1 00:00:05,338 --> 00:00:07,507 Welcome back to The ProSource Podcast. 2 00:00:07,507 --> 00:00:09,884 Today, I am sitting here with Patrick Warren. 3 00:00:09,884 --> 00:00:12,303 He's going to talk to us about Daltile. 4 00:00:12,303 --> 00:00:16,766 And specifically their are Made in the USA campaign that they have rolling out. 5 00:00:17,058 --> 00:00:20,520 Patrick is the vice president of dealer sales and showrooms. 6 00:00:20,520 --> 00:00:21,521 Adult tile. 7 00:00:21,521 --> 00:00:26,151 Doll tile is the industry leading brand of ceramic, porcelain, glass and metal 8 00:00:26,151 --> 00:00:30,655 tile, as well as natural stone, large format tile and countertop products. 9 00:00:30,947 --> 00:00:33,199 Thank you so much for joining me today, Patrick. 10 00:00:33,199 --> 00:00:34,284 Thanks for having me. It's good to be here. 11 00:00:34,284 --> 00:00:37,162 And I know you've been in this industry for a long time. 12 00:00:37,162 --> 00:00:40,165 I was actually stalking your LinkedIn page, 13 00:00:40,248 --> 00:00:45,253 a little bit before this conversation, and I just wanted you to share for us 14 00:00:45,253 --> 00:00:49,466 how you got started in this industry and then how that journey translated 15 00:00:49,466 --> 00:00:51,051 into tile. 16 00:00:51,051 --> 00:00:52,761 Well, it's always good to start with a funny story. 17 00:00:52,761 --> 00:00:54,054 And again, thanks for having me here, Mollie. 18 00:00:54,054 --> 00:00:58,183 So I got on the I got in the industry completely by accident. 19 00:00:58,808 --> 00:01:01,811 I was long story fun stories that are over. 20 00:01:01,811 --> 00:01:03,772 Maybe a bottle of wine with a bunch of customers. 21 00:01:03,772 --> 00:01:05,732 But I was actually 22 00:01:06,691 --> 00:01:07,317 looking into 23 00:01:07,317 --> 00:01:10,779 getting a grant because I just, I was getting my business degree 24 00:01:10,779 --> 00:01:14,699 and I got a fax number wrong, and a recruiter called me 25 00:01:14,991 --> 00:01:19,162 and it ended up being for Milliken Carpet, which started my career in 1996. 26 00:01:19,704 --> 00:01:21,664 So I completely accidental. 27 00:01:21,664 --> 00:01:24,167 And then through I worked for Milliken for, 28 00:01:24,167 --> 00:01:26,294 about nine years and then went to Columbia Hardwood, which 29 00:01:26,294 --> 00:01:29,923 was subsequently purchased by Mohawk, and they moved me to Dallas, 30 00:01:31,257 --> 00:01:32,092 18 years ago. 31 00:01:32,092 --> 00:01:34,552 So I've been a dealer person my whole career. 32 00:01:34,552 --> 00:01:35,095 I love it. 33 00:01:35,095 --> 00:01:39,099 And, for the matter, I've been involved with CCI from day one, 34 00:01:39,099 --> 00:01:39,891 which has been great. 35 00:01:39,891 --> 00:01:42,477 So yes, long career in career. 36 00:01:42,477 --> 00:01:45,855 It's been good to me, good to my family and good to the, the it's great industry. 37 00:01:45,855 --> 00:01:46,898 I love it. 38 00:01:46,898 --> 00:01:47,440 That's awesome. 39 00:01:47,440 --> 00:01:49,776 And how long have you been with Daltile, specifically? 40 00:01:49,776 --> 00:01:53,738 Well, so I was part of the you know, I kind of worked through the whole Mohawk 41 00:01:53,738 --> 00:01:57,325 Industries, group part of that period. 42 00:01:57,617 --> 00:02:01,996 I was with a group called Union that was kind of housed, quick step, 43 00:02:02,747 --> 00:02:03,623 Columbia Hardwood, 44 00:02:03,623 --> 00:02:07,085 which I came from, Mohawk Card Services, all that on the Dow campus. 45 00:02:07,627 --> 00:02:09,796 And I left for four years and came back five years ago. 46 00:02:09,796 --> 00:02:12,799 So I've been with that really five years, part of the whole family since, 47 00:02:13,258 --> 00:02:15,009 really 2007. 48 00:02:15,009 --> 00:02:15,718 Gotcha, gotcha. 49 00:02:15,718 --> 00:02:19,514 And I know, you know a lot of lore about Daltile, because last time 50 00:02:19,514 --> 00:02:24,978 you were at CCA, you were letting us know how how it got started in Dallas, Texas. 51 00:02:26,396 --> 00:02:27,188 And just 52 00:02:27,188 --> 00:02:30,358 wondering if you could share any more insight into that for the people 53 00:02:30,358 --> 00:02:34,112 listening, how has the brand evolved since the early days of starting out? 54 00:02:34,154 --> 00:02:35,572 It's it's a great story. 55 00:02:35,572 --> 00:02:38,616 I mean, today, you know, here we are 78 years later. 56 00:02:39,075 --> 00:02:40,952 You know, two brothers started it. 57 00:02:40,952 --> 00:02:43,955 One was in Monterrey, Mexico, one was in Dallas, Texas. 58 00:02:44,330 --> 00:02:47,876 They started for whatever reason, I don't know, I believe it was wall tile 59 00:02:48,626 --> 00:02:49,377 or some need. 60 00:02:49,377 --> 00:02:54,048 Something was out there and through a series of moves and, 61 00:02:54,382 --> 00:02:58,970 you know, the company had highs and lows and was purchased and sold several times, 62 00:03:00,096 --> 00:03:02,515 came around, purchased by Mohawk Industries. 