BOTTOM DOLLAR 

Rozin acknowledges Buddy's Carpet doesn't always have the lowest prices. But sales reps aggressively negotiate with customers and sometimes sell below ticketed prices. It all comes down to price and service, he says.

"If you can't do both, you truly aren't going to survive. The consumers are demanding, and rightfully so. It's really being the best you can be."

To keep up with the Buddy's Carpets of the world, competitors sometimes must follow suit and motivate their employees to sell harder lo surpass national averages for sales reps, says Dennis Rhoads, the American Floor Covering Association's board chairman and owner of Rhoads Interiors in Texas.

"(Customers) aren't here to take a look at the store and see how pretty it is," he says.

Competition in the industry remains so fierce that retailers are lucky if they squeeze out profits between 1 and 2 percent. Consumers really haven't seen major increases in prices. If anything, they've dipped from price wars and technological advances in floor covering production.

For all of his notoriety, Buddy Kallick may not be a market leader anywhere in the state, especially since Cincinnati has four major companies and numerous small retailers.

McSwain Carpets Inc., which has 13 stores in Cincinnati, Dayton and Columbus, may beat out rivals in Dayton and Cincinnati, some insiders say. Carpet Barn and Tile House with 18 stores is perceived as the winner in Cleveland, Akron and Canton. Rite Rug with eight stores apparently dominates in Columbus.

Kallick adamantly disputes that assessment, saying no one really knows how everyone else is faring.

A trade group that ranks companies by sales volume relies on the owners to supply the figures. Besides, he says, some carpet stores rake up sales through commercial accounts. For over-the-counter residential sales, Kallick says Buddy's Carpet leads the slate.

With overall sales of $29 million in 1992, Buddy's Carpet ranked 27th among all floor covering retailers, according to Floor Covering Weekly, a trade publication.

New consumer labels, the latest trend in carpet sates, also may help retailers win over more customers.

This spring, carpet manufacturer Shaw Industries will introduce new labels that give potential buyers far more information about the carpet's performance in different settings. Too often customers walk out because they don't feel confident about their purchases. Rather than buy floor covering products, they'll spend their money elsewhere, carpet store owners say.

To ensure they get a fair share of those dollars, Kallick and Rozin have stepped up the pay for sales reps and managers, who can take home as much as 20 percent more than they did last year. They're concerned that as new and old competitors open stores in their markets, they would raid his work force.