Thirty Years of Flooring with KPP: From Oak to Oak

In the floors from the Brno company Kratochvíl parket profi, you can walk in the Grandhotel Pupp in Karlovy Vary, they have been chosen by the largest development projects in Prague and Brno, and they equip mountain apartments in Špindlerův Mlýn as well as in Savoy Chamonix (that was probably one of the few occasions when Czech floor layers had to fly to fulfill an order...). In its thirty years of existence, the company of Petr Kratochvíl can boast many representative projects, not only in the field of floor coverings.

At the beginning of business in 1993, there was a bold idea to import wooden floors to our country and a small store in a basement in Brno. Today, KPP has showrooms in Brno and Prague and operates in Slovakia and Hungary. Its warehouses have such large stocks of floors that they can cover orders up to four months in advance. It is the exclusive distributor of the oldest European manufacturer of wooden floors, the Swedish Kährs, and imports German flooring WINEO, but it also offers a large number of wooden, vinyl, or SPC coverings under its own brand KPP.

You are planning to celebrate the 30th anniversary of KPP at Špilberk Castle. Did you look that high when you were establishing the company – could you see from the basement to the hill with Špilberk?
My beginnings were associated with a relatively young age, and a young person has the feeling that they can swim across the sea, fly into space, solve something big, they simply have the desire to explore and, of course, conquer the world. That's how it should be. I don’t want this to sound bad, but I am a determined person who likes to achieve certain goals. My motivation was to be recognized and respected in our field. That goal hasn’t left me even after thirty years.
In the beginning, I had one big advantage. Just as a journeyman once went off to gain experience in the world, I also worked for several years abroad and subconsciously observed how the owner behaved in the company, how he communicated with people, and that was very inspiring. So I didn't have to wait to learn what I would learn at home; in that aspect, I had an advantage over competing companies founded by people who, and I don't mean this negatively, were shaped by socialist ways of thinking and management. Thanks to this foreign experience, we were dynamically ahead from the start, possibly more innovative and progressive than the others, and that was our big advantage.

OPENING OF SHOWROOMS IN BRNO AND PRAGUE

If you had to name the most important milestones over these thirty years, what would they be?
For us, it has always been when we built or established something. The first milestone was the construction of our headquarters in Moravany, the next was the decision to go to Prague and open the first showroom. The latest milestone is the showroom on Poděbradská in Prague 9, which I think is very nice. Today, logistics and the capacity of our own warehouses are of course very important to us. We have a vision of building a new beautiful modern complex with a showroom and large warehouses in Brno because we have three in Prague and the capacity is still not sufficient. In recent years, when supply chains were very unstable and supplies from Asia collapsed, we faced the decision of how to deal with that. Therefore, since then, we have continually increased our stock to cover orders for up to four months in advance. It costs money, but it is extremely important for us to have that availability of goods.


Where do you see the next goals today?
Sometimes you don't even have the desire to keep pushing further, but once you find yourself in a competitive environment, if you stop, everyone will overtake you. The environment pushes you... And then you are motivated by a combination of everything possible: your appetite, your "conquering" plans, your mentality to win. When you reach a certain goal, you either sit down, look around, and rest, or you think about what next. How the company develops, what its financial possibilities and resources are, who its people are. One thing is what you can influence, such as the internal costs of the company, and then there are things you cannot influence, like the economic and social situation, demand for products, exchange rates, inflation, halting of housing construction... For us, it has always been good that we were not a debt-laden company; we were a family business, and during all crises, we have always managed to navigate through the gorges, leaving money in the company. We knew we needed a financial cushion and didn't have to pay out dividends to shareholders outside the company. That is why, for instance, we could still increase our warehouse stocks even during the COVID crisis.

And in what direction do you look now, where do you see potential for development?
We are discussing whether we can grow with wooden floors, with vinyl, or what sort of assortment to add to the portfolio to continue to grow. And that is a subject of discussion among us right now. Because every product has its cycle. At one time, there were laminates, and a number of companies that relied solely on laminates no longer exist today. Today, any product can be a risky material; ecology is heavily considered, and there are many restrictions and events that can limit some current products, for example, the availability of raw materials. Before the war, 70% of oak came to Europe from Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine. And today, floors are mainly about oak – cherries, beech, maples have disappeared, and only oak remains, and there is not enough of it. Oak grows in Scandinavia, but, for instance, in our country, Germany, and Austria, it is scarce, so the raw material is lacking, and therefore wooden floors will become a more luxurious commodity. At that moment, we must ask ourselves whether the purchasing power in the Czech Republic will allow us to grow, or do we have to look for alternative products.

FAMILY BUSINESS FOR THREE GENERATIONS

You are a family business not only by name in your title. How are your sons involved?
The oldest, Philipp, is very active at KPP, even though he already has his company, Podeta, which imports doors. The youngest, Tim, takes care of the e-shop and the website, which is fully online and digital marketing. The middle son, Lukas, is successful in his work in England, and we discuss other matters with him. And we are a family business also thanks to my father, who is already 81 years old and still takes care of many technical matters for us; he is currently dealing with a photovoltaic power plant. In our family, we have all been raised to be independent, determined, and hardworking. I know that my sons, like me, have a desire for a certain independence; they also want to achieve something on their own. And I am proud of them.