63 00:03:02,515 --> 00:03:05,393 And that really rocketed our business north. 64 00:03:05,393 --> 00:03:09,898 You know, today we sit with roughly close to 300 locations. 65 00:03:10,940 --> 00:03:14,194 You know, we have sales service centers, really where everybody's located. 66 00:03:14,194 --> 00:03:14,903 We want to make sure 67 00:03:14,903 --> 00:03:18,156 we can get tile to where that project and that need is going to be. 68 00:03:18,907 --> 00:03:21,868 We have stone centers, almost 40 stone centers. 69 00:03:21,868 --> 00:03:24,329 We have, you know, I have one of my responsibilities is 70 00:03:24,329 --> 00:03:29,459 I have responsibility for our 113 Daltile owned company showrooms 71 00:03:30,168 --> 00:03:31,461 that are scattered throughout the country, 72 00:03:31,461 --> 00:03:34,547 and they have different types of showrooms regardless, depending on the market. 73 00:03:35,465 --> 00:03:39,260 And then you know what what I would say, what Mohawk Industries has allowed us 74 00:03:39,260 --> 00:03:43,932 is the opportunity to develop and create, proprietary technology 75 00:03:43,932 --> 00:03:47,018 that seeds our three core businesses, which would be commercial, 76 00:03:47,644 --> 00:03:50,688 new residential, and then our dealer business, which is the largest market 77 00:03:51,231 --> 00:03:53,942 that we compete in from a market point of view. 78 00:03:53,942 --> 00:03:57,070 So, Daltile has has really great, rich history. 79 00:03:57,070 --> 00:03:58,488 I love the 78 years. 80 00:03:58,488 --> 00:04:01,616 You know, I, you know, the theme of this is going to come up again. 81 00:04:01,616 --> 00:04:05,495 But here we have 11 manufacturing plants in North America 82 00:04:05,870 --> 00:04:08,539 between us and Canada and Mexico. 83 00:04:08,539 --> 00:04:09,999 And you know what? 84 00:04:09,999 --> 00:04:12,335 Right now they're tariff free. So that's a pretty good story to tell. 85 00:04:13,419 --> 00:04:14,671 And get that and that. 86 00:04:14,671 --> 00:04:17,674 Yes. And that is kind of where we're going to go with this conversation. 87 00:04:18,007 --> 00:04:20,885 Is just learning more about your made in the USA products. 88 00:04:20,885 --> 00:04:25,848 And I guess why you guys continue to focus on those, products 89 00:04:25,848 --> 00:04:27,016 that are made in the USA. 90 00:04:27,016 --> 00:04:31,271 First, I wanted to ask about the Dallas, Texas and the style of it all. 91 00:04:31,562 --> 00:04:35,108 Because I did not know this when I found out like a few months ago 92 00:04:35,108 --> 00:04:36,192 when you were visiting. 93 00:04:36,192 --> 00:04:42,365 But Daltiles name actually started because it was originated in Dallas, Texas. 94 00:04:42,448 --> 00:04:42,782 Correct. 95 00:04:42,782 --> 00:04:45,618 So it was you have the Dal and then tile. 96 00:04:45,618 --> 00:04:47,287 I it was a fun fact. 97 00:04:47,287 --> 00:04:49,747 It was Dallas Tile Company started here in Dallas. 98 00:04:49,747 --> 00:04:51,582 And then interestingly enough, 99 00:04:51,582 --> 00:04:54,252 and if you go back and you talk to some of the really the veterans of Dallas 100 00:04:54,252 --> 00:04:56,838 and that's one of our strength, we it's it's amazing. 101 00:04:56,838 --> 00:05:00,967 Every quarter will have people at the 40 and 45 year anniversaries. 102 00:05:01,718 --> 00:05:04,262 But our first sales service center was not Dallas. 103 00:05:04,262 --> 00:05:06,347 It was actually in Tampa. For what. 104 00:05:06,347 --> 00:05:07,598 Oh who knows? 105 00:05:07,598 --> 00:05:07,849 I don't 106 00:05:07,849 --> 00:05:11,769 you know, I'm sure there was a customer there that needed a facility, but yeah. 107 00:05:11,811 --> 00:05:13,563 No, we've, it's Dallas tile. 108 00:05:13,563 --> 00:05:16,649 You'd be surprised at how many people, even when they come to visit our corporate 109 00:05:16,649 --> 00:05:19,652 office, they're like, oh, Daltile Dallas like you. 110 00:05:19,652 --> 00:05:21,904 It's so obvious. It's not obvious. 111 00:05:21,904 --> 00:05:23,990 It's. Yeah. I mean, I did not even realize. 112 00:05:23,990 --> 00:05:24,699 And then when 113 00:05:24,699 --> 00:05:28,119 when you spilled that lower on us, I was like, oh, I'm kind of a dummy. 114 00:05:28,119 --> 00:05:29,871 How did I not realize that? 115 00:05:29,871 --> 00:05:32,290 I mean, listen, you are you are not alone. 116 00:05:32,290 --> 00:05:35,793 Everybody has that too. So for sure. 117 00:05:36,002 --> 00:05:39,213 So you talked about some of the locations in North America. 118 00:05:39,213 --> 00:05:42,884 What benefits does all tile have 119 00:05:42,884 --> 00:05:45,887 with having all those manufacturing plants in North America? 120 00:05:45,928 --> 00:05:49,015 Maybe aside, of course, when I think of being made 121 00:05:49,015 --> 00:05:52,018 in the USA, I think of two reasons why people love that 122 00:05:52,060 --> 00:05:55,938 one, the tariffs like you just mentioned, that is definitely at the forefront, 123 00:05:55,938 --> 00:06:00,860 especially right now in 2025, big ongoing issue for trade pros and businesses. 