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Jim Caroll Sr., founder of both Buffalo Hardwood-which won four Floor of the Year awards in the NWFA's early days-and boutique flooring store LV Wood, passed away June 14. He was 52.
"Pops was a true self made man," Caroll's son James Caroll, principal at LV Wood, wrote on the company's website. "He built all that we have from absolutely nothing, fighting through it all with courage, kindness and generosity. He blessed us all by instilling those virtues and strengths … in me and in my sisters, and in our team here at LV. We will forever mourn him and miss him until we see him again."
In 1979, Caroll opened an antique wood refinishing company in Buffalo, N.Y., according to Business News Daily. After realizing the potential of the emerging wood flooring market in the area, he started Buffalo Hardwood in 1985. From 1991-1994, the company won four NWFA Floor of the Year trophies (the award name was later changed to "Wood Floor of the Year"), and, later on, Caroll served for multiple years on the NWFA's board of directors.
In 2000, Caroll began importing wood flooring from Italy and opened Legno Vento. By 2005, business was strong enough to expand the product line and begin offering custom flooring salvaged and manufactured in North America, so the company name was streamlined to LV Wood. In 2008, LV Wood opened its flagship showroom in the New York City's Flatiron District.
Chris Coates, president at distributor Coates & Associates Inc., had the pleasure of doing business with Caroll and his wife Carolyn, who passed away in 2009 after battling breast cancer. "I always admired Jim and his late wife Carolyn," Coates said. "They made the business very positive and family-oriented."
Speaking to LV Wood's penchant for products designers wanted, Coates said, "Jim was always riding the crest of recent trends, and doing it very well. He had a genius for not only spotting trends but leading the charge, and he did it with a lot of finesse. He represented the wood flooring industry in the most professional matter."
James Carrol wrote on the LV Wood website that donations in "Pops' honor" can be made to the Bella Moglie Fund, a group that Jim Caroll founded to give direct aid and comfort to women suffering from stage IV metastatic breast cancer; the group was founded shortly after Carolyn's death.
Below are the original articles from Hardwood Floors profiling Buffalo Hardwood's Floor of the Year winners from 1991-1994:
