Today we’d like to introduce you to Harold Yarborough and Rudy Llerena.
From humble beginnings in post-war Miami, the Yarborough family has built an international tile business focused on serving the community with quality tile. When Dave Yarborough bought a World War II surplus truck to begin a tile setting business, little did he realize that in the early part of the new millennium, he would be at the helm of a company considered to be one of the largest tile distributors in the United States.
For those who don’t know, D&B Tile Distributors was named after Dave and his wife, Betty. Throughout more than 50 years in business, the family has worked together to build a business that serves homeowners, contractors, architects, and designers alike.
Dave’s son, Harold, currently serves as CEO, running the operations. While Cindy Yarborough, Dave’s daughter, managed the Palmetto Bay operation until her recent retirement.
Today, D&B Tile Distributors deals with more than 40 manufacturers and imports more than 30% of its product from Italy, Spain, South America, and the Far East. Within the recent years, there have been many factories built in the U.S. that make it more efficient to have many more American-made products available for our clients. Each year the Yarboroughs travel and meet with factory representatives in around the globe to inspect and order new lines for the Florida and Caribbean markets.
D&B’s objective is to provide everything needed for a beautiful tile installation and plenty of it. “We maintain an inventory worth more than $5 million in our Sunrise operation, which also serves as our headquarters,” said CEO, Harold Yarborough.
There are nine tile showroom locations throughout the region including Palm Beach, Hollywood, Pompano Beach, Delray Beach, Palmetto Bay, Miami, Port St. Lucie, and Hialeah, as well as the headquarters location in Sawgrass.
Roots in Construction & Working with Contractors
The family has also been active in all areas of the construction industry. Both father and son have served as President of the Florida East Coast Chapter of the Associated Builders & Contractors, a national construction trade association comprised of more than 80 chapters and more than 25,000 member companies.
In addition, David and Harold were inducted into the Hall of Fame in the Ceramic Tile Distributors Association (CTDA). They served on its board of directors while daughter Cindy has been an active board member and past president. Rudy Llerena, COO now serves on the CTDA Board of Directors. The National Tile Contractors Association (NTCA) also recognized the Yarborough family with their Lifetime Achievement Award for their service to the industry.
From the earliest days, D&B Tile Distributors stressed the importance of quality installation and, to this day, conduct a number of seminars and workshops throughout the year to instruct tile contractors and their installers on new material, equipment, and techniques. Today, D&B Tile Distributors is actively encouraging tile contractors to become certified through the Ceramic Tile Education Foundation (CTEF). Testing is held throughout the year at various locations, and the certification of installers will greatly enhance the image and stature of the industry.
Supporting The Architectural & Design Communities
They consistently adapt to industry changes and the way projects are managed. Their architectural/design team is comprised of professionals who work closely with the design community to develop new and different ways to use tile in construction and interior design.
D&B Tile believes in making investments in educating and coaching their staff with technical knowledge, customer service and modified business planning to compete and provide a wide range of products, services, and industry training.
They are also proud to be the exclusive distributor for Crossville Tile in South Florida.
This line of high-end porcelain tiles is preferred by architects, designers, decorators, and specifiers. Along with Crossville, D&B Tile Distributors carries premier tile lines such as Atlas Concorde, American Olean, Marazzi, and Ilva. Keeping in touch with consumer tastes, their goal is to provide a wide range of tile options that closely resemble natural stone or other trends, thereby enhancing the appeal to all markets.
D&B Tile Distributors is well-poised for the future. Their team is constantly remodeling all of the nine locations throughout South Florida with updated showrooms and expanded warehouse space. And their expressed goal is to encourage their wholesale customers to use the D&B showrooms as their own.
Contributing To Our Communities
Their team feels fortunate to be able to support their local community and worldwide organizations such as Habitat for Humanity, the Jack & Jill House for abused children, and the Trojan House, built by high school students. They make it a priority to be active in the communities they serve and to donate tile and other materials to worthy efforts.
In addition, their team works to raise funds and participate in charity events for Prestige Club, James Jr. Fund, and Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital. They’re grateful for their customers and vendors who enable them to help make positive change and raise funds for all these great organizations.
The Future & Beyond
The growth and development of D&B Tile Distributors over the past 50 years is due in large part to the opportunities for their employees to become part of the management team and acquire partnership status within the company.
Working with them is not just a job, it’s a career path and because their employees are truly a part of the business, their care for their customers is simply exceptional.
At D&B Tile Distributors, they stay focused on two major areas: customer service and continuing education for its tile contracting customers. These two areas have been major building blocks for their company since day one and will continue into the foreseeable future.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
South Florida has always been an exciting market to do business in. Challenges may be to most who come in to this market, but growing up in it has allowed us continually evolve.
Please tell us about D&B Tile Distributors.
We are a consultative flooring solutions company. Focusing on elevating the level of workmanship in our market. Without good installation of our products we cannot grow tile and stone.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
Many lessons are learned over the years. We may have ventured into the installation material manufacturing business.
Contact Info:
- Address: 14200 NW 4 Street
- Website: https://www.dbtile.com/
- Phone: 954-846-2660
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dbtile
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/dbtile1
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/d-and-b-tile-distributors-sunrise-4
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