124 00:06:01,152 --> 00:06:04,155 And then also you have another section of people 125 00:06:04,155 --> 00:06:08,785 that really just value businesses products being made in the USA. 126 00:06:08,785 --> 00:06:10,495 That's just a core belief that they have. 127 00:06:10,495 --> 00:06:14,082 Are there any other reasons that we might not know about that? 128 00:06:14,082 --> 00:06:18,461 Make it important for adult to have those manufacturing plants in the US? 129 00:06:18,544 --> 00:06:21,964 Well, you know, I think if you, if you look, you know, tiles, it's fairly 130 00:06:21,964 --> 00:06:26,260 simple product to make very complex in how we actually fire it in our kilns. 131 00:06:26,260 --> 00:06:30,932 But, I mean, it's really a clay and a pressure and heat, right? 132 00:06:30,932 --> 00:06:34,143 Those three things, you know, the clay in the United States is very good. 133 00:06:34,310 --> 00:06:36,896 So we get, for example, you'll see a lot of facilities. 134 00:06:36,896 --> 00:06:38,940 We have several facilities in Tennessee. 135 00:06:38,940 --> 00:06:42,568 Tennessee had a very good, soil and clay for us to manufacture that. 136 00:06:43,111 --> 00:06:46,322 But I would say our foundation started here. 137 00:06:46,322 --> 00:06:49,325 I would say that and in Mohawk's direction, 138 00:06:50,034 --> 00:06:53,621 it would be if we can make it in the US, our option would always be 139 00:06:53,621 --> 00:06:54,455 to make in the US. 140 00:06:54,455 --> 00:06:58,584 And obviously Mohawk Industries has quite a large number of facilities located 141 00:06:58,584 --> 00:07:02,255 in North America and as, as do we and we would continue to go down that path. 142 00:07:02,255 --> 00:07:06,926 It's not you know, over the years, it's not been the easiest avenue at times. 143 00:07:06,926 --> 00:07:11,180 You know, you had the, you know, heavy, heavy, heavy influx of Chinese products. 144 00:07:11,180 --> 00:07:15,184 And we by the way, we're not like, I'll tell a story about being terrifying. 145 00:07:15,184 --> 00:07:15,893 Those 11 plants, 146 00:07:15,893 --> 00:07:20,022 but we have products that we do import and we have impacts from around the around 147 00:07:20,022 --> 00:07:20,481 the world. 148 00:07:20,481 --> 00:07:25,278 But we believe that if we can make it domestically, that's where we will of first. 149 00:07:26,279 --> 00:07:26,904 Absolutely. 150 00:07:26,904 --> 00:07:32,493 Do you think and with 2025 in these tariffs, has that influenced the strategy. 151 00:07:32,577 --> 00:07:35,955 Looking forward into the next couple of years for Daltile to 152 00:07:36,539 --> 00:07:39,292 maybe focus more on building out in the US, 153 00:07:39,292 --> 00:07:42,378 or has it just kind of stayed maybe the same consistent. 154 00:07:42,628 --> 00:07:46,257 Well, I think our, you know, our strategy has been fairly consistent 155 00:07:46,257 --> 00:07:50,219 as far as core strategy overall is, you know, providing products at a 156 00:07:50,219 --> 00:07:51,220 at the right price, right 157 00:07:51,220 --> 00:07:54,223 time, right value, right texture, right technology when they need it. 158 00:07:54,682 --> 00:07:56,184 So I don't think that's ever changed. 159 00:07:56,184 --> 00:07:59,187 But yeah, sure, I think if you look at the landscape is 160 00:07:59,228 --> 00:08:02,231 is changing, are there products that we import and 161 00:08:02,273 --> 00:08:03,024 and some of the products 162 00:08:03,024 --> 00:08:06,319 that we import are just products that are more likely to be imported. 163 00:08:06,402 --> 00:08:09,363 You know, they're the mosaic that probably come from overseas. 164 00:08:09,363 --> 00:08:10,656 Can we do those domestically? 165 00:08:10,656 --> 00:08:12,283 Yeah, we're going to look at all of that. 166 00:08:12,283 --> 00:08:13,034 Yeah. 167 00:08:13,034 --> 00:08:16,204 Better to really so still the, the, 168 00:08:16,329 --> 00:08:19,874 the the tile workforce making products domestically. 169 00:08:20,625 --> 00:08:22,543 But we're not opposed to international plants. 170 00:08:22,543 --> 00:08:25,546 We have a global ceramic division is a large 171 00:08:25,546 --> 00:08:28,549 large division of Mohawk Industries, I believe the largest 172 00:08:28,674 --> 00:08:32,887 you know, we have plants all over Italy, Europe, Russia. 173 00:08:33,012 --> 00:08:36,432 You know, there's there's a large number of facilities that we can tap into. 174 00:08:36,474 --> 00:08:37,016 Yeah. 175 00:08:37,016 --> 00:08:41,437 So this made in the USA campaign, very cool campaign idea. 176 00:08:41,479 --> 00:08:43,356 When you brought it up a few months ago, 177 00:08:43,356 --> 00:08:45,650 I thought it was perfect, especially for in the summer. 178 00:08:45,650 --> 00:08:47,735 It's definitely a perfect summer campaign. 