Peter J. Marcucci

Photos by Custom Tile Plus

I was greeted with a cheerful “Aloha” when connecting with Jim Doran, Manager of Ceramic Tile Plus & EY Design.

The whole CTP gang, minus a few absent due to vacation. Jim Doran, seated at center: “We try to do all we do with our clients in what we call out here the ‘Aloha Spirit.’ It’s kind of like southern hospitality, treating everyone with respect, kindness and gratitude.” Now approaching its 40th year, CTP continues its growth momentum through a strategy of bulk purchasing, offering cutting edge designs and outstanding service to its customers.

The whole CTP gang, minus a few absent due to vacation. Jim Doran, seated at center: “We try to do all we do with our clients in what we call out here the ‘Aloha Spirit.’ It’s kind of like southern hospitality, treating everyone with respect, kindness and gratitude.” Now approaching its 40th year, CTP continues its growth momentum through a strategy of bulk purchasing, offering cutting edge designs and outstanding service to its customers.
CTP’s 9,000 square foot showroom features a number of kitchen and bath vignettes, All incorporating natural or engineered stone. CTP’s usual inventory includes 7 to 8 thousand ready-to-assemble cabinets offered in cherry, bamboo and several varieties of white. “About half of our countertop customers also want cabinets,” said Jim. CTP additionally offers stainless steel sinks as well as stone and glass sinks.

Above & Below: CTP’s 9,000 square foot showroom features a number of kitchen and bath vignettes, All incorporating natural or engineered stone. CTP’s usual inventory includes 7 to 8 thousand ready-to-assemble cabinets offered in cherry, bamboo and several varieties of white. “About half of our countertop customers also want cabinets,” said Jim. CTP additionally offers stainless steel sinks as well as stone and glass sinks.
CTP’s 9,000 square foot showroom features a number of kitchen and bath vignettes, All incorporating natural or engineered stone. CTP’s usual inventory includes 7 to 8 thousand ready-to-assemble cabinets offered in cherry, bamboo and several varieties of white. “About half of our countertop customers also want cabinets,” said Jim. CTP additionally offers stainless steel sinks as well as stone and glass sinks.
Above: One of many kitchens of a 151 unit condo project at the Hokulani Golf Villas in Kihei. Countertops are 2cm Santa Cecelia over cabinetry by Huntwood. According to Jim, CTP is supplying most of the interior finishes to this 151 unit project, and includes cabinets, stone, carpet and tile.

Above: One of many kitchens of a 151 unit condo project at the Hokulani Golf Villas in Kihei. Countertops are 2cm Santa Cecelia over cabinetry by Huntwood. According to Jim, CTP is supplying most of the interior finishes to this 151 unit project, and includes cabinets, stone, carpet and tile. 
Contemporary home remodel on Maui features 2cm Bianco Antico Granite countertops and backsplash, over white painted Adornus Cabinetry. Slabs take about 3 months to get here, said Jim, adding, “Selections are by photograph, while materials purchased from Anaheim are hand selected after flying in. It’s a big leap of faith to purchase from photographs, but we’ve learned over the years who to trust and who not to trust, and have long standing relationships with buyers that we can rely on.”

Above: Contemporary home remodel on Maui features 2cm Bianco Antico Granite countertops and backsplash, over white painted Adornus Cabinetry. Slabs take about 3 months to get here, said Jim, adding, “Selections are by photograph, while materials purchased from Anaheim are hand selected after flying in. It’s a big leap of faith to purchase from photographs, but we’ve learned over the years who to trust and who not to trust, and have long standing relationships with buyers that we can rely on.”    
The CTP fab team left to right: Codee Dudoit, Louis Kadguyed, Moku Pontes (Fabrication Shop Foreman), Ellie Doran Kidd (Fabrication Manager), and Sonny Tavares

Above: The CTP fab team left to right: Codee Dudoit, Louis Kadguyed, Moku Pontes (Fabrication Shop Foreman), Ellie Doran Kidd (Fabrication Manager), and Sonny Tavares
3cm Yellow River Granite is featured in this traditional kitchen design, The full-height custom backsplash is Honey Onyx. Cabinets were supplied by Rutt Handcrafted Cabinetry.

