Orange County Business : Big Ceramic Tile Show Will Open to Public Saturday

Looking for the latest Fred Flintstone tiles for the bathroom? Or a framed tile reproduction of Botticelli’s “The Birth of Venus”? Or marble inlaid with semiprecious stones?

From marble mosaics to plain whites, the world’s biggest ceramic tile and natural stone show will be open to the public for free Saturday at the International Tile and Stone Exposition.

About 12,000 people are expected to file through the Anaheim Convention Center from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday to view tile and stone exhibits displayed by about 700 companies from more than 40 countries.

The show opened Wednesday but, through today, is limited to about 20,000 manufacturers, decorators, architects and other tradespeople who come from more than 70 countries, said William Dugan, a spokesman for the exposition.

More than 300 U.S. manufacturers have tile and stone on display, but consumers here use little tile compared to those in European countries, said Jerry Fisher, publisher of Tile and Decorative Services magazine in Tarzana.

Italy, the world’s leader in ceramic tile production, uses 31 square feet of ceramic tile per capita a year, while the United States uses about four.