179 00:08:47,735 --> 00:08:50,738 Can you share a bit more about this campaign and how anyone that's 180 00:08:50,738 --> 00:08:51,197 listening to 181 00:08:51,197 --> 00:08:55,284 this podcast can get involved with it or learn more about, just start titles. 182 00:08:55,284 --> 00:08:56,953 Us make products, love to. 183 00:08:56,953 --> 00:08:59,956 You know, if you look at again, kind of tapping back into our history, 184 00:08:59,956 --> 00:09:02,416 I mean, that strategy hasn't changed. None of this is new. 185 00:09:02,416 --> 00:09:05,419 This is just telling the story that we've had for 78 years. 186 00:09:05,461 --> 00:09:09,382 Know we have nine manufacturing facilities in the US, 187 00:09:10,258 --> 00:09:14,637 most of that southeast kind of, rim we have two in Mexico. 188 00:09:15,429 --> 00:09:16,639 They manufacture, 189 00:09:16,639 --> 00:09:20,726 you know, up to 500,000,000ft², which is I think can get your head around. 190 00:09:20,726 --> 00:09:22,270 That's a huge number. 191 00:09:22,270 --> 00:09:26,732 And what's exciting about that is when, when, when the tariffs and tariffs 192 00:09:26,732 --> 00:09:30,194 very look at uncertainty in the world right now because of the tariffs. 193 00:09:30,194 --> 00:09:32,446 What does that mean. What do I need to do. 194 00:09:32,446 --> 00:09:33,698 And we're not exempt from it at all. 195 00:09:33,698 --> 00:09:35,700 And even though our plants are manufactured 196 00:09:35,700 --> 00:09:38,077 our products are manufactured domestically. 197 00:09:38,077 --> 00:09:42,915 86% of what we sell to ProSource, for example, is domestically produced. 198 00:09:43,749 --> 00:09:47,378 We still have impact from, you know, for example, our equipment 199 00:09:47,378 --> 00:09:50,548 for these for the facilities, a lot of it comes from Europe. 200 00:09:50,548 --> 00:09:53,009 So that might impact some of the glazes may be impacted. 201 00:09:53,009 --> 00:09:53,426 We don't know. 202 00:09:53,426 --> 00:09:56,637 But the core products leaving are not going to have any tariffs on that. 203 00:09:57,096 --> 00:10:00,099 And what's exciting is we started looking at it and said, okay, 204 00:10:00,308 --> 00:10:02,893 let's really tell this story because we look everybody's low. 205 00:10:02,893 --> 00:10:07,481 I love Made Americas, but I think up until who's going to speak for the public? 206 00:10:07,732 --> 00:10:08,566 I could be wrong. 207 00:10:08,566 --> 00:10:11,527 Some people probably challenged me on it, but I believe that 208 00:10:11,527 --> 00:10:15,239 a project someone is building a project or envisioning a project. 209 00:10:16,532 --> 00:10:17,325 In the end, they're going to 210 00:10:17,325 --> 00:10:20,328 pick the product and test for that, whether it's made in the US or not. 211 00:10:20,620 --> 00:10:24,999 But I think now I think the the lever is kind of leaning more toward helping 212 00:10:25,416 --> 00:10:29,712 provide those, those products to them that are needed, that are made in the USA. 213 00:10:30,129 --> 00:10:31,964 We went through all of our products. 214 00:10:31,964 --> 00:10:36,802 Now that made the USA take out the tube from from Mexico to Sicily and Mexico. 215 00:10:37,261 --> 00:10:40,264 We have 72 styles, 216 00:10:41,015 --> 00:10:43,476 which is we probably should have this number. 217 00:10:43,476 --> 00:10:47,772 It's it's thousands of SKUs, like, I mean, because when you start adding 218 00:10:47,772 --> 00:10:51,567 in all the different sizes of shapes, the colors, the mosaic, the gold, 219 00:10:51,609 --> 00:10:55,696 everything, I mean, it's a lot, almost too much to focus on, which is crazy. 220 00:10:55,696 --> 00:10:57,823 So we have a we have a story. It's even hard to tell. 221 00:10:57,823 --> 00:11:01,494 It's a 72 styles on our website downtown.com. 222 00:11:02,328 --> 00:11:04,538 Go up into the search bar, just type in made in USA. 223 00:11:04,538 --> 00:11:08,292 It'll pop up a whole kind of microsite that talks about our story, 224 00:11:08,292 --> 00:11:14,006 but also has a, a live PDF of all 72 styles that are available today 225 00:11:14,173 --> 00:11:15,716 that are made in USA. 226 00:11:15,716 --> 00:11:16,801 The best story out there? 227 00:11:16,801 --> 00:11:17,760 I can to test. 228 00:11:17,760 --> 00:11:19,053 I did look at that too. 229 00:11:19,053 --> 00:11:21,806 It was very well put together. 230 00:11:21,806 --> 00:11:25,643 I know on the pro source side, we're going to be pushing out some of those, 231 00:11:25,643 --> 00:11:29,271 product spotlights that are made in the USA on our social media. 232 00:11:29,730 --> 00:11:33,734 But just out of curiosity, is there any specific product styles 233 00:11:33,734 --> 00:11:37,321 off the top of your head that you favor, like any favorites that you have? 234 00:11:38,114 --> 00:11:41,283 You know, I love our new products and you know, 235 00:11:42,159 --> 00:11:45,287 some of the stuff that the Dow pile does and I'm super proud of 236 00:11:45,413 --> 00:11:48,541 have three my three favorite things to talk about. 