Carlos Soares was involved in construction and housing projects from an early age. His father, Carlos Soares Sr., ran his own ironworks business, then called A&C Ornamental Iron Works Ltd., which he began in 1976. Growing up, Soares watched his father expertly connect with clients. Inspired, Soares went on to marry his love of housing projects with his own passion for flooring.
“I’ve always loved housing [projects] and felt that flooring is an impactful part of that process, especially how it changes a house,” says Soares. When Soares began planning his own flooring company, he knew he wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps, providing quality customer service, but also do things a bit differently. From the start, Soares planned to buy and sell directly to the customer, rather than use a middleman to interact with customers and ensure better quality controls.
Although Soares knew the first year of starting a new business would be challenging, nothing could prepare him for what happened next. In 2000, Soares was diagnosed with stage 3 pelvic cancer at the age of 24 and hospitalized for three months to undergo surgery and chemotherapy. At the same time, his wife was pregnant with their first child. Soares’ community rallied to support him, and, with the help of his family and friends, as well as the local builder community, Soares beat cancer. The experience inspired him to make giving back to those in need — particularly charities supporting children with cancer — a foundation of Divine Flooring’s culture.
The 2023 Barley & Smoke event raised over $156,000 for the Kids Cancer Care Foundation of Alberta. The event boasted a great venue and fantastic live entertainment.
Divine Flooring grew organically from then on. In 2004, Soares’ brother, Dave, opened a branch in Edmonton. Then, in 2009, Soares’ best friend, Nick DeVito, opened a third branch in Vancouver.
Award-winning designer Karin Bohn designed the company’s Vancouver showroom location along with the company’s Cosmopolitan flooring collection.
After expanding into Vancouver, Divine Flooring’s growth accelerated. Soares began importing throughout Canada and into the U.S., and sourcing materials from top factories in Europe and Asia. Soares also focused on ensuring that every Divine Flooring product line is locally designed, developed and installed by its team.
Today, Divine Flooring has showrooms in Edmonton, Calgary, Chicago and Vancouver, and offers stylish engineered hardwood, vinyl, carpet, tiles and laminate for specialty retail, commercial and residential needs. The company also has its own custom wood shop to produce mouldings for specialty projects.
The entrance of the Flagship Divine Flooring Showroom in Calgary. Klassen Photography
Divine Flooring continues to live up to its name.
“You don’t build a company like ours with just one person. It takes a group of dedicated people, and that’s what we have — a team who believes in Divine Flooring,” says Soares.
Key Milestones on the Divine Flooring Journey
1999: Armed with a business plan and a dream, and backed financially by client and friend Johnny Chen, Carlos Soares establishes a wood flooring company based in Calgary.
2003: Divine Flooring establishes a showroom and flooring store. The company continues to develop a signature approach to personalized customer service.
2014: Divine unveils designer-inspired vignettes and a minimalist organization of its product.
2017: Divine flooring expands into the U.S. and the Chicago showroom opens.
2019: Divine Flooring launches Barley & Smoke, a charity event raising funds for the Kids Cancer Care Foundation of Alberta.
2024: Divine Flooring completes construction of its new headquarters building in Calgary and celebrates 25 years.
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