By Anne Heyman
Photos by Melissa Roby
Dominic Mercurio, owner and president of Hasty’s Carpet and Flooring, has a plan for the business he’s owned for 37 years. “Successfully manage growth,” he says. “When you grow, you can grow too fast. We’ve been in a growth spurt since about 2013.”
Originally from Philadelphia, Pennsylvaina, Mercurio found his way to St. Augustine via Jacksonville. “My father wanted to move to Florida,” he explains, so the family settled in the River City. Owning a flooring company was a “complete fluke.” As a young 23-year-old, Mercurio knew he wanted to own his own business. Walking into a real estate office in Jacksonville, Mercurio recalls the representative telling him, “’I have something out of town that may interest you.” They drove from Jacksonville to St. Augustine, and that was it. “It’s been a complete learning experience,” says Mercurio of the business he of the business he purchased from Clyde and Lorna Hasty, who had founded it six years before.
For about four years after he bought Hasty’s, Mercurio commuted from Jacksonville to St. Augustine, and then decided to make the Oldest City his home. Since then he and his wife, Teresa, have become very involved in the city. A longtime member of the Lions Club, having served as president seven times, he’s also beginning his 20th year as chairman of the club’s St. Augustine Seafood Festival. “Most people know me from that,” he explains. In addition, he and his wife are very involved in St. Augustine Youth Services. They also support numerous causes around the community as sponsors and in other ways.
“We’re very involved in all the things that happen,” Mercurio says of the couple’s dedication to the quality of life in St. Augustine.
About 18 years ago, Dan Watterson joined Hasty’s Carpet as Mercurio’s business partner and in the role of vice president. The company now employs six, full time, and 12 working crews, or ”installation workers,” as Mercurio describes them.
Hasty’s Carpet & Flooring • 235 State Road 207 • Visit Their Website • (904) 824-4311
