Page 25 - BusinessWest May 16, 2022

Cover Story
Best Tile Has Enjoyed a Strong Pattern of Continued Growth
By George O’Brien
Karen Belezarian-Tesini recently returned from Coverings
2022, the largest trade show
for the ceramic tile industry in North America.
The four-day event was staged at the Las Vegas Convention Center roughly a month ago, and while there was a good crowd, things weren’t quite back to what they were in 2019, attendance-wise and
sands of square feet of new products on display, and an opportunity for her and other attendees to get a clear under- standing of the latest trends and innova- tions — which include everything from tile products that “look like wallpaper,” as she put it, to ever-larger sizes of tile for walls and floors — up to 60 inches by 120 inches in some cases, to growing options in porcelain, marble, and glass mosaic products.
“Overall, 2020 was up and down, but 2021 ... was very, very busy. From Jan. 2 on, people were just constantly coming in and calling because they were remodeling. They were stuck at home looking at their four walls. It started picking up in the fall of 2020, and then in 2021, we did crazy business — it was fantastic.”
otherwise, observed Belezarian-Tesini, who has been to quite of few of these as manager of Best Tile’s Springfield loca- tion on Belmont Avenue.
Summing up the show, she said that, as always, there were hundreds of thou-
“When I started in this business. 8-by-8 was the nominal size, then it was 12-by-12, then 12-by-24,” she explained. “Now, we’re looking at 24-by-24 and 24-by-48; that’s what’s in demand now; it’s not a need, it’s a want, and there’s a
Karen Belezarian-Tesini says the mood in the ‘coverings’ industry is one of cautious optimism.
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Staff Photo