Gabe Schroeder, Branch Manager, and Candace Polito, Showroom Consultant, put their heads together to answer our questionnaire about their Arizona Tile slab and tile showroom in Palm Desert, California.
Tell us a little bit about your Arizona Tile branch and what sets you apart from other tile stores in your area.
We have a wonderful 2,800 square foot showroom to display our selection of porcelain, ceramic, glass and natural stone tiles. Not only do we show off our materials on boards and in racks, but we have many installations to give the homeowner a good feel for how the tiles would look installed on their floors, counters and walls. We also have a 40,000 square foot, clean, very well organized and fully covered (indoor and out of the sun!) warehouse for us to display our huge selection of granite, marble, travertine, limestone, onyx, quartzite and Samsung Radianz quartz slabs. In addition to this display area we have a courteous, knowledgeable staff that is the best in the valley at helping to guide the customer in their color and material selections.
What type of product trends have you noticed lately within your area?
The Coachella Valley has a very diverse population and with that we have very diverse trends in interior design. We have everything from Rustic Tuscan Villa to Ultra Modern, and even a
few Spanish Villa styles with clay Saltillo tiles and hand painted Talevara deco tiles. Luckily with the variety of products we offer, we are able to offer something for every style. The most popular item for counters is Granite, backsplash is Glass and floors is Porcelain, with the wood or travertine look being the most requested currently.
What kind of special orders does your store see? More slab or tile? What kind – porcelain, marble, granite, limestone?
We see a large number of natural stone tile special orders for floors. Often someone brings in a photo of a floor that they saw in a magazine or in their travels and they ask us if we can acquire it. The answer is almost always YES! Recently we were able to track down the size, finish and type of stone used at the Getty Center Museum in L.A. for someone that wanted to replicate that look for their outdoor living area and around their pool. We also have a large number of requests for large size (30”x30” and bigger) Limestone floors for large custom homes.
Has anyone in your store received an excellent customer service recommendation from any customers? Zoë, a self-proclaimed “comeback” customer, sent us a fun and wonderful note about her experience at the Palm Desert Arizona Tile showroom. Zoë writes:
Hello Gabe! You just had to know with my pen to paper…of my delightful experience – recently – with Arizona Tile! Three years ago – however – I was very dismayed to learn that my Arizona Tile that I had selected for my newly built home in 2004 had been discontinued in 2009 – yikes! My plan was to replace the carpet in a back hallway with my tile for continuity. So my search was on-going for a creative solution in which I went to several competitors to no avail. It wasn’t until this last spring upon returning to Arizona Tile that my eyes caught sight of the basketweave “emperador” tile sample – Eureka! It “weaves” together the other elements approaching it so elegantly! Consultant Candace Polito enthusiastically put her stamp of approval on my choice – along with my pug as shown in the foto! So thanks to Arizona Tile for offering this bodacious product that my tile expert executed superbly!”
Zoë included the cutest photo of her pug on her new tile floor, and although we can’t recreate it here, if you stop by our location, we will be happy to show you the photo in person! Meanwhile you can view the Emperador basketweave mosaic tile on our website. Thanks, Zoë for your kind words and for being an Arizona Tile “comeback” customer!