237 00:11:48,708 --> 00:11:51,377 We have three different technologies that are proprietary. 238 00:11:51,377 --> 00:11:53,462 Only the Daltile and I'll talk about. 239 00:11:53,462 --> 00:11:55,381 And the third one I'll talk about a specific product. 240 00:11:55,381 --> 00:11:59,176 I wish I got my show picture, but you have, defend with Microban. 241 00:11:59,468 --> 00:12:04,557 You know, Microban eliminates 99% of the mold, mildew and bacterial growth. 242 00:12:04,974 --> 00:12:06,225 Next is stepwise. 243 00:12:06,225 --> 00:12:09,729 Stepwise is the best product that everybody does some more of, 244 00:12:09,729 --> 00:12:12,606 including Delphi. We talk about it all the time. You can't see it. 245 00:12:12,606 --> 00:12:14,150 You can't feel it. 246 00:12:14,150 --> 00:12:15,192 You can clean it. 247 00:12:15,192 --> 00:12:17,445 You know, a lot of times it'll be a topical treatment. 248 00:12:17,445 --> 00:12:20,448 It'll add a little grit to the top is so you can feel the resistance 249 00:12:20,448 --> 00:12:21,949 if you're walking on it. 250 00:12:21,949 --> 00:12:24,785 And if you go to wipe a paper towel over, it's going to tear the paper towel. 251 00:12:24,785 --> 00:12:26,203 It doesn't happen for tile. 252 00:12:26,203 --> 00:12:30,833 It's 50% more slip resistant to 19 on the market, which is the best? 253 00:12:31,041 --> 00:12:34,837 our newest one is called 3D reveal Sink 254 00:12:34,920 --> 00:12:37,757 you know, a lot of the laminate has done it for a long time. 255 00:12:37,757 --> 00:12:39,967 LBF started doing it not long ago. 256 00:12:39,967 --> 00:12:41,135 It's where you know, you'll 257 00:12:41,135 --> 00:12:44,930 you'll you'll press the graining of, let's say the in this case. 258 00:12:44,930 --> 00:12:49,018 So we talk about wood, you know, your your mineral streaks and your cathedrals. 259 00:12:49,351 --> 00:12:52,605 The graining that we press into the tile will follow that. 260 00:12:53,063 --> 00:12:56,859 And we have a brand new product called Hayden Stone it's amazing. 261 00:12:57,151 --> 00:12:59,695 And it's a it looks so realistic. 262 00:12:59,695 --> 00:13:01,655 It looks like a natural stone. 263 00:13:01,655 --> 00:13:04,408 And then we've progressed in graining. 264 00:13:04,408 --> 00:13:08,078 It follows the natural course of a of a of a piece of stone. 265 00:13:08,078 --> 00:13:09,371 It just came out of the quarry. 266 00:13:09,371 --> 00:13:10,331 And here's the best part. 267 00:13:10,331 --> 00:13:13,542 It's proprietary to Daltile, I love it, I love telling it. 268 00:13:13,667 --> 00:13:15,211 So Hayden Stone's a good week. 269 00:13:15,211 --> 00:13:18,214 Our products are really, top shelf. 270 00:13:18,214 --> 00:13:21,091 We've got amazing product ability and that's awesome. 271 00:13:21,091 --> 00:13:23,844 And that seemed really easy for you to come up with those favorites, 272 00:13:24,845 --> 00:13:25,721 although 273 00:13:25,721 --> 00:13:28,349 you knew exactly what was at the top of your mind. 274 00:13:28,349 --> 00:13:29,642 We live and die by products. 275 00:13:29,642 --> 00:13:32,853 I mean, if you think about everything that we do, it's all about making 276 00:13:32,853 --> 00:13:36,106 sure that that who that consumer and that selector. 277 00:13:36,106 --> 00:13:39,276 I've started using the word selector versus consumer, that selector over 278 00:13:39,318 --> 00:13:40,903 choosing our products. 279 00:13:40,903 --> 00:13:44,782 We want to make sure that they they have technology, color, design, shape 280 00:13:45,366 --> 00:13:48,661 that makes them happy, the way in their mind that they developed it. 281 00:13:49,286 --> 00:13:52,289 So they come back and tell people that they purchased our tile. 282 00:13:52,873 --> 00:13:53,916 Absolutely. 283 00:13:53,916 --> 00:13:57,670 Speaking of products, I know that all tile products are noted 284 00:13:57,670 --> 00:14:01,549 for being free of, fox PVCs and allergens. 285 00:14:02,132 --> 00:14:06,220 Does having US based products play into the sustainability at all? 286 00:14:07,471 --> 00:14:09,181 Interesting? That's a good question. 287 00:14:09,181 --> 00:14:12,518 I would say here's here's the way I would answer 288 00:14:12,768 --> 00:14:16,188 Not any different than where you make it anywhere else in the world. But 289 00:14:17,189 --> 00:14:19,316 when you make it domestically, 290 00:14:19,316 --> 00:14:24,238 you're not spending, you're not emitting all of the, exhaust and things like that. 291 00:14:24,238 --> 00:14:26,323 If you put it on a ship, you put it on a truck 292 00:14:26,323 --> 00:14:29,243 to get to the ship shipped to the US, all the ports, all of that. 293 00:14:29,243 --> 00:14:29,910 You're literally going 294 00:14:29,910 --> 00:14:34,123 from our plant to a consumer's home or a showroom or wherever. 295 00:14:34,123 --> 00:14:37,501 So you cut down your carbon footprint merely on the logistics. 296 00:14:38,210 --> 00:14:42,756 just out of curiosity, has there ever been a time in Daltile's long history 297 00:14:43,257 --> 00:14:47,052 that Daltile has ever felt pressure to offshore production out of the states? 