Floor Covering Shop

The Floor Covering Shop has been Eastern Connecticut's home of in-stock flooring since 1963. However, its predecessor had been open for over ten years prior to the establishment of the "Floor Covering Shop" we know today. MacGarry Floor Covering Company was opened in 1950 by Max "Mac" Strachman and Nathan Lorber; Gary (Garry) was the name of Lorber's child. Lorber relocated from Fairfield County while Strachman relocated from Hartford, where he had been installing linoleum since the 1930s. MacGarry's was located in Burnham Square, first at 378 Main Street, then at 5 North Main Street, both in the historic Marguerite Building.

33-year-old Irwin Sayet relocated from Stamford to Norwich in 1963 to purchase MacGarry Floor Covering from Lorber. Within a year, Sayet renamed the business "Floor Covering Shop" in order to avoid being continuously mistaken with his competition; Mac Strachman had opened Mac's Floor Covering just a few blocks away from MacGarry Floor Covering in 1954.