After 17 years on Hagley Park Road, which has basically been converted into an automotive strip, Creative Building Finishes Limited is relocating to 5 Red Hills Road.

The move comes on the heels of preparation by the Government to widen Hagley Park Road as part of Corporate Area corridor improvements under the Major Infrastructure Development Programme.

“We realised earlier this year that in widening Hagley Park Road they will be taking off a good chunk of our space. It would take off exactly one row of parking area and parking is already a challenge for us,” Creative Building Finishes director Donna Parnell told the Jamaica Observer yesterday.

Additionally, the retailer of ceramic, porcelain, natural stone floor and wall tiles was experiencing difficulty in showcasing merchandise as its customer base grew and the tile collections expanded.

Consequently, Parnell took the decision to find another location for the company.

“We have outgrown the space. Our tiles are overlapped and customers can’t see everything, only about 1/3 of each tile was really being displayed at the Hagley Park location. So it’s a good opportunity for us to take advantage of this expansion and this location on Red Hills Road came up,” she said.

Creative Building Finishes will be unveiling its new location next Tuesday. The new facility, which sits across from Market Place and next door to Sugar and Spice, spans 6,000 square feet of showroom space, more than double the 2,500 square feet at its previous location.

Customer parking space will also double to 46, compared to the Hagley Park Road location.

“We are excited about moving; it suits us perfectly,” Parnell said. “The location, the size of the building, the parking, so it was a win-win situation overall. Now we can have full visibility of all the tiles. To me, that’s very important.”

Creative Building Finishes joins a number of tile retailers in the area, its closest competitors being Tools Hardware, Active Home Centre, and Home and Things. Parnell is however adamant that she is not worried about the competition, and will continue to service Jamaicans with what the company is passionate about.

“We are not expanding our product line. We are a tiles store, that’s what we specialise in and we don’t want to be jack of all trades and master of none. Our staff is very knowledgeable about the products and we ensure that we provide quality tiles to sell to our customers,” she said.

“Now that we are in the mix of all the other tile stores, we can benefit from that, as well. A customer may go to one of our competitors and not see what they want and come by and purchase something from us instead. It works vice versa too, but this location puts us more into the tile industry, and for that we are happy,” Parnell told Caribbean Business Report.

While she was tight-lipped on the cost of the investment, Parnell said that with a total of 38 employees, additional employment will be dependent upon increased operational activities at the new location.

Since 2000, Creative Building Finishes has been touted as one of the leading suppliers of tiles in Jamaica. The company has upheld the reputation of being an importer and retailer of ceramic, porcelain, mosaic, quarry and natural stone tiles, tile trims, and installation materials, among other accessories.