SmallBiz: Tile Shop Braves Housing Bust

Surviving the housing bust hasn't been easy for Lourdes Garcia, proprietor of Garcia Tile & Stone Design in the Eden Shopping Center on East 14th Street.

Sure, remodeling boomed when refinancing was easy. But the mortgage crisis turned off the money spigot that had flowed into her 12-year-old business.

"I used to have employees, now I am alone," said Garcia, who did have a bit of "help" in 4-year-old daughter, Valeria Bocanegra.

Garcia's husband, Antonio Bocanegra, is a contractor. Garcia said she has worked closely with contractors, many of whom send clients directly to her shop to pick the materials and patterns.

She has seen one hopeful sign of late. "Projects are getting bigger," she said.

But there's no relaxing.

Garcia said she recently got a job that seemed too good to be true.

A customer placed a large order and didn't ask for a discount, which has become standard these days.

When the client asked her to ship the order -- a huge and senseless expense for stone products -- her suspicions were further aroused.

A few calls revealed that the order had been placed on a bad credit card. Garcia said she avoided getting burned but the attempt is indicative of the tough business climate.

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