Campbell Carpet Celebrates 50 years in Port
Robert “Skip” Campbell has been carpeting the homes of Port residents for 50 years. He and his wife Kathy started the business out of their basement and built it into a thriving business that’s housed in a lovely stand-alone building on the waterfront on Main Street. His daughter Kim and third-generation Campbell grandson Evan work at the family business as well. “We’ve been at this location for about 17 years,” said Kim.
Long Island natives, Skip and Kathy grew up in Great Neck. Skip got out of the Navy and began working as a subcontractor and installer. Then he started his own business.
In addition to carpet, Campbell’s does custom area rugs, hard wood and luxury vinyl tile, which is water resistant, according to Kim. “The business has changed,” said Kim. “We work with designers and use high-end products. Gone are the days of wall to wall carpet on the whole staircase. Now it’s runners. People want to show off the wood floors, too.”
Campbell’s also does carpet and rug cleaning. “We got into the cleaning business 40 years ago,” said Kim. “Our customers want us to take care of their rugs for them. We also clean upholstery and tile and grout. We clean area rugs, which we pick up and deliver.”
Styles have changed significantly over the years and become less formal, according to Kim. “Now we are doing geometric patterns and the color gray is very popular. We’re also doing carpet with a luster finish, which has a little sheen to it.”
They can also do custom area rugs. “We can customize to the exact inch. We can tweak the color and style, and do exactly what customers want,” said Kim.
Campbell’s Carpet employs 13 people. “We have four trucks on the road,” said Kim. Kim and Kathy handle sales and Skip runs the crews and oversees installations.
“We do work outside of Port also,” said Skip. “We go from Manhattan to the end of Long Island. We have clients from Port who have a home out east or an apartment in the city.”
About Port Washington, Skip said, “I’ve enjoyed living and working in the same town. It feels like a
small town.”
Campbell’s Carpet has been a mainstay in Port for a half century and they are still going strong. “We’ve weathered a few storms,” said Skip. “The business has been mostly by word of mouth. I’m doing jobs for the children of original customers now.”
Skip stays involved in the Port Washington community and is a member of the Manhasset Bay Sportsmen’s Club. Skip is the organizer of the Manhasset Bay Sportsmen’s Club’s annual snapper and flounder derbys held every year at the Town Dock in May and August. This year, the flounder derby was renamed the Robert “Skip” Campbell Flounder Derby in honor of all of his hard work organizing the event. Generations of Port children have participated in these annual events and learned about fishing from Skip and the sportsmen’s club. “I like to do this for the town and for the kids, to give the kids something to remember,” said Skip.
