History
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From humble beginnings, our family company has evolved into one of the largest importers of tile in the United States. With a wide variety of imported tiles from Spain, Italy, Brazil, Argentina, Turkey, Greece, Mexico and Asia, we are able to offer our customers the most comprehensive selection of products possible. Over the course of our long history, we have established an unrivaled reputation for customer service and design expertise.
It was 1955 in Springfield, Massachusetts when Harry Marcus of Marcus Tile realized that he was picking up as much tile at the two distributors in Hartford, Connecticut for other contractors in Springfield as he was for himself.
There were no distributors in Springfield, making it necessary for Harry to go to Hartford just about every day to pick up tile for his four man team of installers. Harry and his wife, Mollie, decided that it was time to start their own tile distribution business. The foundation for Best Tile was born when the Marcus’s decided to sell their installation business and partner with the Wenczel Tile Company to open up Standard Tile Distributors in August of 1956. Harry quickly expanded by opening a branch warehouse in Hartford, CT in 1957 and West Haven, CT in 1958. With his partner, Jack Knies, in New Haven, an additional location was opened in Fairfield, CT in 1965. Harry and Mollie's oldest son, Steve Marcus, entered the family business and after managing the Hartford warehouse, Steve opened a new location in Albany, New York
It was during the early 1970's that we began importing tile. First from Japan, and later from Italy, Spain, Korea, Taiwan, the Philippines, South America, England, France, Germany and Indonesia. By this time, the company was a major player in the tile business in the Northeast.
The expansion continued. Steve, with a managing partner, Bob Rose, expanded first into Syracuse, NY in 1973 and then to Buffalo, NY in 1975 and Rochester, NY 1977. At the same time, Brad Marcus, Steve's younger brother, came into the business and opened his first store in Worcester, MA which has since relocated to Shrewsbury, MA. With the start of a new decade, Brad opened another store in Dedham, MA. In 1984, Steve and Bob hired an additional managing partner, Chet Whittam, and expanded to Pittsburgh, PA. During that same year, Steve opened a showroom in Poughkeepsie, NY. In the mid 80’s, the success continued as showrooms opened in Warwick, RI, and Brookfield, CT, formerly of Danbury, CT.
Our excursion to New Jersey took place in 1990 where we opened in Keyport, NJ. In 1995 another showroom was opened in East Brunswick. Both New Jersey locations are formerly known as Classic Ceramic Tile. Moving south, a store was opened in Lorton, VA outside of Washington DC, followed by stores in Richmond, VA and Rockville, MD. Meanwhile Jack’s son, Brian Knies, of the Tile America group, opened a showroom in Manchester, CT in 1994. The company continued its geographical expansion when Steve expanded in 1998 with Frank Donahue into the Raleigh, NC market and in 1999 with Doug Maynes in Burlington, VT. Frank then opened our Durham, NC store in 2004 and our Greensboro, NC store in 2008. In 2000, Brian Ford joined Steve as partner in Albany, NY and expanded to Saratoga Springs, NY in 2008.
Steve Marcus and Bob Rose bought out the group of Massachusetts and Rhode Island stores in 2006, then known as Boston Tile, and renamed them Best Tile. Since then, another Best Tile was opened in Plymouth, MA in 2008. In 2010, Brian Knies finished the first decade of a new millennium with the expansion of Torrington, CT and New London, CT.
We are excited to announce the Grand Opening of our newest design oriented showroom located in Columbia, MD!
“Our Passion is Tile and Stone.” It’s not just a statement, it’s our family trait. We look forward to assisting you and your family for generations to come.