By C.J. Carnacchio

Oxford Leader Editor

Providing goods and services to customers is the textbook definition of a business.

But when a business does what it does in the same community for 64 years, it moves beyond the textbook and becomes a local institution.

And when that institution faithfully serves four generations, turning houses into homes, customers into friends and transactions into trust, well, there’s a word for that, too – family.

That’s exactly what Curtis Floor Covering is in Oxford, part of the family.

Sadly, there comes a time when even family must say good-bye and that time is now for Curtis Floor Covering.

Due to health reasons, owners and siblings Harry Curtis and Karen Etherton will soon be closing the doors. They will continue to take orders until March 31.

“That’s when we’re going to stop the day-to-day operation,” Harry said.

It was an extremely difficult and emotional decision for Harry and Karen to make, but with no one else to take over the family business, they really have no choice.

“It’s just us,” Karen said.

Although their eyes were often filled with tears during this interview, they didn’t let their sadness overwhelm them and prevent them from expressing their sincere gratitude to all the people who supported them decade after decade.

“We just want to thank everybody for being so loyal,” Harry said. “We’ve got so many wonderful people we’ve dealt with for years. They’re more than customers. They’ve become friends to us.”

“We so appreciate every one of them,” Karen said.

Harry and Karen attribute the success and longevity of the family enterprise to their father Keith Curtis, who passed away in February 2003 at age 77, and their mother, Gertrude, who at the age of 91 is still doing bookwork for the business.

Married for 56 years, the couple set the tone.

“Be honest, do a good job, carry a quality product and be loyal to your customers,” said Harry, a 1969 Oxford High School graduate. “We’ve carried that on.”

“Dad always said, ‘Our name hangs out there in front of the store and when we go in and do a job, it’s going to be done the right way with the right product or we’re not going to be there,’” said Karen, a 1966 OHS graduate.

“We’re not perfect, but when we’re done, we can look you square in the eye and tell you that you got everything you wanted,” Harry said.

After serving in World War II, Keith Curtis, who was born and raised in Leonard, worked various jobs, but didn’t find his niche until he went into the flooring business.

In 1954, he became partners with Stan Schlicht in Stan’s Linoleum Shop in Oxford.

“He enjoyed it. He liked to mingle with people,” Gertrude said.

Keith bought out Schlicht in 1963 and changed the name of the business to Curtis Floor Covering. Toiling away alongside him, keeping the books organized, was the always-efficient Gertrude.

Around 1965-66, the Curtises built a storefront at 785 S. Lapeer Rd., which continues to house the business to this day.

Harry has been with the business almost his entire life.

“This is all I’ve ever done,” he said. “I’ve been right here (since I was) 11 years old. I’ll be 67 in June.”

Of her son, Gertrude said, “He liked to work. He never shied away from it for a minute. He wanted to work all the time.”

Karen joined the family business in the early 1980s when her father told her it was time.

“He called up and said, ‘You know what I think, young lady? It’s time you got yourself down here and figured out what goes on at this store,’” she said. “I said, ‘I can tell you one thing – I’m not going to measure anything.’ He said, ‘You don’t have to measure anything. You just come in and help people pick stuff out’ . . . That’s how I got brought in.”

There are countless homes and businesses in the Oxford-Orion area that contain carpet and/or flooring from Curtis Floor Covering. Many local religious institutions, including the Dominican Sisters, Christ the King Church, Holy Cross Lutheran Church and St. Augustine’s House in Addison, have also put their faith in the Curtis family’s products and workmanship.

Curtis Floor Covering’s sterling reputation around here led to many locals asking it to handle jobs at their vacation homes in places like Traverse City, Bear Lake, Hubbard Lake, Lewiston, Sebewaing and the Upper Peninsula.

“We’ve gone over just about the whole state,” Harry said.

Harry believes one of the main reasons customers have been so fiercely loyal is because they appreciate Curtis Floor Covering’s “personal touch.”

If a customer picks out something that’s not going to accomplish what they want from either a functionality or an appearance standpoint, Harry is always willing to step in and offer some helpful suggestions. He never wants to sell them something they don’t want, they don’t need or simply won’t work.

“We try to steer them in the right direction,” Karen said. “They come in later and they’re so grateful.”

Helping ensure Curtis Floor Covering always delivers the highest level of workmanship possible are installers Vic, Dave and Mike Guerrero, three brothers who have been an integral part of the business since 1993.

“They do a nice job and they’re polite,” Harry said. “We’ve just been so blessed to have them for so long. Trying to replace them would be a nightmare. It’s so hard (these days) trying to find somebody that wants to work and can do a good job.”

Karen said customers are consistently impressed with how “very respectful” and trustworthy the Guerrero brothers are when on the job in their homes and businesses. If they find some money under the existing carpet, they don’t pocket it, they turn it over to the owner, which surprises many folks in this day and age, she said.

Curtis Floor Covering doesn’t want its closing to leave any of its longtime customers in the lurch, so Harry and Karen are encouraging folks to place their orders by the March 31 deadline. For more information, please call (248) 628-1141 or visit online at www.curtisfloorcovering.com.