Discovering New Products at Coverings
Posted by TOA's Blog Team on May 8th 2025
Coverings represents a global tile and stone industry event where you are sure to discover truly wonderful products. The yearly show rotates between Orlando, Florida, Atlanta, Georgia, and Las Vegas, Nevada and brings together exhibitors from around the world. It's a wonderful opportunity to experience the industry which is why Tile Outlets of America regularly exposes the managers and sales teams from the three Tile Outlets of America stores to the show.
This article captures the reactions of the Tampa store's Trade Pro Manager, Hanssel Cardentey, to his first Coverings experience.
Hanssel Cardentey Reacts to New Products at Coverings
Expectations
Coverings was beyond what I expected….
I am Tampa’s Trade Pro, and this was my first time attending Coverings. I sort of had an idea of how it would be since some of my colleagues had attended the event in past years. However, when the day arrived, I was honestly overwhelmed!
Just the size of the venue was extraordinary. Once in, you couldn’t walk three feet without meeting a new company or distributor. You see displays of all sizes and kinds of products in every single booth or showroom you walk by - one more stunning than the other.
As it was my first time attending, I had high expectations of learning and seeing new products that perhaps weren’t even in the open market at the moment.
Honestly, all of my expectations were immediately met once I began going into showrooms and booths.
Learning About Products
Each distributor would come up to you and go in deep detail on their products and answer any sort of questions you may have had for them.
Most Interesting Products at Coverings
If had to pick a product that interested me the most, I would say the hydraulic suction machines that a contractor would use to place large tile panels on areas where it would be unsafe as well as impossible to lift and vertically hold such panels, for example on the exterior walls of commercial buildings.
Biggest Coverings Surprise
What surprised me the most at Coverings was how pristine and well built the showrooms were. These showrooms consist of huge areas with unlimited products of all kinds and sizes displayed.
I noticed that for most showrooms the main focus was to display their large gauged porcelain tile panels since those products are trending high in the market. (You see examples of two in the images above.)
With so many selections available in one exhibit, you were able to see panels that were either solid gray or off-white and other with bright colors, including mixes of green, blue, and gold or even scarlet with purple.
Tile Products That Caught My Eye
In addition to the large panels, several of the decorative mosaics and hexagons caught my eye as you see in the images below.
That said, the range of products - from textured surfaces to the polished ones - was a little overwhelming.
Comparing Different Country Displays
Coverings organizes exhibitors into country pavilions.
When it came to comparing various countries on how they were producing or displaying their products, I noticed that the Spaniards showcased cutting edge manufacturing techniques and finishes for a broad selection of high-quality tile products.
The American displays highlighted more traditional and less stylish products in my opinion.
Porcelain Marble Styles Shine
Definitely the marble style porcelain seemed to be the number one pick for each country or distributor. That was the most popular style being displayed all the way from the Asia sections to the Italian and Spanish sections on the other side of the Coverings venue.
The Value of Attending Coverings & Discovering New Products
Being able to attend Coverings gave me insight into what it takes to select tile products so that Tile Outlets of America can keep up with the latest trends. It also means that we can provide our customers with the latest product and material inventions and styles.
By becoming aware of that, I can better explain to our customers and especially our Trade Pro customers why we bring in the products we do. It also means that I can better answer any questions they may have regarding the quality or life expectancy of such trends.
Thanks for reading!