A new 45,000 square foot Lomax Carpet & Tile Mart flooring “super center” opened last week in Lawnside NJ, taking over a large portion of the former K-Mart building.
The location is on the White Horse Pike in Lawnside, close to the Route 295 exit. The extended shopping center is also home to a ShopRite Supermarket and Home Depot is in an adjacent center.
Lomax Carpet & Tile Mart is a Philadelphia-area based flooring retailer which operates 15 “super center” locations in the metro area.
They offer a huge array of carpet and tile (as the name indicates), but they really are a full flooring retailer offering hardwood floors, vinyl floors, area rugs, epoxy flooring (perfect for garages) and even natural stone countertops!
The extra bonus is not only are they Philadelphia based, but their business model empowers each location as basically its own local independently run business.
What that means is, when you buy in their Lawnside store all aspects of the sale including measuring service, pickup, delivery and installers are handled directly by the staff in the store… when questions come up you aren’t pushed off to some outsourced call center in God-knows-where.
Lomax Carpet & Tile is large enough to get the best pricing available (which they pass on to customers), but also locally operated for a more personal customer service experience.
I stopped in Friday to check out the new building, coincidentally as Lomax owner Michael was in the building helping out with startup details of the store… he was even waiting on customers!
It was nice to hear him say that not only had he read my prior 42Freeway coverage on the property, but he actually factored my version of the property history in his decision to purchase the entire former Kmart building. (Jan 2024, May 2022)
A multi-million dollar investment in Lawnside and Camden County, bringing retail back to the long empty building!
Michael gave me a full tour of the new Lawnside flooring store, as well as what sets them apart from competition.
And as you’ve likely realized there’s still about 55,000 square foot of the building which is not occupied. Michael and his real estate partners at Prime Sites Realty are working hard to find a tenant for that space.
That being said while I don’t know if anyone has signed on for that unoccupied space, I did notice the commercial listings for the remaining space have been removed from the Internet which makes me think something will be announced soon!
Lomax Carpet & Tile Mart – Lawnside New Jersey
I first wrote about plans for this property in 2022, when it seemed it was going to be converted into an Indoor Self-Storage facility.
That usage as self-storage was not allowed by Lawnside Zoning and would require an approval from the Town. I’ve heard from folks in the industry that Lawnside officials where not keen on that idea, preferring a more traditional retail usage… and nothing moved on those plans.
Two years later the entire former K-Mart building was sold to an LLC affiliated with Lomax, and I covered those early plans in January of this year.
As mentioned the new Lomax Carpet & Tile Mart in Lawnside is located on the White Horse Pike, at Gloucester Pike.
The location should prove successful for Lomax as it’s in the heart of densely populated Camden County suburbia, with quick access to Route 295 which should really make it a quick stop for hundreds of thousands of area residents.
Lomax takes the left portion of the former Kmart building and utilizes an all new front entrance facade which was developed in what was previously just a brick wall. The old Kmart/Sears entrance still stands in the unoccupied portion hopefully to receive a new tenant soon.
Inside, the Lomax Carpet & Tile Mart store is separated into a few distinct sections, with the largest portion being a brightly lit and well laid out product showroom in the center as you walk in.
Within that showroom space areas are divided into product categories with sections for tile, hardwood floors, carpet and more,
A design element of the showroom that really impressed me was they realize it can be difficult to understand how a small piece of tile or hardwood is going to look in your home… so throughout the individual areas of the store they have installed the products for you to see how they will look in the larger setting.
For example when you’re walking through the tile area, the entire floor is covered in large sections of tile… including the popular woodgrain style porcelain tiles.
In the hardwood and vinyl plank section they do a similar effort of putting hardwood down in the aisles, but then also layout sections of the flooring on large vertical planks… All to make it easier to visualize what the final flooring will look like, or even to feel the surface.
Michael was saying that the vinyl plank flooring is a hot item in the industry right now and they even offer the widest planks available.
Near the front of the store they even created a section of epoxy flooring which is perfect for more industrial type uses where you want the floor to be completely sealed from liquid impacts, but at the same time still look awesome. Garage floors are a perfect use for epoxy flooring as are many commercial uses such as a brewery or bakery.
In the rear they have large vinyl rolls in stock which they can cut right in the store.
The right section of the store may be about 25% of the space and features large in-stock corporate rolls.
Lomax does an interesting design aspect here where it’s two long racks of carpeting on either side of a large open space.
Michael and store manager Jason explained that when you find an in-stock carpet they will pull out the giant rolls and unravel them in that open floor area, and you can see how the carpet is going to look.
They also make special purchase buys of carpet which may be considered slightly imperfect… but are available at significant discounts. Jason explained that these imperfections aren’t even noticeable (or would be cut out when carpet is measured) and by them rolling out the full carpet you can see exactly what you’re purchasing.
Regardless of new or special purchase, if you pick out carpet from a roll in the Lomax store, that is exactly what is installed at your home.
Which is an important closing point. Each store carries a large selection of in-stock material that if you wanted a quick turn around or to be able to load up your car (A DIY small bathroom tile job)… there is a large selection of in-stock product.
But of course they also offer full special order capabilities from a huge number of suppliers and styles
Lomax carpet and tile in lawnside is open every day with daytime hours typically ending around 6:00 PM, And Mondays open until 8:00 PM (see below)
Links and Location
LOMAX Carpet & Tile Flooring – Lawnside Now Open!
200 North White Horse Pike
Lawnside, NJ 08045