A homebuilder who aims to diversify is opening a flooring business, one he hopes will be the first location in a chain, at a Carolina Beach shopping center.

Keith Bloemendaal, owner of Dutch Built Homes, hopes to begin welcoming customers to Flooring Direct Inc.'s showroom at 1401 N. Lake Park Blvd., Unit 28, in the next 30 to 45 days, he said Wednesday.

The 2,400 square feet he leased at Snow's Cut Crossing, a Food Lion-anchored center, will also include offices for the new flooring business and the offices for Dutch Built Homes, the custom homebuilding company Bloemendaal founded in 2014.

Previously two storefronts, the spaces have been combined and are being upfit for the showroom and offices. They were formerly occupied by Spectrum and hot dog and barbecue eatery Charlie Graingers. 

Of the new flooring business, Bloemendaal said, "I've done flooring in the past, and I have some experience in that. It felt like a natural fit to accent our homebuilding and to grow."

Bloemendaal is a Carolina Beach resident who is also chairman of the town's planning and zoning panel.

Dutch Built Homes built about 15 homes last year, he said, mainly in Carolina Beach. With demand high to replace flooring in older homes and install it in new construction, Bloemendaal said he felt Flooring Direct Inc. made sense.

Five or six crews will be available to install flooring, or customers can purchase the products to install it themselves.

"We're also going to have contractor discounts," Bloemendaal said. "We just felt like there was a hole in the market down in the southern New Hanover County area. We're hoping to capture some of the stuff that's growing from Monkey Junction south, such as RiverLights, and some of the older homes  . . . that are going to be getting remodeled and are going to want new flooring."

He said the new business has already started on some installations on Pleasure Island, which includes the towns of Carolina Beach and Kure Beach. Flooring Direct will focus on wood, laminate, luxury vinyl and carpet but not tiling, Bloemendaal said.

He said he hopes to eventually expand the business.

"We're excited about it. Our goal is to open a second location in Brunswick County or southern Brunswick and possibly franchise after that, two to five years down the road," Bloemendaal said.

Nicholas Silivanch, a partner with Wilmington-based commercial real estate firm Eastern Carolinas Commercial Real Estate, and ECCRE broker Julie Stephenson represented the landlord and tenant in the Snow's Cut Crossing lease to Bloemendaal.