My first apartment was on the border of Bloomington and Richfield Minnesota. Although it has been overhauled since I lived there, it wasn’t the nicest complex to live in. I remember looking at the carpet which had more visible dirt and stains than dye pattern and thinking “why don’t they just put in laminate?”
When I asked the office manager she said simply, “We don’t want to get sued.” In Minnesota, we constantly enter buildings with wet shoes and boots. Even when the floor is dry, the souls of our footwear are damp. This is the same as if the floor itself was wet. Comical as it is in the movies to go feet over forehead, it doesn’t feel very good when you hit the ground. This goes for any business. Even those businesses that just can’t have carpet, still put in extensive rugs in the entryways. This can cost nearly the same as carpeting those areas wall to wall depending on their quality.
Employees who get injured slipping as they walk inside the building, or by stepping into the spill in the break room can cost a company a lot of money in workman’s comp insurance and lost work days.
The other part that makes sense to anyone who has worked on hard floors is that it takes its toll on the feet, ankles, and knees. Even that small amount of carpet makes a big difference on the barking dogs on the end of our legs.
Honestly, as long as a company cleans and protects the carpet on a schedule that makes sense for the level of foot traffic they get, Minnesota businesses will be glad to have commercial grade carpet in their businesses.
