Evansville Tile Expanding

Owensboro, KY, April 6, 2007--Over the past 25 years, Charlie Board has built Evansville Tile Distributors into a company with customers as far away as Boston, Colorado and Florida, according to the Messenger-Inquirer.

He imports limestone, granite, marble, ceramic tile and porcelain from Mexico, Italy, Venezuela, Turkey and other parts of the world.

And now, Board is expanding his base into Kentucky.

He recently paid $150,000 for 1.488 acres along Sydney Drive -- between Towne Square North and Burns Middle School.

Board is planning to start construction there soon on a 10,000-square-foot showroom-warehouse for Kentucky Tile Distributors, a second division of his company.

"Between the inventory and the building, I'll have an investment around $1.25 million," he said.

Board said the Owensboro store will be a base for expanding his company into the region between here and Bowling Green.

"We'll keep over 1 million square feet of tile in stock," he said. "There's nothing like this in Owensboro now. We'll have tile up to 2 feet wide."

New home starts have slumped in Owensboro and the rest of the nation in recent months.

But Board said his customers include people redecorating their homes and businesses.

The Owensboro store should be open by the end of May, he said.

Board said he also owns a lot next door where a warehouse will be built if the business expands.

Sydney Drive is just off Southtown Boulevard, which will be expanded to five lanes in the next few years.

Kentucky Tile Distributors will employ five people, Board said.