For you, KPP is no longer the only project; you developed the local industrial zone in Moravany, own a polyclinic in Brno, and now you are a co-investor in the beautiful residential complex Viviena, which is competing for project of the year...
Yes, besides KPP, we are also engaged in other activities. Every chair has at least three legs. Our portfolio has become wide over the years; we have several development projects and are also developing other ideas.
I admit that I actually no longer have any space for hobbies. But work truly satisfies and energizes me. I probably couldn’t, for example, go fishing and wait until I catch something; that’s not close to my nature. And I have a great wife who takes care of the children and the household.

What are you most proud of after all these years?
I am most proud of our stable team of people; many of them have worked with us for more than twenty years, one colleague has been here since the beginning for twenty-nine years, another for twenty-five. Of course, many people have changed; some girls have gone on maternity leave, but we have an absolutely fantastic team, loyal, incredibly smart, and hardworking. People care for each other, and I hope they are satisfied; otherwise, they wouldn’t be here for so long. We come together for various events. I am proud that KPP has a mark of stability, continuity, hopefully professionalism, seriousness, and reliability, thanks to my colleagues.

RETURN TO OAK FLOORS

How have floors developed over the past 30 years, and what do you see as the most significant moment?
It is a long period, and during that time, trends in colors and woods have changed almost everything. And the most comical thing is that we have returned to the most basic oak, which has become the cornerstone of all sales. Today, there are two types of oak, natural and whitewashed, which account for 85% of sales. We started with oak floors in smaller formats, then beech gained a lot of ground, accounting for about a third of sales, followed by cherries, maples, walnuts, and ashes. Then the entire playlist of tropical woods came along, such as merbau and jatoba, which were red to brown... However, over time, fruit trees have disappeared; walnuts, cherries, ashes, and maples have ended. Beech disappeared because it was the most sensitive to moisture and water, but oak remained. Oaks were the foundation that allowed us to colorize the entire range of decors, and this trend will continue.


And what about other types of coverings?
We experienced an indisputable period of laminate floors. At one time, laminate was the winner because it allowed for a vast design range of decors that no wood could satisfy. Oak was oak; cherry was cherry. At that time, wooden floors were not colorized, and on the other hand, laminate presented a completely different creative dimension, which was its tremendous advantage. And it was durable, or at least it seemed to be durable. It was perhaps a fifteen-year era when everyone just wanted laminate. And today, hardly anyone considers laminate; its properties have become outdated. Laminates haven’t weakened us as a company, but companies that relied solely on laminate are ending, especially manufacturers.
When we, still in the age of laminates, launched vinyl and imported a lot of goods from England, I remember it precisely; no one believed in vinyl flooring. And I would say that I didn’t either... But the market changed, and vinyl completely pushed out, for example, laminate and also classic PVC in rolls. Today, there are already further generations of vinyl, SPC coverings, and I think there is still significant potential for upgrades; we will still hear about a variety of surfaces and decors. I think there will be a competition to see who will be more ecological and will have a better-developed surface layer; in this regard, SPC and other coverings have not yet exhausted their potential. And then the question is, what will come next.

WOODEN OR "WOODEN" FLOORS?

So what will come next?
I think that another alternative to wood will be sought; why not look for alternative sources, why not produce from recycled material? An example is the Swedish manufacturer Kährs, with more than 160 years of experience in wooden floors, which just introduced an "ecological" wooden floor made from recyclables. But this ecological wooden floor today costs about 10-15% more than existing wooden floors. However, the perception of ecology among people in Nordic countries is different than in our country. Swedes, Finns, and other Western countries are willing to pay extra for ecology; they will spend that money, whereas we are not at that level yet. I have some concern that it doesn’t all come too quickly, as in the automotive industry. That all production would not suddenly only deal with floors made from recyclables. That would really be economically challenging for certain countries and customers.

So will we have wooden floors in thirty years?
That’s a good question. I believe that wooden floors will become a more luxurious commodity, which is natural. There are eight billion people on the planet, and it is impossible for wood to remain a readily available commodity when oak takes an average of 150 years to grow before it is cut down. In my opinion, wood will become more expensive; it will not be a material that everyone can afford, and it will be less available.

Will another material emerge, as vinyls once did?
Certainly, something new will come. Once, no one thought that laminate flooring or vinyl would appear. Five years ago, if you had asked me whether SPC would come, I would have told you that I didn’t know what it was. Undoubtedly, a new material will be created; everyone is trying to come up with a new product and surprise the competition. So new types of floors will undoubtedly come, and the pressure to produce many things from recyclable materials will increase.
Today, the market is dominated by vinyl; no one wants to deal with floor maintenance; the primary consideration is that I don’t have to care for anything. No one wants to oil, sand, or lacquer anything. Times are fast; trends change quicker. Today's generation lives faster, and it's no longer an argument that something will last twenty or thirty years.

How many times have you yourself changed the floor at home in these thirty years?
I have lived in the house for twenty-one years, where walnut has been laid the entire time. However, three years ago, my wife and I decided to upgrade everything, and now we have bleached oak in matte lacquer. In the children's rooms, we changed various types of flooring corresponding to the ages of my sons, from laminate with various colorful motifs, through vinyl to today’s classic oak. But I will reveal a little secret, in one room, and that is in the bedroom, we have a carpet.