9/3/2008 – Homeowners in Love With New Design Trends at Lewis Floor & Home

Press Release – TILE HOMEOWNERS IN LOVE WITH NEW DESIGN TRENDS AT LEWIS FLOOR & HOME European Tile Trend Hits Midwest In A Big Way Several years ago, European tile manufacturers introduced a new concept in floor and wall tiles. Rather than creating tile that resembled marble, limestone and travertine from around the world, Italian tile designers had a different idea. As most high end design trends do– never seen before looks–emulating soft textiles, leathers, metallic and wood began to take hold in New York and California. Then, this trend began to filter into the most exclusive luxury hotels, fine restaurants, resorts, health clubs and spas across the country and finally the Midwest and Chicago followed suit. Lewis Floor and Home was one of the first importers in the Chicago market to embrace the trend when first introduced at Cersaie, the largest international tile exposition in Bologna Italy. “The response to our exclusive tile selection has been overwhelming,” said Susie Axelrad, vice president of Merchandising and Marketing at Lewis Floor and Home. “Customers just love our latest collection. In order to meet increasing demands, we keep over four million dollars in inventory in our Northbrook warehouse conveniently located just minutes off the Edens Expressway. “Our tile sales are exploding and our tile business has almost doubled in the last year alone. That kind of growth is unheard of in a down economy driven by a lackluster housing market. Many of the high end tile shops have stayed away from stocking any products because of the financial investment costs involved. Homeowners, designers, architects and contractors don’t have to wait four to eight weeks for luxury tile anymore. And because we import directly from the best manufacturers all over the world, our prices make luxury products affordable.” Porcelain and ceramic tiles can be produced to have a textile, silk, linen, leather, monk cloth, and wood look. Porcelain tiles even offer a washed-out weathered look imitating the shingles found on a Cape Cod house. Meanwhile, porcelain tiles for commercial use can have little strands of metallic going through them. What color is hot right now? Brown is an extremely popular tile color in home fashion as well as clothing. Browns are being used with green, blues, cream and whites. Golden honey tone tiles are also popular with consumers. “Anyone who wants to update their home should consider adding tiles from our Lewis Floor collection,” says Susie Axelrad. “They are affordable and have the same design and quality as name-brand tiles advertised in many magazines.”