If you think handmade tile is a luxury you can't afford, Mercedes Austin would like to change your mind.
"We're making tile designs accessible and approachable," she says, and she's built her business to do just that.
Austin, 40, is the owner and founder of Mercury Mosaics, a handmade custom ceramic tile company in northeast Minneapolis. Their new 15,000-square-foot headquarters is designed with the consumer — and her staff — in mind. "We have room to spread out, room to be a stronger team," she says.
Now Austin and her staff of 25 creatives (and the studio dogs) can design, make and sell tile comfortably, with room to grow. The shop will eventually house a tile showroom and space to work directly with clients and homeowners. Yet to come: an online tile shop.
While her business is equally split between residential and commercial, Austin has always nurtured the side that puts its art into your home. "A shower niche is just as important as the meat department of a big grocery store," she says. And yes, she's done both. (See their work all over town, from sweeping tile murals at the airport to the Galleria and Bachelor Farmer Cafe.)
Austin got her start in 1999, when, armed with a tax refund and proceeds from the sale of her jazz CD collection, the fine arts graduate launched Mosaics by Mercedes in her apartment. With an inventory of light-switch plates and higher-end mosaic pieces, she worked the art-show circuit and sold to local vendors and gift stores. "I wanted to get into people's homes with smaller purchases," she says.
She learned the art and business of tile by working for a small local company, traveling to industry shows and focusing on listening to customers. As she learned the ropes, she started to "envision what was possible" for her own business.
By 2005, Mercury Mosaics was born. A self-starter with an entrepreneurial spirit and knack for marketing, Austin met with architecture firms to expand the commercial side of her business, but never lost sight of where she began — with homeowners.