Update: World of Tile closed in 2014. See our story on the liquidation sale (now completed) here.
Announcing the single most exciting discovery on the blog yet: World of Tile — a tile store that opened in Springfield, New Jersey, in 1957 and which is still open today. A lovely story of same-family-ownership small business longevity. But, the big news is that this tile store is chock full of new old stock NOS mint in box MIB vintage tile from the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. GORGEOUS tile, and at what I consider very fair prices. You read it first here… !!!GeT Y@Ur T!Le FaSt!!!! — because once the fancy shmancy hotsy totsy New York interior design crowd finds out about this place (that is: starting NOW), they are going to rush on over to New Jersey and, I fear, wipe the place out.
My great big fat World of Tile story is so fantabulous, that I am dedicating the next several days to rolling the story out.
How we discovered World of Tile
First, I want to extend a huge THANK YOU to Jason and Nicky — who discovered World of Tile. Nicky, in particular. As you may recall, Jason and Nicky are intrepid renovators and they made a trek a few months back to Emily’s big stash of NOS tile in West Virginia, which I had discovered via the Forum.
As Jason explained to me by phone: After their trek to West Virginia, where they did buy some fab tile, they still needed some specific, mint-colored tile that they had in mind for a bathroom renovation. Nicky would NOT give up, and kept searching and searching online, following up on any little tidbit of information about a possible source that she could get. World of Tile was just one such tidbit. She saw it mentioned in a discussion forum somewhere, and with little expectation of success, she called World of Tile. Yes, World of Tile said, they had mint green tile. Old stuff. Vintage stuff. New old stock stuff. From the 1960s or so.
Pronto, Jason and Nicky drove three hours north to World of Tile, and it was then they discovered they had hit a motherlode. Now, “motherlode” is a quite a cliched term, but in this case, it really fits. When Jason and Nicky arrived home, Jason wrote me a long email and send lots of cameraphone photos. Here is an excerpt from Jason that pretty much sums up my feelings, too:
I expected to find a few varieties of vintage tile, but I never expected an entire store of vintage tile. I was speechless; I was actually incoherent. My wife found this greatly amusing, as I pretty much could only say ‘Wow’
Looking at all of Jason’s photos, I knew this place was going to be good, so as quickly as I could, I arranged my schedule to get down to World of Tile to see for myself. The place is about three hours south from my house. It did not disappoint. The owner Chippy — as in “little chip off the old block” — was very very gracious and kind. She gave me a tour of the 5 showrooms upstairs… I also toured the downstairs, where they store all the tile… I took hundreds of photos… and even made a video walking through the entire store so that you can see for yourself what a retro wonderland it is.
World of Tile, we loved you so
Again, update: World of Tile has now closed. See our story on the liquidation sale (now completed) here.
Meanwhile, here are 100+ photos from my trip to BLOW YOUR MIND. Note, I am showing all these photos, so you — Retro Renovation readers — can get a jump start going after any tile you need. You can get both replacement tile, and full orders.
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See all our stories on World of Tile by clicking here.
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Oh and howdy hudee, The New York Times came with me on this visit — read the story they did on the blog (and World of Tile)!
To play slide show: Click on an image… it will enlarge… use arrows below image to move forward or back… you can start at any image.
Teresa says
I have just this weekend been on the hunt for replacement mint green tiles for my ’56 bathroom. It is having some plumbing repair work done behind the wall this coming week. I can’t wait to see if I can get what I need from this store!! I have already contacted B & W so now I have two options with this new place you’ve told us about. I have tiled walls that back up to each other – one green, one pink. We’ve opted to not “disturb” the pink (Save the Pink Bathroom!) and repair from the green side. I am sooooo glad I stumbled across this site last week!
BlueJay says
Teresa,
We are using both B & W tile (for the walls), as well as the vintage stock we purchased from World of Tile (for the floor). WOT may have vintage mint green wall tile, but B & W definitely carries it, as they sent me a sample board with their greens on it.
Teresa says
Thank you for the tip – all we needed were about 20 wall tiles and got them from B & W. (cheap!!). The price was so right I ordered extra just in case we have another plumbing issue down the road. The sample they sent was a perfect match to our ’56 mint green. Will you/have you posted any photo’s of your green bathroom fixup? I have noticed that our floor tiles (both pink and green bathrooms) have a different texture to them than the wall. I guess that would make sense since you walk on them and the others would be very slick. Good luck with your remodel!
Cindy Friday says
My sister Laurie and I are almost ready to hop in the car and drive to NJ (from CA). What a wonderful find! Love the puzzle tiles that are Escher-like.
pam kueber says
Cindy, it’s worth the drive!
Olga Plant says
Amazing! A feast for the eyes! Took my time through all the pics…thanks so much for the tour! Looking forward to more this week! I LOVE LOVE LOVE your site and blog!!!
pam kueber says
Thank you, Olga, for the luv!
CindyD says
I guess the bathroom floor just became the new priority! Amazing tile and some just might work! Thanks for posting all of these photos, Pam!
pam kueber says
Yes, if you can get it, get it fast!
Allie says
This comment isn’t exactly tile-related, but you might also want to check out Finkles hardware store in Lambertville, NJ for NOS…sinks and toilets of all colors (you know what color I mean 🙂 )…vintage lighting…vintage faucets and lots more. They have excellent customer service and love a challenge. You’ve got to see their basement filled with vintage faucets, etc. and their warehouse chock full of sinks, sinks and more sinks! Hudee rings too! I wouldn’t be surprised if they had some tile tucked away somewhere. I don’t think they throw ANYTHING out.
pam kueber says
Thanks for the tip, Allie! I’ll run after it!
BlueJay says
We stopped by there today, as we were in the area visiting family and they informed us they don’t have that much vintage stock. 🙁 We were hoping to potentially find either NOS avocado or coral toilet/sink units for the remainder of our bathroom renovations, but alas! I was able to pick up some electrical supplies for some re-wiring projects, as they carry some obscure parts which are hard to find at the big box stores. So it was a good trip, nonetheless.
sarah says
Go Jason and Nicky!!!
I toast your commitment and determination;
You two are gladiators!
🙂
BlueJay says
Thanks Sarah! It was a LONG search for our floor tile, but well worth it! 🙂
Lynn-O-Matic says
I didn’t think anything could top all that tile until I got to the last photo of the building and sign. It’s like the Disneyland of tile. Wish I were on the east coast. Have fun, all you Retro Renovators who do make it there!
Jill says
Holy crap! I can’t even tell you how many times I passed that store when I was a kid. Now I am trying to make sense of a 1950’s bath with black wall tile and mint green trim tile…and I still get my hair done in Springfield. Next time I go down there, I’m definitely stopping off here. Graet blog, SO glad I found it!!
Jay says
Interesting, the colors are usually reversed, green walls and black trim – which I have always liked and hope to put in when the original blue bath goes in several years.
Jill says
Yes, it is kind of odd; never seen it anywhere else. I was going to have the whole thing gutted and redone in bungalow style but then hubby got laid off…and I realized that the tile is still in great shape and the walls are plaster. So I’m just replacing floor and vanity….and working with what I have instead of fighting it. Problem is the tub — it has a curved bottom so it’s very slippery and has a giant (2″ round) chip that is rusting. Not sure whether to reglaze white or have someone redo it in the mint green…
MikeD says
My search for replacement pink tile and a new matching floor may have come to a end
Ann-Marie Meyers says
Pam, you are a lifesaver! I may have to replace my 1962 rectangular based toilet, and worried that it will involve tile replacement, too. But I LOVE my brown mosaic tile floor. I will be emailing Chippy to see if she can help me.