Expo wrap up: Coverings 2017

Expo Wrapup: Coverings 2017

We just got back from one of the biggest shows of the year, Coverings 2017. It was a great show with over 25,000 stone and tile people who rolled into Orlando to see the newest design trends in the stone and tile industry. I guess this is a pretty big event, even for a large city like Orlando.  I was surprised to see that the Mayor showed up for the ribbon cutting ceremony.  He declared the week of the show to be “Tile and Stone Days” in Orange County, Fla. I had always thought that the only thing of real importance in Orlando was Disney World. But I guess stone and tile are getting some real attention around here.

This year Basic Diamond has been incredibly busy trying to make sure our orders get fulfilled on time, organize our inventory, and develop new tools and new blade designs.  In light of the fact that it has been so hectic, and since the show was all the way across the country, we decided not to put up an exhibit this year. It just would have taken too much time to herd all those cats and get everything to the show.  Instead, we flew down and attended the show to check out all the new products, meet with key customers and vendors, and just enjoy the great weather in Orlando. This is a great event, because there are over 1,100 vendors and tons of clients all in one location from over 40 countries.  It was great to meet with a few of our vendors and catch up. It was really fun to see some of our customers walking the aisles of the show and talk about all the work everyone has!  So busy these days!

We saw lots of exhibits from most of the big players in the industry. Cool booths, and they even had some new features on the pavilions that everyone was talking about. One of our favorite booths was the Antolini booth. It had samples of some of their interesting stones hung all around the booth that were very cool to see. We took a look at the new machinery from people like Park Industries, Northwood, Baca, etc.. We had a chance to talk with them about how our tooling can improve the performance of their machinery.

2017 Stone Trends

We continued to see that Quartz is still the leading design trend when it comes to volume. But It was interesting to note that Quartzite is really increasing in popularity. If you don’t know what Quartzite is all about, see our article about it cutting quartzite. After looking at all the quartzite displays at the show, I realized this is probably why we have been getting so many requests to learn more about our new quartzite blades, and how to use them. We are also seeing the porcelain and ultra compact stone slabs starting to gain momentum.

All in all, this was a great trip, full of work from sunup to sundown, but Orlando is such a great place, who can complain? Let us know if you need any help on cutting quartzite, and we can show you the best techniques. We will probably do a blog post on it soon.

TISE 2017

TISE 2017 RECAP

We had a great time doing our Exhibit a the TISE 2017 this year. Doug, Ruben, and Josh were all hands on deck for the entire week preparing, setting up, meeting with customers and hitting the tables. The fabrication tables that is. As we walked through the massive exhibit hall at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas, NV, during The International Surface Event (TISE), it was clear that the stone fabrication industry is once again gaining momentum.

This year, the convention was held from January 18 to 20, 2017. Our booth was totally busy from open to close most of the time. By the looks of the long lines at the concession stands and at the bathrooms, we feel positive about 2017. TISE is made up of Surfaces, StonExpo/ Marmomacc Americas and TileExpo — making it North America’s largest floor covering, stone and tile industry event. The exhibition, which brought together buyers and sellers from around the world, featured approximately 700 exhibitors of which we were obviously the best! TISE provided us with an opportunity to meet many of you face to face for the first time. We showcased our new Quartzite Blades, (Assault QTZ) Samurai Water Polisher, and our Ultra White Marble Glue. It was fun to meet with all of you and we really appreciate all the positive feedback and support. Many of you attended one of the informative seminars like the Fabricator Forum, which included over 55 sessions, featuring the hottest new trends and advice form some of the leading industry experts.

There were other draws for attendees on the show floor during TISE 2017, including the “block party” sponsored by MIA+BSI and the Natural Stone Council (NSC). We were flattered to be a part of all these great events, and are excited to be working with so many new fabricators. We attracted tons of attendees to our booth with Ruben’s Jokes and funny stories from the road. Our customers had the opportunity to buy glue, Assault QTZ blades, and other tooling directly from us for show-stopping prices. We even talked with some of our competitors who were trying to find out why we have become so successful lately. People are so pumped about our new water polishers and we are anxiously awaiting our first shipment. We will let you know as soon as they become available.

If you want to see more photos from our adventures at the 2017 The International Surface Event (TISE) check out our instagram feed here. We have been trying to post interesting photos here every once in a while. We also have put up an un-boxing video of our latest blade. Make sure and give us a little social love and like our stuff. If you have any cool photos of our products in action, please tag #basicdiamondstonetools and show us and the world how well our products are working! Well, That is it for our TISE 2017 Recap report. If anyone has any good pictures, send them to us and we will post them on our instagram account.