Need any free ceramic tile? Head to Mahoning Ave. fast

YOUNGSTOWN — At one time, the Wall Tile Co. on Mahoning Avenue was a hot spot in the Valley for hard-to-find ceramic tile.

Now, after the company’s landlord was left in the cold when the owner disappeared last year, the store’s remaining stock is being given away free.

Petrarca Companies, the company’s former landlord, will give away ceramic tile, mortar and joint compound that the owner left behind last year when he could no longer pay rent, said Tom Petrarca.

The giveaway will run from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. today at 2432 Mahoning Ave., where the Wall Tile Co. did business for more than 50 years. Those taking advantage of the giveaway must haul the products away today, Petrarca said.

“He was elderly. With his age and the economy, his business slowed up and he just retired,” Petrarca said. “He left everything behind. We thought it would be a great way to clean the building out and in addition help a lot of people.”

Petrarca said the 51,000-square-foot building hasn’t had business for a year now, but it is still full of ceramic tile and ancillary products to install the tile.

“He would buy lots of old tile when they quit making it,” Petrarca said. “If you needed to match tile, this was the best place, maybe in the state.”

Petrarca said he isn’t sure whether all the tile will go in the giveaway but that he does not anticipate the response that Valley food giveaways have received.

“I think there’s a lot more people that would like a free meal than would like free tile,” he said, adding that he would have one employee on duty for the giveaway.

“I’m not anticipating sending anyone over. We’re going to notify the regular patrol unit for large crowds. I don’t perceive it to be anything that may become disorderly or uncontrollable,” said Youngstown Police Chief Jimmy Hughes, adding that he would notify regular patrols to be on the lookout for potential traffic problems.

Hughes said he doesn’t anticipate large crowds like those that have spawned from food giveaways because tile is a specialty need.

The Wall Tile Co. began in October 1949 and had its articles of incorporation cancelled in January 2007 for failing to file tax reports and pay taxes, according to state records.

The company’s owner disappeared last year, no longer paying rent, Petrarca said, adding that he has another tenant lined up for the building.

The landlord has a right to remove the inventory even if the owner has creditors who are seeking to recoup money he owes them, said Scott Cochran, president of the Mahoning County Bar Association.

“If anyone had a lien against them, they could have taken action in the courts to take those items to sell them and pay for the judgment,” Cochran said.

rrouan@vindy.com