It will probably never be as appropriate to say an I LUV Winter Park Small Business of the Month is the cats’ meow!
The premiere Winter Park small business being spotlighted with this recognition, Alexander & Morgan Tile & Stone, is named after two cats, a brother and sister of the same litter from New Smyrna Beach. With one of the most significant housing downturns in our lifetimes occurring in 2007 / 2008, that whole nine lives thing may have come handy, as this year they are celebrating 22 years of business operating the entire time in the same space on 17/92 in Winter Park.
The business is owned by John & Sally Koepke, occasionally with the assistance of the flirt of family, John’s 85 year old father, Karl, a retired Local attorney. Sally grew up in Winter Park and John grew up in College Park. They have been married for 29 years, have two beautiful daughters and have lived here continually except for a two year stint in Naples. They are high school sweethearts, both graduates of Edgewater High School in College Park. In storybook fashion, they met at an Edgewater vs. Evans Friday night football game. That could only be more Winter Park if it had occurred at a Winter Park High School game!
I’ve always said Winter Park is the most small business-focused community I’ve ever lived. At a time when huge corporate names like Amazon, Walmart, Home Depot and others dominate our shopping focus, I feel like says a lot about our Local residents that they are so enthusiastic about small, Locally owned businesses, often times so LUVingly speak of ones from the past. John, actually, may be a perfect example of why that is true, the joy he gets working with Locals, in many instances people he’s assisted many times before over their 22 years in business.
“It is a great pleasure to help guests who come in, (assist them) with making decisions on their projects,” he says. “It is always something different. One day it could be an Origami textured glass kitchen backsplash. Another day you are designing a relief crackled glazed hand-painted ceramic tile for a shower wall. And then another day you are assisting a guest with a 48” x 48” porcelain tile that looks just like Italian marble for their beach house in the Islands.”
At the moment, John’s favorites are wooden tiles we featured in an Instagram story / Facebook post Tuesday on @MyWinterParkNeighbor. “The new hot favorite is a line designed from Bali called Teakitiles,” he says. “This collection is made of real teak wood and is available in hundreds of color combinations and patterns. It can be used in shower walls, shower floors, kitchen backsplashes, and feature niches. This has been a big hit because it is totally customizable.”
In general, though, John says the big thing right now is COLOR and it makes my heart beat a bit faster. YES, it’s back!
“Thank GOD everyone is wanting color and pattern now,” he says happily. “I have more guests coming in basically saying ‘If I see one more gray, sharp angled home that looks like a Navy ship, I am going to die.”
He adds, “textured, HEAVY dripping glazed products are also hot. There have also been some unique ceramic wall tiles that are available in fabulous ‘washed’ color ways. Even though they are mass produced, each tile looks handmade and looks like it has been hand dipped into its own glaze. Reminiscent of Zellij Moroccan tile BUT in this case a unique small brick shape that is 2" x 6.” This allows for some very unique patterns. This special shape takes us away from the standard 3x6, 4x12, and 4x16 shapes that you see at the big box stores.”
The housing downturn which took place over a decade ago hasn’t been the only challenge, of course.
During Covid, he says, “Finding qualified installers was a nightmare. What happened was the top installers got slammed with new renovations, new kitchen backsplashes, new pools, and new bathrooms. They got so slammed that the top installers, at times, could not return customers phone calls. Unfortunately, this led to many customers going online to Craigs List and elsewhere. My customers sometimes got involved with unqualified installers. To the point some of them had to rip out the tile and get back in line for a reputable installer. I had many customers in tears trying to get their kitchen backsplashes done for a high school graduation party or other special event and many of what I call the ‘COVID Craigs List cowboys’ let them down”.
After 22 years, it’s obvious this small business is not simply a job, but something he greatly enjoys. He shows obvious excitement showing their gorgeous offerings, talking about them and the projects with which they are assisting.
“Today a guest came in after working out. She mentioned to her two friends that she was needing to look at tile for her kitchen backsplash. Both of her friends said you have to go to Alexander Morgan to see John. They told her if you see the big red truck out front, John will be inside. This is what we LUV about the locals. They know that if the lights are out and the door is locked all they have to do is knock on the door if the big red truck is out front.” Adds Sally, “John will be there to open the door and welcome you in. Most of our business is word of mouth from other customers.”
He says Alexander Morgan Tile & Stone has always had as the high end kitchen backsplash & decorative tile go to.
"What most do not realize is we do have the bread and butter go-to collections at a very competitive price. For instance, three weeks ago a guest came in asking about a 24” x 48” porcelain tile made in Tennessee. He did not understand why we were a 1/3 less than the competition. Very simply put I told him the reason is because my electric bill is only $230.00 a month and I wear flip flops. In other words just we do not have the overhead."
I ask where he sees the business moving in the future, and, in part, he says, they will be more streamlined. "We're going to be more focus on domestically produced collections in the future," he shares. "You are never going get rid of tiles or mosaics made in China. But what we are doing is throwing out those lines where foreign manufactures have knocked off from American Artisans. Our customers have seen the difference in quality from a made in China knock offs and a product made in the United States. We have had more customers demand more domestically produced tiles and we are very happy to pursue it. So to answer your question, you will see a lot more Uncle Sam, Made in the USA stickers on our displays."
More than a bit of a design enthusiast myself, I always find being surrounded by gorgeous tiles to be exciting. As we grow older, our idea of what a toy store is changes. This is the kind of store which inspires me to play, look for a new project! If you are like-minded, planning a home renovation or new build, you need to check them out during your planning.
Fine Alexander Morgan Tile & Stone at 845 S Orlando Avenue in the Publix shopping center just south of Fairbanks. Their phone number is (407) 629-2393 and their website www.AlexanderMorgan.com.