Allen Smith, Steve Guenther Found Luxe Premium Floors

Allen Smith and Steve Guenther, professionals in the flooring industry with more than 60 years of combined experience, have left Pinnacle Interior Elements Ltd. and founded Luxe Premium Floors LLC.

Luxe Premium Floors sells engineered wood flooring; the products are designed by Smith and Guenther and manufactured by factories in China. Luxe has a business partner in China overseeing quality control.

Luxe sells to distributors and promises to stock backup inventory in warehouses in the United States. Smith and Guenther told HF they believe they can serve distributors better than most companies due to their extensive experience working for or owning distribution companies.

They said they believe distributors today do not want to make a huge capital investment to take on 26 products. Instead, Luxe will sift through its catalog of offerings to put together a collection of six products tailored to the unique tastes of the distributor's market region.

"We are more of a rifle shot than a shot gun shot," Guenther told HF.

Luxe's product catalog can be viewed online.