You know the story . . .employee works for a company for a long time; one day, the owner comes in and says he/she is going to sell the business; employee frets, then thinks about it, talks it over with the family; employee buys the business.
That's it!
Just a straightforward story of a person living his dream. In this case, it's two brothers, close in age, and both worked at the store right out of city college, starting when this Canoga Park branch was opened in 1996. Through the years, they both worked their way up the ladder, eventually becoming the general manager and assistant manager, and that remains so to this day.
This Canoga Park store was the San Fernando Valley flagship of a chain of Tile Stores stretching up the coast of California, a chain that's been around for almost 30 years. But now there's a new name, Tile Boutique . . . . . but with the same people, and the same great service.
Tile Boutique has a long history because it has a unique business model:
- It is both a distributor (Tile Boutique sells to other tile dealers);
- It is a wholesaler (Tile Boutique sells to the trade like commercial contractors, architects, designers; and,
- It sells direct to the public (sells to individual homeowners like semi do-it-yourselfers, and pure do-it-yourselfers.
Tile Boutique can maintain this business model because of its wide selection of products, its exclusive selection of products (can't get it anywhere else) and its old-fashioned great service . . . . we just want you back . . . . and we'll do this by providing you with:
- superior product knowledge (we'll tell you what's out there, which then enables you to make a better choice);
- we'll tell you where the product is from - this world economy has flooded the market with all levels of product (which is good for the consumer, as long as the consumer knows);
- we'll give you a candid and honest assessment of quality and price - no trickery here like low quality and high price; and
- we'll work with you till it's installed . . . period!
