Second Stop: Wichita, KS – Jabara’s
Built on Relationships
Presented in partnership with Jones Walker LLP
Founding Partner of the Step Up Tour
The WFCA proudly recognizes Jones Walker, LLP. as the Founding Partner of the Step Up Tour. In addition to providing legal services to WFCA members, Jones Walker plays a key role in supporting the association’s advocacy efforts in Washington, DC.
Four Generations. One Wichita Block.
The second stop of the Step Up Tour brought WFCA to Wichita, Kansas, where the Jabara family welcomed us into a business built over four generations.
Today, Jabara’s Carpet Outlet spans nearly 150,000 square feet across an entire city block, making it one of the country’s largest independent flooring retailers. What began as a much smaller operation has grown into a full-service business offering an extensive selection of flooring and home improvement products and services.
The scale is impressive. The story behind it is even better.
Jason Jabara leads the company today, carrying forward a legacy shaped by the generations before him. His uncle, George Jabara, has witnessed much of that growth firsthand and remains an important part of the company’s story.
George remembers when the operation occupied only a portion of the block. As the business grew, the family purchased neighboring properties, expanded warehouses and continued building until Jabara’s occupied the entire block.
That growth tells part of the story. The people tell the rest.
Built Like a Family
Walk through Jabara’s and the sense of connection is hard to miss.
Family members work alongside longtime employees. Vendors and business partners are welcomed like part of the team. Customers are treated as neighbors rather than transactions.
As George joked during our visit: “Sometimes we run out of relatives.”
At Jabara’s, though, family has never been limited to the people who share the name.
WFCA CEO Scott Humphrey captured it during the presentation recognizing Jabara’s as the Tour’s second host: “There is a closeness here. And it’s not just with the Jabara team. It’s with your partners. It’s with your vendors.”
The People Behind the Story
The Jabara’s Family
The Jabara’s Team in Action
A Business That Knows Who It Is
When the Carpet Outlet opened in 1985, the company established simple expectations for how employees should work and serve customers. One principle was that everyone sells: if you wear a Jabara’s red shirt and a customer needs help, you help them.
That mindset still shows up today.
Whether someone is making a major flooring investment or simply browsing area rugs, the goal is the same: make every person who walks through the doors feel valued.
Jason describes the company’s approach this way: “We’ve found our niche and our way of doing things. It works for us. It may not work for everybody.”
That confidence has allowed Jabara’s to grow while staying grounded in the values that shaped the business.
Outside Jabara’s
Inside Jabara’s
Growing Together
Jabara’s relationships extend beyond its own walls.
In 2022, when Wichita’s only dedicated carpet binding business was preparing to close, Jabara’s purchased the operation and brought it into the company, keeping the service available locally.
Today, Jabara’s provides binding, serging and custom area-rug services not only for its own customers, but for other flooring retailers and interior designers across Wichita.
As Jason shared: “It’s a team effort here in Wichita. We want to be successful. We want other business partners to be successful.”
That same spirit carries into the broader community.
Since 2019, Jabara’s has given area rugs to local teachers preparing their classrooms for the new school year. The idea came from another independent flooring retailer who was willing to share what was working in his market, and Jason brought it home to Wichita.
The company also supports local schools and community organizations, continuing a relationship with Wichita that has been built over generations.
Rooted in Wichita
Jabara’s Gives Back
Jabara’s Custom Rug Services
Relationships Still Matter
Flooring has changed dramatically over four generations.
Products have changed. Technology has changed. The way customers shop has changed.
Jabara’s has changed with it, expanding its products and services, investing in its people and building an operation that now fills an entire city block.
But the foundation has remained remarkably consistent.
Relationships with customers. Relationships with employees. Relationships with vendors, installers, fellow retailers and the community.
The Wichita stop reminded us that businesses do not have to follow the same blueprint to succeed. The strongest ones understand who they are, invest in their people and build relationships worth keeping.
For Jabara’s Carpet Outlet, that approach has worked for four generations.
And it is still working today.
Rooted in Wichita
The Crew Hard at Work
Jabara’s Friends and Crew Step Up