Above: 3cm Yellow River Granite is featured in this traditional  kitchen design, The full-height custom backsplash is Honey Onyx. Cabinets were supplied by Rutt Handcrafted Cabinetry.
Contemporary condo remodel in Kihei features Cerdomus Over Porcelain Wood-look flooring and Kitchen Craft Cabinetry topped with engineered stone. “Here in Hawaii, we are always 18 months behind the sales trends than California, it seems. I think part of that is because there is so much southern California money here supporting second homes,” explained Jim.

Above: Contemporary condo remodel in Kihei features Cerdomus Over Porcelain Wood-look flooring and Kitchen Craft Cabinetry topped with engineered stone. “Here in Hawaii, we are always 18 months behind the sales trends than California, it seems. I think part of that is because there is so much southern California money here supporting second homes,” explained Jim. 
One of seven units in a new condo complex in Wailea called the Wailea Town Center. It features bull-nosed 3cm Verde Fire granite countertops over Columbia Cabinetry and Rosewood Flooring.

Above: One of seven units in a new condo complex in Wailea called the Wailea Town Center. It features bull-nosed 3cm Verde Fire granite countertops over Columbia Cabinetry and Rosewood Flooring.

You see, Ceramic Tile Plus & EY Design (CTP) is located on the island of Maui, Hawaii. Abounding with tropical forests, pristine beaches, scenic cliffs and breathtaking waterfalls, Maui is the second largest of eight main islands within the state’s 1,500-mile territory.          

CTP’s humble beginnings, envisioned over 39 years ago by Jim Doran ll (Jim’s 77 year old entrepreneur father, who still works 6 days a week), are actually rooted in New England just before World War ll. “My Grandfather, James Doran senior, started the company 75 years ago in North Adams, Massachusetts doing tile, carpet and vinyl flooring under the name Doran Carpet Center,” explained Jim Doran.

Residing in its fourth and largest location since 2008, the CTP facility consists of a total of 30 thousand square feet under one roof, with 9 thousand square feet of showroom, 12 thousand square feet of warehouse and 9 thousand square feet for fabrication. 

“When we purchased this location we thought 30 thousand square feet would be enough,” continued Jim. “Unfortunately, we’ve already outgrown the warehouse space, so we have an off-site warehouse that offers us an additional 15 thousand square feet.” 

CTP is, however, in the process of getting building permits to construct an additional 10,000 square feet of onsite warehouse space. Currently the company employs a total of 35 superb folks consisting of 15 fabricators, 10 sales and design staff, 6 warehouse and cabinet assemblers and 4 in administration.  

“We are a family-owned business, and we take that seriously. If you’re part of our team, then you’re part of our extended family. Our people are our most valuable resource. Even during the downturn of the economy, our first priority was our team. We have 35 employees and therefore there are 35 families that depend on us. They are talented, committed and honest — many have been with us for 10 years or more. We are very fortunate.” 

An Essential Approach To Purchasing, An Outstanding Approach To Service

As they are over 2,400 miles west of California, everything is brought in by container, Jim explained. He added, “We are the most remote place on the planet. When customers come in, they want to see it — they want to touch it. 

We have a special selection of slabs, certainly, but if we don’t have it, sometimes customers or their designers will fly to the mainland and hand select from one of our many special suppliers. We’ll then ship it in one of our containers. Most everything goes to Honolulu first, and then comes to the outer islands. The quickest delivery is two and a half weeks, and that’s from Anaheim, California. So we stock more material than you’d think a regular tile and stone store would stock on the mainland, because here, you just can’t drive to town and pick it up more material. It’s just part of our daily life here!”       

Servicing a mostly upscale demographic, the company’s work is primarily residential homes and condominiums ranging from 300 thousand to 20 million dollars. They do service all the islands, but their primary market focus is the island of Maui. 