298 00:14:47,845 --> 00:14:48,929 Oh for sure. 299 00:14:48,929 --> 00:14:49,305 Yeah. 300 00:14:49,305 --> 00:14:53,475 Oh, you I mean, you go back and you look at just, 301 00:14:53,726 --> 00:14:57,271 you know, any U.S manufacturer felt it when, you know, when you were, you know, 302 00:14:57,271 --> 00:14:58,564 we were making a product 303 00:14:58,564 --> 00:15:03,402 that we were trying to sell for $2.50 and then India or China 304 00:15:03,611 --> 00:15:07,156 specifically just are bringing products in and they're selling for half that. 305 00:15:08,365 --> 00:15:10,701 How do we how do you how do you compete on that. 306 00:15:10,701 --> 00:15:12,620 You know, so definitely pressure on that. 307 00:15:12,620 --> 00:15:15,956 We look at it today as let's let's use 308 00:15:15,956 --> 00:15:19,793 the global manufacturing global opportunity to source 309 00:15:19,793 --> 00:15:23,088 certain products depending on like take that, take our countertop business. 310 00:15:23,088 --> 00:15:25,090 We have an amazing countertop business. We have. 311 00:15:25,090 --> 00:15:30,679 Yeah we we make the largest one, quartz, slab in the industry. 312 00:15:31,555 --> 00:15:34,433 We're just we're adding our second line file in Dixon, Tennessee. 313 00:15:34,433 --> 00:15:36,560 We talked about that Tennessee clay. 314 00:15:36,560 --> 00:15:38,479 That's all in Dixon, Tennessee. 315 00:15:38,479 --> 00:15:42,316 And, you know, our story continues on where we make the product. 316 00:15:42,316 --> 00:15:46,195 So it's really a good, a good story to tell for now. 317 00:15:46,403 --> 00:15:49,490 And what kind of feedback have you heard from, 318 00:15:49,490 --> 00:15:52,618 contractors, designers or selectors, as you call them? 319 00:15:53,160 --> 00:15:58,332 About working with a brand, that manufacturers in the US, have you seen that be 320 00:15:59,291 --> 00:16:00,876 a big like topic in their 321 00:16:00,876 --> 00:16:04,171 brain that their they're actively looking for a brand that works in the US. 322 00:16:04,171 --> 00:16:06,799 Have you, have you heard that kind of feedback from people? 323 00:16:06,799 --> 00:16:09,218 Yeah, I think it's in a little couple of different areas. 324 00:16:09,218 --> 00:16:10,719 If you look at our showrooms, 325 00:16:10,719 --> 00:16:13,305 you know, somebody comes into our showroom and you know, we don't 326 00:16:13,305 --> 00:16:16,100 we don't sell to the public, but we will we will select for them. 327 00:16:16,100 --> 00:16:18,268 They'll push them out into the in the field. 328 00:16:18,268 --> 00:16:18,936 They're coming in. 329 00:16:18,936 --> 00:16:22,648 I don't even know if they're looking for us made products as much as 330 00:16:23,232 --> 00:16:24,525 they're like, what do we do? 331 00:16:24,525 --> 00:16:26,610 What is this? What is the what are the tariffs mean? 332 00:16:26,610 --> 00:16:30,155 I mean, I have friends that didn't realize that we paid the tariffs. 333 00:16:30,155 --> 00:16:31,907 They didn't understand even how it works. 334 00:16:31,907 --> 00:16:34,159 So I think there's that pressure. 335 00:16:34,159 --> 00:16:35,995 I think on the dealer side 336 00:16:35,995 --> 00:16:38,956 when they're sourcing, when they're selecting vendors for sure 337 00:16:38,956 --> 00:16:41,834 they're looking for made the USA. You know Daltile is a safe haven. 338 00:16:42,876 --> 00:16:44,503 You know, I was up in Oklahoma recently 339 00:16:44,503 --> 00:16:47,715 with, you know, some of their own, several pro sources. 340 00:16:47,715 --> 00:16:51,135 And he was talking about like, I think you guys are an amazing safe haven. 341 00:16:51,552 --> 00:16:52,970 And we want to export, 342 00:16:52,970 --> 00:16:55,973 you know, we want to we want to figure out how to grow that even more. So. 343 00:16:56,140 --> 00:16:58,684 So there's opportunities everywhere. 344 00:16:58,684 --> 00:17:02,062 Yeah, I think for sure it comes down to money for a lot of people. 345 00:17:02,062 --> 00:17:02,396 Right. 346 00:17:02,396 --> 00:17:05,566 Like of course they want quality and quantity. 347 00:17:05,566 --> 00:17:08,861 But especially like you mentioned with the tariffs people are confused. 348 00:17:08,861 --> 00:17:09,611 And then also they don't 349 00:17:09,611 --> 00:17:13,907 want to be spending too much money on bottles and products for sure. 350 00:17:14,366 --> 00:17:18,454 looking at the made in the USA campaign, what is next for that campaign 351 00:17:18,454 --> 00:17:21,540 and are there any exciting plans, for this next month, 352 00:17:21,540 --> 00:17:24,251 or do you know if you plan to make this a yearly campaign? 353 00:17:25,377 --> 00:17:27,296 You know, we you know, I don't know about yearly. 354 00:17:27,296 --> 00:17:30,299 That's a great question. I think we should I think I I'm a big fan of it. 355 00:17:30,299 --> 00:17:32,760 I think, you know, I will tell you one of the things we're doing in 356 00:17:32,760 --> 00:17:37,431 our showrooms is all of our show 113 showrooms that can participate. 