Eurotile betting recession is almost over

FRIDAY, JUNE 10: A flooring company is making the best out of the recession by moving shop and heading into the city to attract more customers.

Eurotile has relocated its main showroom to Reid Street in the former spot occupied by the iStore. The large glass windows showcase European tile and top of the line kitchen displays.

The warehouse and a smaller showroom are still in Mills Creek.

Owner Huw Lewis explained the decision to move into Hamilton.

“A basic business plan says that if you’re not moving forward, you’re going backward so we have been looking for somewhere in town for some time since all the flooding we have had in Mills Creek.

“That set us back quite a lot so we thought let’s find something in the city.

“We looked at several places, some were nice and some we couldn’t afford.

“By chance, we were in the iStore and my wife said if you guys move out, let us know and they said they were moving so we did a deal with them and took over the lease.”

Mr Lewis said it worked out well for the company as well as the iStore.

He said the showroom is the “creative influence” of sales manager Mitchell Burch.

Geraldine McCaffrey designed the kitchens on display.

As for the old store, Mr Lewis said: “We have cut it in half so we now have two showrooms.

“In this one, we have kitchens and tile.

“In the other one, we also have tile and we have the more commercial sort of things like tools.

“It’s more geared to the contractors and the do-it-yourselfers.”

He said the company needed a storefront with huge glass windows to help attract customers by showing off the variety Eurotile has.

“We have never had an on street presence and that was the key thing for us, to be able to be seen on the street.”

Mr Lewis said the company has spent close to a million dollars in advertisements over the years and still had people tell him that they didn’t know Eurotile did kitchens.  “I hope the windows help people to see the product — It’s quite distinctive.”

Mr Burch said there has been steady traffic in the shop.  “There’s been a huge amount. People are happy that they don’t have to go way out of their way.”

Mr Lewis added this was a big gamble.

“The question that went through our minds was ‘is this the beginning of a recession, the middle of a recession or the beginning of the end of the recession?’."

He said the company is betting it’s the beginning of the end and business will start to pick up as more money flows into the economy.

Editor's note: Mitchell Burch is the father of Mikeala Pearman.