Recent notable projects include a 4 home beachfront complex called ‘Makena Sunset’ and a 151 home project – Hokulani Golf Villas. Cabinets, countertops, tile, carpet and wood flooring are all inclusive in these 1 to 1.3 million dollar units with 76 out of 150 being complete. “For the Hokulani project, we built a full scale model kitchen for these units in our showroom. Homeowners actually get to sit in their future kitchen, and we make all the selections, together. It could be one session or five sessions. We have a very personal connection to them,” explained Jim. 

Cutting-Edge Vignettes Of Cabinets And Stone

CTP’s customer-friendly showroom features a number of kitchen and bath vignettes including appliances. All are topped with natural or engineered stone, while a multitude of samples whet clients’ appetites and seal the deal. “Space is very valuable here, ” Jim continued. “We are always trying to bring in new materials to the marketplace. Our showroom is comfortable, welcoming and quite beautiful. There is no other showroom in Hawaii that can stand up to it in terms of variety and quality. We take great pride in that.  Many of our customers are part-time residents, so much of the time we are shooting pictures and video, and sending it to them on the mainland. That, too is an everyday part of our life here.” 

Most of company’s remodel projects are multi-layered with CTP supplying tile, cabinets, and granite or engineered stone tops.

At any one time, CTP stocks 40 to 50 thousand square feet of slab material. Most are imported from South America, Italy, Taiwan and India. Their full line of in-stock, ready to assemble cabinets are imported from China. Special order and custom cabinets manufactured on the mainland and Canada are additionally offered to its clientele. 

“Our design and sales staff is another area where we stand out. We greet our clients the moment they walk in the door, and we stay in close communication through the completion of their project, which always concludes with a personal, hand-written thank you note.” 

The CTP fabrication shop is equipped with a variety of Park Industries machinery including a Yukon ll Bridge Saw, Pro-Edge Edge Machine and a Wizard Radial Arm Workstation.

A Sebring bridge saw as a backup helps expand their cutting capability.

When asked about performing custom slab layout, Jim responded: “It happens all the time. Our fabrication team takes great pride in their work, and it’s nice when the homeowner wants to be more involved.” 

Templating is done by a full-time templater with 18 years of experience, made the old fashioned way, using plastic strips. According to Jim, they are currently considering one of the many electronic systems on the market as a time and effort-saving upgrade. 

Efficiency within the company is always of primary concern. So much so, in fact, that they recently upgraded the shop’s water recycling system, added LED lighting within the entire facility and additionally installed a 100 Kilowatt Photo Voltaic Panel system on the roof. “We have the most expensive electricity in the country in Hawaii. These solar panels cut our power bill from 12 thousand dollars per month to 2 thousand dollars.”   

Employee safety, Jim’s other primary concern, is vigorously addressed on a regular basis: “We take safety seriously. We have a former Maui Electric inspector who comes in randomly. At least once every quarter, he walks the entire facility taking notes and photographs and tells us what we’re doing right or wrong. Basically, we pay him to surprise us. We have a regular safety program in place as well as safety manuals and monthly safety meetings.” 

The Future   

Jim continues: “We have been here on Maui almost 40 years, and we are the oldest and largest stone supplier on the island. But, like much of our industry, we had a very bad run from 2008 to 2012. New construction had ground to a halt. That said, business has improved dramatically with more calls and more traffic in our showroom. Those are all good signs, so we’ve recently added 3 sales staff members and will probably add 2 more next year to keep up with the increased traffic. Just last month we installed the Park Industries Yukon ll. It has sped up the shop, as we do a great deal of mitering. We are very pleased with it. We’re probably going to add one more piece of equipment in the next year or so, too.

“One of the lines in our company mission statement reads: ‘We don’t measure ourselves by when things go perfectly — we’re best measured by when things don’t go perfectly.’ When something didn’t get here in time, or when something was broken — it’s all about how we handle it, so our customers’ needs are best served and things are kept moving. I think we do a great job at that! We always strive to do our best.”                                       

— Aloha —

Ceramic Tile Plus & EY Design is a member of the Marble Institute Of America, the National Tile Contractors Association and the local Better Business Bureau.

For more information go to www.ceramictileplus.com.