357 00:17:37,431 --> 00:17:41,518 We want to we're going to have a made we're going to have a a month long 358 00:17:42,686 --> 00:17:43,437 open house. 359 00:17:43,437 --> 00:17:45,564 theme is going to be, you know, take me out to the ballpark. 360 00:17:45,564 --> 00:17:47,232 Week one, hot Diggity dog. 361 00:17:47,232 --> 00:17:50,486 Week two Papa chinos. Week three. 362 00:17:50,861 --> 00:17:52,488 So I can't remember. I'm sorry, I don't remember. 363 00:17:52,488 --> 00:17:55,491 A week four is, use cream ice cream for Daltile. 364 00:17:55,699 --> 00:17:57,034 Let's love it. 365 00:17:57,034 --> 00:18:02,247 Yes. So the idea is, is just come in and we'll highlight the made in USA products. 366 00:18:02,706 --> 00:18:05,042 We'll talk about how we design. 367 00:18:05,042 --> 00:18:06,668 We'll do flat lays and all that. 368 00:18:06,668 --> 00:18:09,922 So the idea is just, you know, tell that story. 369 00:18:10,255 --> 00:18:13,717 But I guess the real question is I mean, or the real answer is, you know, we're not 370 00:18:13,926 --> 00:18:15,969 we're not highlighting our made in USA. 371 00:18:15,969 --> 00:18:18,138 We're just emphasizing more of what we're doing. 372 00:18:18,138 --> 00:18:20,224 That's what the campaign is a to light. Yeah. 373 00:18:20,224 --> 00:18:21,600 We should be telling the story all day long. 374 00:18:21,600 --> 00:18:23,018 I talk to our sales team every day. 375 00:18:23,018 --> 00:18:25,979 Like, listen, this is the best story. 376 00:18:25,979 --> 00:18:27,731 You know, everybody's talking about where they can't get it. 377 00:18:27,731 --> 00:18:29,733 We're here 72 style. Yeah. 378 00:18:29,733 --> 00:18:30,859 You can't go wrong. 379 00:18:30,859 --> 00:18:32,986 And we're going to we're going to continue to tell that story. 380 00:18:32,986 --> 00:18:37,032 You can do it to expand and continue to develop downtown's future. 381 00:18:37,950 --> 00:18:40,786 Yeah I think it's a great idea about this campaign 382 00:18:40,786 --> 00:18:44,414 because it helps promote that connection with, the selectors. 383 00:18:44,790 --> 00:18:47,793 They're not only seeing beautiful products, 384 00:18:47,793 --> 00:18:50,796 but they're actually getting to know the brand, the history 385 00:18:50,838 --> 00:18:54,091 and then and results that makes them think of style, 386 00:18:54,466 --> 00:18:58,971 maybe top of mind more so than competitors because they know you guys more. 387 00:18:58,971 --> 00:18:59,471 Right. 388 00:18:59,471 --> 00:19:02,432 There's a connection and people are always looking for human connection. 389 00:19:02,432 --> 00:19:06,728 So I think this campaign is very smart and not just, 390 00:19:06,728 --> 00:19:11,233 great at being connecting to consumers, but also, education. 391 00:19:11,275 --> 00:19:11,942 Right? 392 00:19:11,942 --> 00:19:14,778 People are always learning about not just your brand, but, 393 00:19:14,778 --> 00:19:18,574 why you do what you do and it just promotes that connection. 394 00:19:18,991 --> 00:19:21,160 So I think there's pride too. 395 00:19:21,160 --> 00:19:24,454 And and we need to I need to push it out a little bit more where, 396 00:19:24,454 --> 00:19:27,457 you know, we have a huge talent in Oklahoma. 397 00:19:27,457 --> 00:19:30,460 And it's like people and you know, it's hard to say Made in Oklahoma 398 00:19:30,460 --> 00:19:33,297 because not all the components of the town may come from Oklahoma. 399 00:19:33,297 --> 00:19:33,881 Yeah. 400 00:19:33,881 --> 00:19:35,966 People in Oklahoma as just an example. 401 00:19:35,966 --> 00:19:37,467 It's just north of me. 402 00:19:37,467 --> 00:19:41,013 They're like, oh, I don't, I don't, I don't think had stones made there. 403 00:19:41,013 --> 00:19:44,099 But as an example, I love that Tielemans made it made with our people. 404 00:19:44,099 --> 00:19:45,309 You know there's that. Yeah. 405 00:19:45,309 --> 00:19:48,228 You know we plants in Tennessee, we multiple plants in Dallas. 406 00:19:48,228 --> 00:19:53,275 It's just really tells a great story right now and a story we need to keep alive. 407 00:19:53,483 --> 00:19:54,902 That's very important. 408 00:19:54,902 --> 00:19:55,319 Yeah. 409 00:19:55,319 --> 00:19:57,279 So it gives a sense of community for people 410 00:19:57,279 --> 00:20:00,365 that are living around that plant like you talked about in Oklahoma. 411 00:20:00,782 --> 00:20:02,075 How do you see 412 00:20:02,075 --> 00:20:05,704 the value of American made products evolving over the next 5 to 10 years? 413 00:20:05,871 --> 00:20:08,832 Both for not just all tile, but the industry as a whole. 414 00:20:09,917 --> 00:20:12,878 Well, you know, I think in many cases, the it's 415 00:20:12,878 --> 00:20:16,673 not a level playing field for pricing, you know, the cost structure. 