• Nemo Tile Company

  48 E. 21st St.; 212-505-0009

  “Great selection and cheaper than Ann Sacks”—so the chorus goes among in-the-know renovators when talking about Nemo Tile Company. “We can get dirty with you at $2 per square foot,” says owner Matthew Carlin, “but we also have the full range up to $80 per square foot.” Whether you’re in the market for a quick shower redo or a glass-tiled home spa, chances are you’ll find several worthy options at the Queens-based company’s Chelsea showroom, which opened last September. Bestsellers include four-by-sixteen wall tiles—think of an Excel spreadsheet—by Italian manufacturer Appiani ($12 a square foot) and coconut-shell mosaics from Ekobe ($21 a foot), both exclusive to Nemo’s. They don’t do installations, but after 87 years in business, the store’s network of contractors is vast and well edited. For all of these reasons, New York institutions—from the MTA to Susan Sarandon—buy their tiles here.

From the 2007 Best of New York issue of New York Magazine