Coverings 2019 F
or anyone who has never visited a trade show, to walk into Coverings 2019 will give you an impossible benchmark for any other event you attend. It is virtually a city within a convention center that attracts more than 1,000 exhibitors from around the world and nearly 30,000 visitors. For 30 years, Coverings has been the preeminent event for the ceramic tile & natural stone industry in North America. Visitors from every facet of the tile & stone industry find that Coverings is the one event that drives their success, year after year. All in one venue, you will see thousands of daz-
zling products, connect with suppliers from around the globe and discover ground-breaking techniques, tips and tricks. If it’s new in tile & stone, it’s at Coverings. D&B Tile Distributors, an eight store chain in South Florida, has served this industry for more than 50 years and participated in every Coverings event since it’s inception. This year, as in years past, D&B Tile provided a free bus trip to any of their commercial customers, including designers, architects, specifiers, According to Harold Yarborough, Owner of D&B Tile, “The contractors, installers and staff. Coverings Tile and Stone show is all about seeing the manufacturers we know and deal with in addition to other manuThis year, nearly 100 people were facturers so that we don’t miss the current looks and fashion brought to Coverings in Orlando, FL to and new trends in the industry. see what is new, different and trend-setting in their industry. “There is so much at the show that we can’t even see it all.
The allied products that you need for the installation of tile such as setting materials, tools, sealers, cleaners, water proofing, sound control and many other specialty products, in addition to tile,stone and marble are on display at the show. “There are a multitude of seminars and hands on installation programs to attend that bring great value to our business. “We encourage our staff and customers to attend and sponsor buses to bring people from South Florida to make it an easy one day trip. “If anyone is in the tile and stone business this show is the place to be.”
“We use this opportunity here at Coverings to give our clients the same opportunity we have to see products and new trends. We bring, customers, contractors, architects and our staff to the event to learn and be able to see trends. We provide CEU credits for our architects and designers on the buses for short courses.
“We give them the opportunity to see our major suppliers and to understand that a show that attracts in excess of 26,000 people, allows them to hone in on suppliers that we have worked with for years and possibly new ones. The clients can experience what we see in the industry. It helps us build relationships with our clients. A lot of networking takes place during the show. It’s good for the industry and helps clients understand the many, and seemingly unlimited uses for tile. There are also seminars and workshops at the event that are available to all. “One of the new products is porcelain countertops. We have information from Atlas Concorde and Crossville on those new lines. We’re developing relation-
ships with fabricators who will become our customers for these products. It’s a whole new line for us,” said Rudy Llerena, President and COO of D&B Tile Distributors. According to Lindsey Waldrep, Vice President, Marketing at Crossville, “We really attend Coverings to support our industry and D&B Tile Distributors. It is a great one-stop location
D&B Tile provided free lunch in a private dining room for their customers and staff during the exposition.
Lindsey Waldrep, Vice President, Marketing at Crossville Inc.
Crossville worked with Interstruct and Architectural Associate Maria Valbuena on the Installation & Design Experience.
to be able to see all of our partners, whether it is distributors, designers or our suppliers. We also want to support the installation community, along with NTCA. The fact that it moves from location to location is fantastic for us. As the second largest tile manufacturer in
the United States, it is very important for Crossville to have a presence here. “At this show, we are showcasing our new countertops. I love that for the South Florida market because, unlike quartz, these can be used outside without turning yellow. It is great for the outdoor kitchens and roof-top bars that you find
throughout South Florida. “Another new product we presented here is Alaska. This is a new 24”x48” terrazzo look tone on tone tile that launches May 20. And for the design community, when you order your samples online through Crossville.com, they can enter for prize drawings aboard Carnival Cruise lines to take that trip to Alaska. “We launched our large format panels here in the US several years ago. As we’ve grown the line, we really want people to realize that these are gauged porcelain tile panels. Now that we have a standard for them and that can be written into specs, we want them to be identified as Gauged Porcelain Tile Panels available from Crossville, known as Laminam out in the field. “We launched our new website Crossville.com in December. It has amazing features including being able to save tile as “favorites” and the ability to order samples directly from the website to be shipped to designers. “It’s been awesome working with D&B Tile. We look forward to coverage in your blog about our products. We thank you for doing that. “In the Insallation and Design Experience, this year we worked with Interstruct. They designed an installation similar to bleacher seating. It is a composition of our Retoactive 2.0, our
Befoe boarding the buses to return home, D&B attendees took part in a free raffle to receive two color large screen tv’s and Ipads .
porcelain tile panels and Color by Numbers together. What is most interesting is that, instead of using tile over tile to cover something, they were able to use it as a design element to reveal something underneath and provide dimension in a three dimensional wall setting. This is perfect for the South Florida area and its bright, bold colors.” Photographs and article by G. Richard Booth for D&B Tile – https://grichardboothphotography.myportfolio.com.