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Nancy Epstein
Founder and CEO, Artistic Tile
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Nancy Epstein did not set out to create one of the country's leading luxury stone and tile firms. She didn't anticipate being known as an innovator or even an entrepreneur. She just wanted to order some cabinets for her son's bathroom. "The cabinet maker was resistant," she recalls, "he told me that what I had in mind would never work, but I sketched it out with all the specs and ordered it anyway." When the cabinets were installed, the cabinet maker was so impressed with the results that he asked Nancy, who had recently completed some design coursework at Parson's, to come work for him in his Tenafly, New Jersey showroom. She did. Very quickly, Nancy, whose business degree from Syracuse University came in handy, recognized that the cabinetry showroom could do more business if they would offer more products for the bath and kitchen, such as tile, stone, fixtures and fittings. The cabinetry maker wasn't interested in the tile business, so Nancy bought out his interest in the business, while still sharing the showroom space |
with him, and Artistic Tile was born.
It was 1987, and the luxury tile industry was a fledgling. There were a handful of suppliers manufacturing, importing and distributing luxury tile and stone, and virtually no showroom was accessible to the homeowner without a professional designer. Nancy outfitted her showroom with the customary "concept-boards", swatches of various tile combinations and configurations mounted on small boards to illustrate design ideas. But when, in 1989, she took advantage of the showroom's working bath to show tile in an entire room setting, she quickly sold out of the featured tile. Nancy instantly identified the kernel of a merchandising concept that would eventually revolutionize tile showroom design – lifestyle vignettes. "People were obviously more inspired by the large display, they could really visualize the tile in their own environment." By 1990, she had installed several floor-to-ceiling, room-style displays, the first showroom presentation of its kind in America. Today, Nancy's vignette-style displays are an industry standard.
In 1993, Nancy dared to break with convention once again and locate her next showroom along a busy highway, rather than in a "destination" shopping area. The new Paramus showroom was designed to be consumer-friendly, with a children's playroom, ample parking, and an in-house design staff on hand to create room designs. It had 18 floor-to-ceiling vignettes. "I thought, well, I'll keep the first showroom for a year and if this one
isn't a success, I'll close it and go back to the destination and to-the-trade business," says Nancy Epstein. Her gamble paid off, and quickly, within two months, design professionals were joined by area homeowners in the pursuit of fabulous tile.
Since most product orders in the design-oriented luxury tile industry required a six to eight week lead time, Nancy soon sensed frustration among homeowners, who were not
accustomed to waiting for products. Never one to wait around herself, Nancy got on a plane for Italy and began lining up tile and stone suppliers. She found a warehouse space in New Jersey and began building an inventory of stocked products for immediate delivery, including the latest luxury commodity of the time, tumbled stone. By 1993, she had established an import and wholesale distribution company, to service her Paramus showroom. Today, Artistic Tile has become one of the largest wholesale distributors of luxury tile and stone in the country due to Nancy's knack for anticipating and responding to market trends such as importing stone in 3/8" thickness that matches that of most artisan tile. Artistic Tile brand products are now distributed to all Artistic Tile showrooms as well as over 100 luxury tile and stone showrooms across the United States.
More showrooms followed: White Plains, New York in 1997, Fifth Avenue, Manhattan in 1998, and Shrewsbury, New Jersey in 2000. 2001 marked the debut of an Artistic Tile showroom in a prestigious design center, Manhattan's Architects and Designers Building. In 2004, Nancy Epstein opened a boutique showroom inside the Manhattan Center for Kitchen and Bath. In Fall, 2007 she opened a new, expanded flagship showroom in the equally esteemed Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan. Slated for 2008, a showroom in Manhassset on Long Island's tony North Shore. Artistic Tile showrooms are distinguished by architectural features such as soaring archways that dramatically highlight the handcrafted products, and charming residential touches such as working shower displays and Murano glass chandeliers. Her devotion to creating a warm, comfortable, inspiring environment in each showroom is evident in every detail. Wine is served in the afternoons, coffee in the morning, and lunch upon request. "Our customer service and atmosphere should rival those of any luxury resort,'' Nancy notes, "but most important, our clients should love not only their finished projects, but also the experience of creating them."
The firm's 110,000 square foot corporate headquarters in Secaucus, New Jersey, comprising a state-of-the-art warehouse, training center, customer service center and design studio also houses Nancy's office. But she tends not to settle in. She makes numerous product development trips as far flung as Tunisia, Mexico, Italy, France, Spain, China, Vietnam, Turkey, India, Brazil, and Israel. Her work has paid off in accolades. The firm is consistently named among House & Garden magazine's "Best on the Best", and "Designer's Best" issues. Nancy Epstein's designs have been featured in top shelter publications and on CNN and NBC's The Today Show. She also designed the winning Interior Design magazine "best building product" in the 2006 "Best of Year" Awards.
When they are not at work or traveling the world, Nancy Epstein and husband Larry, reside in Tenafly, New Jersey, in the same house where those cabinets started it all. They have three sons and one grandson.
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