Tool Box
Issue No. 10 - April/May 2003
Tile Capitol
Italia Ceramics
A highly visible landmark of Glynburn Road, Italia Ceramics was founded by Pasquale Vozzo in the early 1970s. A carpenter by trade, Pasquale had built a substantial building business and, while building a new home for himself, decided it needed some special touches. Visiting Europe, he sourced Italian tiles unavailable in Australia and brought a few extra pallets back with him. Word spread quickly among the cognoscenti and the Vozzo family home became an impromptu showroom. Pasquale imported more tiles to meet demand, and the rest is proverbial.
In 1973 Italia Ceramics opened in Provident Avenue, Glynde, with its showroom of rare tile designs unique in Adelaide, and beyond. By 1983 the business had grown and Pasquale, by now primarily a retailer, moved shop to the present site on Glynburn Road. A major refurbishment took place in 1996, including a redesign of the company imagery. Currently, Italia Ceramics employs 20 people, including four members of the Vozzo family.
"It has been nearly 30 years of steady growth," says the present day marketing director, Pasquale's son, Rob Vozzo who has been in the company for 12 years and is responsible for its day-to-day operations.
The main theme has always been to offer a broad range of the most contemporary tiles, primarily to the first and second homebuyer market, renovation market, and commercial fit outs, at keen prices. And as Rob says, "In this industry it doesn't matter how good your range or service is, you still have to be competitive on price."
But Italia Ceramics is a very diversified retailer. There is a manufacturing division that fabricates granite and marble benchtops, vanity tops and decorator tiles for borders and flooring. A specialist trade sales division deals with developers, architects, interior designers and tilers.
Cooperation with the building industry is intimate and surprisingly widespread. Italia Ceramics works directly with leading South Australian home building com...
