Have You Heard: Flooring shop opens in Billings Heights

A new flooring shop is moving into Billings Heights.

Owner Tim Bartholomew has tentatively scheduled this Wednesday to open Billings first Choice Floors store at 2018 Main St., No. 5. He previously operated out of his Billings home for about a year.

Bartholomew said a physical location gives his business credibility. When the 37-year-old Billings man told potential customers he worked from home, they were often skeptical, he said.

Last year, they were a lot more standoffish. Now that we have the physical location, I think people are much more confident in us, Bartholomew said.

Choice Floors is the second flooring company to open in Billings this year. In January, Rimrock Flooring opened at 1440 Central Ave.

Bartholomew learned the floor-installation business when he was a child going on jobs with his father, Mike Bartholomew.

Ive been around since I was sitting on a bucket in his van when I was three years old, he said.

In high school, Bartholomew had learned the business well enough that he could do installations on his own. After graduating Laurel High School in 1996, he studied physics at the University of Vermont but realized he could be successful installing floors close to home.

Bartholomew previously managed Floor Trader and was a broker at Carpet Design in Billings before it was bought out by Tulsa, Okla.-based Choice Floors.

Choice Floors sells carpet, tile, hardwood, vinyl and other flooring in its 1,100-square-foot design center space. Bartholomew said he saves overhead costs by leasing a small space and buying directly from wholesalers.

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Have You Heard: Flooring shop opens in Billings Heights