b'SALES PULSE (continued) Midwest/Flyover States:Florida and Caribbean:high-endresidenti alandcommer-Virginia Tile D&B Tile Distributors cial buildings, he said. But although WithaslightoverlapwithArleysWith respect to the south Floridathe wood-look is sti ll popular overall, territory,VirginiaTiledistrib- market,D&BTileDistributorsCEOsalesarefl at,hereported.Larger utestoIllinois,Michigan,Indiana,HaroldYarboroughsaidexpandedsizesofwoodplanksandformats Ohio,Iowa,Missouri,Nebraska,formatslargerthan24x48arethat take wood beyond the traditi on-Kansas,Minnesota,Oklahoma,andpercolati ng, beati ng out sales of theal are keeping the look alive. Overall, Wisconsin. Sean Cilona, Virginia Tilestraditi onal24x24ti leseventhough, ti le is king in Florida. new DirectorProducts & Suppliersfor bathrooms. And hex formats aregives us insight into what is sellinggivingcustomerssomethingdiff er-in this part of the country.entwithoutitbeingoutlandishor Hes observed that acceptance foroverwhelming.Intermsofshapes, ceramic ti le applicati on in areas out- Diff erent types of mosaics with new sideofkitchensandbathsisstart- innovati ve shapes in glass or ceram-ingtoslowlyemergeinthefl yoveric, are getting att enti on. states.Glossyandmatt ewallti lesare turning heads, in elongated formats,Wood is being used in innovati ve ways in the larger-sized subway ti le like 8 x 20Florida market. Heres Atlas Concords Arbor and larger square wall ti Formatsin Cognac, from D&B Tile Distributors.le. other than planks are breathing newOurcustomerbasewillrunti le life into wood looks, and converselythroughoutthehouseandintothe rectangle looks in non-wood designsbedrooms and the living space out-aregainingfavor.Traverti neandside, he said. traditi onalwoodlooksaregainingIntermsofsettingmaterials, AtD&B,hexformatsprovideinterestwith-ground, as are larger square and rect- outbeingtoooutlandish.PicturedisAtlasYarboroughsaid,Duetothelarge angle formats.Concorde Marvel Edge Calacatt a Gold Hex.format ti les, we are selling the LHT Cilona says natural stone is fading,typemortars.Ready-to-usegrouts, sincebett ertechnologyisbringingYarboroughsaidtheporcelainwhich D&B values and has been sell-even more realism to manufacturedCalacatt a look is sweeping the coun- ingsincetheyhitthemarketyears slabs, and cost and care create con- try in all formats, and is very strongago,aresti llastrugglewithless-cerns.Commoditywoodinsmallerin Florida.openminded ti le sett ers. formats is waning, and 12 x 24 sizesAlso up and coming in D&Bs mar- long a favored formatare goingketaremanufacturerspromoti ng the way of the 12 x 12 as biggerthe waterproof shower systems that formats gain prominence.improvetheoverallshowerexperi-ence to the builder or consumer, he said. The issue is getting municipali-ti estoapprovethesesystems.This system will conti nue to grow. The porcelain Calacatt a look is sweeping the countryinarangeofformats.ShownareCA: Westside Tile and StoneMarvel Grey Fluery recti fi ed ti from Atlasle Concorde and Salsa glass ti from CrossvilleMathewWeinerofWestsidele on the back wall. TileandStone,CanogaPark,Calif., described the conditi ons on the West Woodisbeingusedininnova- Coast,withaboomingLosAngeles Largerformatsaregaininggroundinti vewaysinYarboroughsmarket,housingmarket.Theti leindustry Virginia Tile territory as in this Arpege line bysuch as wood-look porcelain beingconti nuestoevolvetoaccommo-Cerdomus.used on exterior verti cal surfaces fordate everyones taste, he said. Many 322020|TRENDS'