416 00:20:16,673 --> 00:20:17,549 You know, there's, 417 00:20:17,549 --> 00:20:21,303 you know, there's a period of time when, you know, China had a negative slavery, 418 00:20:21,303 --> 00:20:24,890 meaning it was they were over funding manufacturers and their partners 419 00:20:24,890 --> 00:20:28,352 to to dump literally products into the, into the US. 420 00:20:28,810 --> 00:20:32,731 I think, I think this campaign, it's it's very, very intense right now 421 00:20:32,731 --> 00:20:33,690 as far as a terrorist. 422 00:20:33,690 --> 00:20:36,693 But I think the long term endgame is 423 00:20:36,985 --> 00:20:39,571 I think I think we're going to look at opportune cities 424 00:20:39,571 --> 00:20:43,700 to expand the manufacturing base, and everything. 425 00:20:43,700 --> 00:20:46,954 I mean, look at how in the mix, I mean, everybody where we can do 426 00:20:46,954 --> 00:20:49,414 it, we should be doing it here and I that's it. 427 00:20:49,414 --> 00:20:50,749 Listen. It's fantastic. 428 00:20:50,749 --> 00:20:55,170 We're the most powerful, country in the world, and we should have. 429 00:20:55,170 --> 00:20:59,258 The manufacturing is the core of what makes that power continue on. 430 00:20:59,591 --> 00:21:00,634 And I think we just need to do that, 431 00:21:01,885 --> 00:21:03,387 I completely agree. 432 00:21:03,387 --> 00:21:06,723 Is there anything else exciting coming up for Daltile over the next year? 433 00:21:07,307 --> 00:21:08,558 Oh, we got products coming. 434 00:21:08,558 --> 00:21:12,020 We got great products, amazing technology. 435 00:21:12,354 --> 00:21:14,815 You know, our our we'll probably be talking 436 00:21:14,815 --> 00:21:18,318 to ProSource community more about our countertop program 437 00:21:18,318 --> 00:21:19,945 kind of coming up here at the back half of the year. 438 00:21:19,945 --> 00:21:21,321 We've got some really good solutions. 439 00:21:21,321 --> 00:21:24,157 They're great styles and designs. 440 00:21:24,157 --> 00:21:29,204 But you know we design products for the end user and that selector. 441 00:21:29,246 --> 00:21:29,413 Good. 442 00:21:29,413 --> 00:21:32,291 And talking about Mollie again for that commercial 443 00:21:32,291 --> 00:21:35,627 whether it's Main Street or specified that production home builder, whether it's, 444 00:21:35,627 --> 00:21:38,630 you know, the liners of the world, a large 445 00:21:38,714 --> 00:21:41,717 production home that builders, 446 00:21:42,426 --> 00:21:44,720 custom home builders and then that that consumer market. 447 00:21:44,720 --> 00:21:46,763 And we're going to continue to do that. 448 00:21:46,763 --> 00:21:50,309 We're going to continue to take market share where we can or it's smart 449 00:21:51,059 --> 00:21:54,104 for us or Mohawk industry shareholders and ultimately for our partners 450 00:21:54,104 --> 00:21:55,063 like Prosource. 451 00:21:55,063 --> 00:21:59,026 So just hit your wagon and we're going to we're going to ride this. 452 00:21:59,026 --> 00:22:01,153 We're going to ride this future together. 453 00:22:01,153 --> 00:22:03,530 And by this big thank you to everyone at Prosource, 454 00:22:03,530 --> 00:22:07,284 we are thankful for every piece of tile you provide us. 455 00:22:07,284 --> 00:22:10,287 And and we just we know the future's bright for our partnership. 456 00:22:10,996 --> 00:22:11,580 Absolutely. 457 00:22:11,580 --> 00:22:13,832 And anyone listening, if you're interested 458 00:22:13,832 --> 00:22:17,502 in learning more about Daltile, you can check out the Daltile website. 459 00:22:17,836 --> 00:22:20,839 We also have a lot of writing on the ProSource website, 460 00:22:21,173 --> 00:22:25,761 and check out your local ProSource Wholesale, for Daltile tile samples. 461 00:22:25,761 --> 00:22:29,848 Or just ask, an account manager out of showroom to learn more. 462 00:22:30,015 --> 00:22:31,308 But thank you so much. 463 00:22:31,308 --> 00:22:31,975 I'm here. 464 00:22:31,975 --> 00:22:33,560 Yeah, or Patrick Warren. 465 00:22:33,560 --> 00:22:35,312 You can stock LinkedIn like I did 466 00:22:36,271 --> 00:22:37,105 before we met. 467 00:22:37,105 --> 00:22:40,233 But thank you so much, Patrick, for coming on 468 00:22:40,233 --> 00:22:42,110 and just sharing more about this campaign. 469 00:22:42,110 --> 00:22:44,988 I'm sure this won't be the last time for all titles on the podcast. 470 00:22:44,988 --> 00:22:47,991 So as always, I look forward to talking to you. 471 00:22:48,533 --> 00:22:50,786 I appreciate it. Thanks, Molly. Thanks for your time. Thanks, everybody. 472 00:22:50,786 --> 00:22:53,747 Take care. 473 00:22:55,540 --> 00:22:58,251 Thank you for joining us today on the Progress podcast. 474 00:22:58,251 --> 00:23:01,505 Please like and subscribe to us wherever you get your podcast. 475 00:23:01,922 --> 00:23:04,174 Also, follow us on social media. 476 00:23:04,174 --> 00:23:07,803 Check out our website at prosource wholesale.com And visit 477 00:23:07,803 --> 00:23:11,848 your local ProSource Wholesale showroom for all of your home remodeling needs.