its success, ATR has been recognized as a top flooring company by Finance & Commerce magazine, and at the time of publication, Merritt had been named a finalist in the magazine’s Top Women in Construction awards.

While honored, Merritt says a company is only as good as how it treats its staff. “I see what we do every day for our people, and that’s all that matters to me,” she says.

Under Merritt’s leadership, ATR has set a standard of putting employees first. The company provided a home for its subcontractors, bringing them in-house and offering them a career path, 401(k) match, health benefits and an annual salary for installers, which Merritt says is unusual in the flooring industry.

“Flooring is hard work, and it’s hard on the body. We offer our employees a career path that leads to retirement. When they can no longer install carpet, they transition to management, sales or training. When we hire people, we hire them to stay,” she says.

What ATR receives from its staff in return is optimum performance, along with a familial culture of looking out for one another with open lines of communication. Merritt says they give it their all, but try to have fun in the process. At the end of the day, she says, “We’ve tried to create a job that just doesn’t suck. The work we do is hard, and sites are hot, so we just try to have fun. If we ever get so big we can’t have fun, we’re too big.”

The staff’s commitment also extends to the local community, as they select a project each year to which they donate free labor. Last year, employees came together on a voluntary basis to help build a local park. The company has also hosted fundraising events for local charities. Most recently, employees participated in cleanup efforts needed as a result of fires started during the Minneapolis riots of June 2020.

“I just think it’s really important for companies to look after their people,” adds Merritt. “We want to keep people and help them build something—a career path that leads to retirement. This business isn’t about profits; it’s about people. If you have the right people and you treat them right, the profits will come.”