Tile By Design

Tile By Design is a family-owned tile showroom on Andover Street in Danvers, the kind of place homeowners, contractors, and interior designers stop into to see and touch marble, ceramic, glass, or stone tile before committing to a bathroom or kitchen project. The company says it's been doing this since 1988, growing from a small storefront into today's 5,000-square-foot showroom around 1994, and describes itself as family-owned, run by Jerry McGinn and Joe Renda. On Google, it holds a 4.5-star average across 39 ratings, and the last few months back that up more often than not. In January, a reviewer credited a staff member named Doug with picking tile for two full bathrooms and a kitchen, calling the process thorough and the pricing good. In May, another customer came in looking for a specific marble threshold and found it already in stock, with the sales staff described as knowledgeable. Reviews from that same stretch keep circling back to the same thing: staff who spend real time narrowing down the right tile rather than just ringing up a sale. The one real wrinkle in that recent run is a two-star review from late June: a customer buying tile for a bathroom renovation was caught off guard by how long shipping took, and by a no-returns policy on unopened boxes once their plans changed. That's worth asking about directly - the lead time on your specific tile and what happens if you need to send something back - since it's the clearest complaint sitting inside an otherwise steady stretch of praise. Outside Google, the company has picked up positive mentions over the years, including from contractors who use it as a trade tile supplier, and it carries one Houzz credential badge, though its own Houzz page has no reviews yet. This is a fit for someone who wants to walk a real showroom floor and get hands-on help narrowing down tile for a bathroom or kitchen, rather than picking from a limited aisle at a box store - especially if a contractor is already lined up and just needs the material sourced and specified correctly. Before placing a bigger order, get the delivery timing and return terms in writing, especially for anything special-order.