Celebrating the recent 55th anniversary of Crest Contract Carpets, gave everyone attending the opportunity to look back with pride at their modest beginnings and how much the family-owned business has expanded since then. Crest Contract Carpets began serving residential customers. Nowadays, their business model serves three distribution channels: commercial, multi-family, and residential. They serve customers located within a 100-mile radius of the company’s River District headquarters – including the Sacramento region and Bay Area.
The journey to become Crest Contract Carpets began more than 55 years ago when current owner and business manager Vickie Goodman’s uncle, Henry Doering and his business partner Don Nelson, sold wigs and sewing machines out of the Crest Theatre on K Street in downtown Sacramento.
Uncle Henry got lucky in Las Vegas and won a jackpot. Guided by his brother Bill’s encouragement (Vickie’s dad), Henry invested his winnings in 1970 by purchasing an existing carpet business. In 1974, the business moved to its current location at 470 North 16th Street. The family determined the River District location was the best fit for their warehouse, offering a combination of industrial functionality, visibility, and lower cost per square foot.
1980s Merger and Expansion
In the late 1980s, Crest Carpet merged with Contract Carpets. The family kept the name “Crest” as the dominant name, and combined the two business to become Crest Contract Carpets. The benefits of the merger created opportunities to expand their markets and areas of expertise to include commercial and multi-family, in addition to their core residential customers.
The business continues to be family-owned and operated. Family leadership has changed over the years. Vickie’s dad sold his interest to Uncle Henry before he died. He needed help to manage the business in later years. Vickie Goodman, her husband and two sons had been living in Nebraska until she received a call for help from Uncle Henry. Her family moved to Sacramento in 2019 to take over managing the business. The partners in the original merger sold their interest to Vickie. Uncle Henry, now 85 years, remained active in the business until the end of 2024.
“A Dog Location”
Vickie described the story about their naming the building during the 1990s as a “dog location.” The warehouse is an older building in an area designed for heavy industrial use. The complex was not intended to be a public space for people to walk and enjoy. So they designed ads promoting their “dog” location and used a combination of different dogs in advertisements. The advertisement text offered reasonable prices on high quality carpeting.
Secret to Long Term Success
Vickie shared her thoughts how they kept the business going strong through many years and changes in family dynamics.
“Our family continues to be conservative with finances and maintains no debt. Because we own our building, we have been able to pay the bills for our business… Our employees are our family. We have less than 20 full-time and part-time employees. We make things happen through problem solving and building relationships.
“We have not needed to advertise on the contractor side of our business in 20 years. We get our business referrals by word of mouth. We heavily promote our customer service and provide fair products for a fair price,” she added.
Looking to the Future
As Vickie looks to the future, she explained to attendees at the anniversary party, “We share gratitude for our origins and excitement for what lies ahead. We celebrate not only a business, but a living legacy—one that thrives because of the collective spirit in this room.”
Crest Contract Carpets is located at 470 N. 16th Street, Sacramento CA 95811.
Written by Janice Kelley, outdoorjan@att.net
