Upmarket tile store open in Whanganui

Stephanie and Matt Sutherland, owners of Concept Tile Collective in Whanganui.

Concept Tile Collective, an upmarket tile store, has opened in Whanganui with co-owners Matt and Steph Sutherland and a staff of three.

It’s the only dedicated tile shop in the city, with a supply of 1500 stock items plus extra items that can be ordered. Concept Tile Collective uses two main suppliers, Quantum based in Palmerston North and Tile Space New Zealand, the third-largest tile supplier in the country.

They supply everything: floor tiles, wall tiles, mosaics and cater for trade businesses with adhesives, trims and blades for tilers in the city. “Whanganui needed a tile store for people to be able to select tiles for their new builds and renovations,” said Matt.

“A lot of people have had to spend hours travelling out of town to get the tiles they want. They don’t need to now and can support buying locally.

“The shop is doing well after being open for a month and has plugged a gap in the market.

“We want to become the tiling hub for Whanganui, a place where tilers can network, buy products, get information, and builders can come in to get the best result for their clients.

Some of the wide selection of tiles on display at Concept Tile Collective in Whanganui.

“The outcome needs to be what people imagine it to be, including things like soap recesses, shelves and drains that function in the way the client not only wants but needs. We want people to come in with ideas and a vision ‘We want to do this, what’s your suggestion on using this product? Is there a better product we can use to replace it?’ We offer advice on what is going to work.

“Plumbers and electricians need to drill holes in tiles — we’ve got the tools to do it. People can come to us for that information. In the future, we want to host information evenings for tradies with reps and tool suppliers on hand to provide new and exciting options and ideas.

“Information is huge in our industry, regulations have changed, especially over the last 10 years, where tiles, products and rules have changed — it can be hard to keep up with these changes and rules so we can provide the up-to-date knowledge the industry in Wanganui needs,” Matt said.

Stephanie has had good feedback from interior designers in Whanganui. “They can bring their clients here, and network with them and us to choose what is required for their build, renovation or project. We aim to become a household name in Whanganui for tile selections, information and advice.

“We’ve got three amazing staff members, with Russell having had many years of experience in the tile industry, Val who handles the day-to-day running of the shop and everything behind the scenes, and Lara who holds down the office side of things,” she said.

Matt has owned and operated his tiling company, MT Sutherland Tiling, for the past nine years, and he has been installing for 13 years, evenly split between commercial and residential.

Some of the larger projects include the Sarjeant Art Gallery development (450sq m), KFC and McDonald’s renovations, BP service stations throughout New Zealand, 350 villas for Summerset Retirement Homes in Hawke’s Bay, car showrooms in the region, and now a lot of residential work in Palmerston North.

“After spending two years tiling in Whanganui from the age of 18, we moved to Australia, I spent three and a half years tiling in Brisbane. Steph and I returned to our home town, Whanganui, and started a business, settling down to have baby No 1, a wedding, which was closely followed by baby No 2.

“I brought back a structure from Australia, with systems and procedures in place that were more advanced than those in New Zealand — fast, clean, tidy and profitable,” said Matt.

■ For a great outcome for your tile choice, contact Concept Tile Collective, phone (06) 345 0300, 78 Wilson St, Whanganui, or email: admin@concept-tile.co.nz