Narrogin’s family-owned Carpet Court finalists for two awards at national conference in Darwin

Narrogin Carpet Court part-owners Shane and Catherine Thornton were thrilled for their business to be recognised as one of Australia’s best franchises last month. The Thornton family’s locally-owned business has operated for more than 20 years and was a finalist for WA Store of the Year and Outstanding Achievement at a conference in Darwin in May. “There were over 160 stores represented, we were very surprised,” Ms Thornton said. “It was a huge honour and we had no idea — we thought someone had made a mistake.” The Narrogin store on Federal Street was among the top three franchises in Australia. “The building we’re in was originally a house,” Ms Thornton said. “When the business started it was Shane’s mother Anne; she was making curtains and her son Jeremy installing them. “My husband Shane did a flooring apprenticeship and then joined the team with his brother and Anne and the store grew from there. “It’s really good to get recognition for the hard work that the family has put in since starting in the late 90s.” The two-day conference kept Catherine and Shane busy as they mingled with other business owners at the awards night on May 10. “We had several keynote speakers at the event,” Ms Thornton said. “Giulio Bonazzi spoke about how they’re now able to chemically reengineer recycled nylon to make carpet that is fully environmentally friendly. There’s a big focus at the moment on sustainability.”