Interview: How Tapi Carpets founder Martin Harris is tapping into a new era

It seems odd to find a small flooring store on the corner of a busy junction in Peckham, but Tapi Carpets founder Martin Harris could not be more thrilled to be back in the London borough.

The Harris family has been synonymous with carpets for more than 50 years. His father, Lord Harris, first built a carpet empire under the CW Harris name in the 1950s before founding Carpetright in 1989, where he was later joined by his youngest son, Martin.

The Harris family broke from Carpetright in 2014 and a year later Martin set up rival retailer Tapi.

The business has gone from strength to strength, recording turnover up 38% year on year to £137m in the 52 weeks to December 25, 2021, up 45% on pre-pandemic levels. 

Further growth is expected in 2022, with 24 new store openings across 2021 and 2022 supporting a boost in sales and gain in market share – the retailer currently has 160 stores, but is aiming for around 250, putting it level with Carpetright.

Harris’ excitement at the new store location is founded on more than its new format – Harris bought the original CW Harris shop as a present for his father’s 80th birthday.

“My father, Lord Harris, left school to take over the running of the family business when my grandfather [Charles or CW Harris] died,” Harris, Tapi’s managing director of retail, explains.

“He turns 80 this year and when, out of the blue, we had the opportunity to reopen our family’s first-ever store, it felt like the perfect opportunity to pay tribute to my father’s remarkable career.”

The history of this small store was realised when the building’s owner found the original CW Harris sign while undertaking renovations.

Rather than keeping the sign as a memento, Martin Harris recognised a perfect opportunity to mix both the pedigree of his family name with the growing Tapi business and reopen the store – illustrating how the carpet dynasty has evolved. 

Carpet corner shop 

At just over 330 sq ft, Tapi’s Peckham branch is smaller than your average convenience store, let alone your average flooring shop, but this isn’t a challenge for Harris.

When it was founded seven years ago, Tapi launched its first mobile showroom in a van – offering a full range of its products in a smaller venue.

“This store isn’t designed to shove products and prices in front of you,” Harris explains.

“It’s meant to be much more about the sensations for sight or touch and finding out what your wants and needs are, and then from that not confusing you by giving you 200 products to look at – and instead saying: ‘We think these are best suited for you’.”

As carpets and flooring are infrequent purchases, Tapi needs to make sure customers are 100% satisfied with their choice and understand what it looks like in their space before committing.

Tapi’s latest technology allows customers to upload an image of the room they’d like to re-floor and, using AR, overlay different flooring options to make their decision.

“I think one of the really cool features of this as a buyer is that it gives you an idea of what it looks like, which is quite an obvious concept, but what it really gives you is a choice,” he adds.

“It’s a big purchase, it’s not like a very basic everyday product, so you really want to have the opportunity to go back and try again.”

Tapi has also gone a step further by partnering with Lick paints, allowing customers to trial new paint colours on their walls using AR technology and then go on to make a purchase from the paint brand if they wish to.

Using the suite of innovations, Retail Week’s challenge of finding a pink carpet is met with gusto.

It’s an illustration of how, in Harris’ words, the store is “working”. Sales are 50% ahead of its estimates in the past year and it is also acting as a hub to teach colleagues about the history of the business and its brand ethos.

When asked if he would roll out further small-concept stores, the answer was a confident “absolutely”, with an idea to plug the gaps in cities such as London, Manchester and Birmingham to reach more customers.

Grandmum’s the word

Whether in big or small stores, the motto of Tapi Carpets’ colleagues is to “treat every customer like your nan” – meaning no “pushy” selling.

Down the stairs in the Peckham store, where the original Charles Harris would store extra carpet rolls, is a meeting room where colleagues can gather to learn more about their business.

Behind cupboard doors, Harris reveals a surprise – a large cut-out picture of an older woman, or “nan”, which exemplifies what Tapi loves to do.

It’s all about “Tapiness”, Harris explains.

“We’re not really interested in making a sale; we’re interested in you engaging with us,” he says. “We don’t want to come across as pushy as we think that’s horrible.

“There are some customers who are still researching and they’ve still got the building to do. We know it can be up to three months before they’re ready to purchase, so having a salesperson badgering is just too much. 

“We find out what their needs are and if they’re at the beginning of the journey, then we say, ‘Right, would you like us to call you in three months’ time? Yes, OK, I’ll put a date in the diary.’ It makes it easier for the customer so they don’t feel like they’re being pressured.” 

Within the business, Harris has also instilled brand values such as “a bias for action”, whereby colleagues are invited to make any suggestions to improve the business.

“There is literally no red tape. If you have an idea, it could be implemented tomorrow if we think it’s a good one,” he says. ”And that’s what we love about it – it’s just bang, bang, bang.”

These company values feed into Tapi’s high ranking for colleague satisfaction – the retailer came second in Retail Week and Glassdoor’s ranking of the best places to work according to employees earlier this year.

The Harris legacy

Tapi is clearly Martin Harris’ baby, but the flooring business has been his family’s legacy for decades.

Lord Harris pops his head in during Retail Week’s sit-down and expresses how proud he is of his son.

“Remember that we’ve built up over the years 1,800 shops, then 700 shops and now 74 Tapi shops, as well as online,” he says.

“It’s all very exciting – if you looked at it 65 years ago, it was all about price, price, price, and now it’s quality and price.

“Sixty-five years ago, it was all about price, price, price, and now it’s quality and price”

Lord Harris

“We’re all proud of what we’ve done – my father, me, Martin and Charlie [Martin’s son]. We’re all in carpets and we all enjoy it.”

Looking back, the Harris family has always worked with textiles – from sails to tents, blinds to carpets – and it was always the youngest son who moved the family business on.

Grandson Charlie has recently joined the business in the buying department and may one day take the mantle from his father – or perhaps launch it into a new era. Either way, the Harris family legacy marches on.

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