18 | September 22, 2016 | Alpharetta-Roswell Herald | NorthFulton.com
CELEBRATING 80 YEARS FAMILY OWNED:
BUSINESSBRIEFS
Traditions in Tile: Designing rooms from floor to wall By HATCHER HURD hatcher@ppenmediagroup.com ALPHARETTA, Ga. – When they opened the doors to the Tile Contractors Supply in the midst of the Great Depression in 1936, H.T. Briscoe and O.E. Sizemore didn’t realize they were founding a dynastic company that would survive and thrive into its 80th year. But it has. From its modest beginnings in 1936 to a business with 10 showrooms across the Southeast, it has become a respected name in the tile and stone industry. It did so based on the confluence of a number of circumstances. The company has shown the capacity to adapt, expand and innovate. That is rare in most family-held businesses. But following the example of the founding partners Briscoe and Sizemore, Traditions in Tile has shown surprising flexibility and adaptability. “In 1936, we were tile installers,” said third-generation owner Richard P. Morley Sr. “They worked hard. It was the Depression and then World War II popped up and people went to war.” But after the war, the founding partners realized there was great opportunity as the pent-up demand for housing exploded with 10 million servicemen retuning home and the G.I. Bill ready to finance a new home. They saw that there would be a need for distributors to all those builders who would be putting up those houses. “So they took their setters [the men who laid tile] and turned them into salesmen – taught them how to estimate a job’s cost and provide the materials. They started installation companies and we serviced them,” Mor-
ley said. “Mr. Sizemore and Mr. Briscoe were unique in doing that.” Now a wholesaler of tile, stone and other materials to companies across the Southeast, they could truck materials for a construction project usually by the next day. Meanwhile, in post-World War II, Traditions in Tile was building up its relationships worldwide to contract for raw materials from Italy, Turkey, Mexico and Spain. And with a 50,000-square-foot warehouse, being out of stock is unheard of. J. Warner Veal, another third-generation partner, said looking back at where they started – out of a garage on Peachtree Street – it is amazing. “But they worked hard and built relationships for quality and dependability. They sold materials across the United States. The wooden mantels at Augusta National Golf Club came from them,” Veal said. And as they expanded, the variety of inventory grew, too. Now porcelain tiles, glass mosaics, terracotta (unglazed ceramics) of all grades are available at Traditions. “We can fit any budget from top to bottom,” Veal said. The fourth generation of owners is represented by the husband-and-wife team of Laurie and Andrew Brown. “The biggest difference in the business today is it is a lot more fun,” said Laurie Brown. “Today, there is as much fashion as function in the materials. People find there is also value as well as beauty in our designs.” She points out while wood never goes out of style, porcelain wood tiles provide a better value in that it doesn’t scratch, need recoating and is more durable. And it is easier to clean and maintain.
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This is Traditions in Tile’s original building circa 1945 with founders H.T. Briscoe and O.E. Sizemore. Then it was known as Tile Contractors Supply.
HATCHER HURD/HERALD
Traditions in Tile and Stone has always been a family-owned business. From left are Laurie Brown, company President Andrew Brown, partners Richard P. Morely Sr., J. Warner Veal and Ann Veal. “These qualities really add up if the owner wants to sell that home later,” Laurie Brown said. “They see the value in our designs. The materials become part of the décor of the space.” Veal noted how innovations such as expanding standard-size tiles such as the 24-by-36-inch tiles can make for a client such Atlanta International Airport. “When they had the small size tiles
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This is the company in 1961, expanding now but still mainly specializing in building supply. Designing interiors was still a few years away.
down and the wheeled suitcase came along, it sounded like a thousand trains rattling down the concourse. The larger tiles made a huge difference,” Veal said. Partner Andrew Brown is married to Laurie and joined the Traditions family as well. He said the company entered the Digital Age, using technology to digitize colors of stone that allow Traditions to match them in color and texture with materials already on hand. But the company’s strength is its personal relationships with its customers, said Andrew Brown. “In the early 1970s, we hooked up with a developer just starting out named John Wieland. We tiled three of his new homes,” said Brown. Today John Wieland Homes and Neighborhoods and its 45-year relationship with Traditions are just one of many mutually beneficial associations whose longevity is numbered in decades. “It all goes back to our associates in the company. We have people who have spent their whole lives working for this company,” Andrew Brown said. “That is not unusual for us.” Meanwhile, the partners say a fifth generation of partners is well on its way.