Lexington, Ky.—Florida Tile is celebrating its 60th anniversary. The company has risen from a one-product specialty ceramic tile maker to become one of America’s top brands.
“What began as an opportunity recognized by company founders to produce a specialty tile trim shape out of a small building in Lakeland, Fla., has grown and changed over six decades, but the basics of innovation and service remain the foundation of our company’s success,” said Sean Cilona, Florida Tile’s marketing director.
“In those early days, the tile landscape was vastly different from what it is today,” he added. “Then, small-format wall tiles, extruded-floor and two-tone tiles were popular. But just as the founders saw opportunity in that one trim tile, so too did they see opportunity in addressing the changing tastes of Americans. That would lead to a corporate culture of innovative technology and styles that continues to define Florida Tile today.”
Among the early innovations, Cilona pointed to Florida Tile pioneering the Monoporosa process for single-pass firing of large, glazed wall tile, becoming one of the first to use the rotocolor process (still in use today) for decorating tile and for establishing the first pressed floor tile manufacturing plant in the U.S.
In 2006, Italian tile manufacturer Panariagroup purchased Florida Tile. Within a year, and with a $25 million investment from Panariagroup, a new Florida Tile porcelain tile manufacturing plant was opened in Lawrenceburg, Ky.
“ That plant now operates three fulltime shifts 24 hours a day,” Cilona noted.