John Signorino
DARRIAN TRAYNOR
The successful delivery of a double mattress and base was a defining moment in John Signorino’s career. At noon on his 18th birthday, he picked up his driver’s licence. That afternoon his father gave John the keys to the new ute and instructed him to make his first delivery for the family business.
Inexperienced and lacking confidence, he took the keys – and, inevitably, the load came loose on busy Nicholson Street in Brunswick, blocking traffic and a tram. John did get the delivery to its destination eventually. On return to the shop, when asked how the trip went, John’s reply was typically ebullient, “Perfectly,” he replied.
Having quit school a year earlier to work full-time in the family’s Lygon Street furniture and tiling business, John knew he had to prove himself, but bringing traffic to a standstill wasn’t what he had in mind.
“That was one of the indelible moments in life. That was a kick start to me not giving up,” he explains.
Next year marks John’s 44th anniversary in the tiling business. It wasn’t easy for an Italian kid growing up in Brunswick in the 1960s, but it spurred the determination and hard work that defines his career.
His Sicilian parents arrived in Australia in 1956 and established the shop in which John started working part-time from the age of 15. His parents were happy with their progress and felt that business was good, but John wanted to see it flourish further.
“I didn’t like poverty,” he says.
With a natural ability to interact with customers and do the serve-and-sell, he initially spent his after-school hours carrying out the measuring and quoting on jobs while his mum waited in the car outside.
His father wanted him to become a lawyer or doctor, but John’s focus was singular, leading to his decision to leave school to learn the family trade. He attributes this decision to ego, instinct, self-preservation and some audacity. One night after being on the road giving eight quotes in Reservoir and Thomastown, he returned with eight orders. Backing himself might not have been all that?audacious.
The untimely death in Perth of one of the pioneers of Italian tile importing was the catalyst for John getting into the import trade. A tiling representative from Modena, Italy, made the journey for the funeral and on his visit met the young and ambitious John.
At the age of 23, John made a trip to Modena to visit his new contact. After three weeks of learning about tiles, he bought his first consignment on credit and shipped them to Australia. Quality Italian tiles became his sole and enduring business focus.
John’s tiles proved highly popular; he sold them quickly and was able to pay off his debt before making his next order. For three years, the business grew exponentially – then John decided he could make more money by increasing his turnover.
For most people, this would mean supplying one or two shops. Maybe 10. John set his sights higher and got his tiles into 80 shops in Victoria and other states. These shops acted as his distributors, delighted with the lucrative margins John’s venture provided.
“I sacrificed a lot of profit on the basis I would get the volume, and it worked. It was off the charts. That’s when things really kicked off,” John says.
It was a clever emphasis on long-term need over short-term greed – John had created a model in which the shops were making a good profit and he was rewarded with loyalty and support from an appreciative customer base.
Having firmly established himself in the tiling industry in Australia, John was offered a partnership in Valverde, an Italian tiling company in northern Italy that went on to become the biggest exporter of tiles to Australia. At this stage of his career, John was closely involved with product development and experienced a real dynamism in his career.
“I had that amazing balance of being young and energetic and involved in a pioneering and successful industry,” he says of that time. “You can’t have a beautiful life and run a beautiful business unless you love it. I enjoyed it. It was very successful and very fun.”
In 1988, he and his partners read the market and decided to sell the business.
“One had to recognise when it was time,” he explains.
Importing from Italy had taken off in Australia, margins were shrinking, costs were going up and the Italian government was penalising businesses punitively. The time for wholesale was over. Everybody wanted to be an importer.
“I switched it all around and decided to become the retail face of my tile business,” John says of his next business move.
In 1990 he bought his current Church Street premises; it was a derelict building that he spent 18 months getting ready for business. Before the retail strip existed, Signorino Tiles was establishing itself as a high-end, quality business.
The current market is proving more challenging. John is working harder than ever to have his products appreciated.
“I’ve built up a business and a reputation for quality,” John says. Customers know what to expect when they come to Signorino Tiles, but quality doesn’t come cheap.
Fortunately hard work comes naturally to John. But, nearing 60, he now reflects on the price of the success gained from a lifetime of hard work. It’s unheard of in his children’s generation, and he sees that as being for the best.
With a nephew and two daughters now involved in the business, he is passing on his knowledge to that new generation. He has entered a new phase of revitalisation as a result.
“I’m more happy to come to work now than I’ve ever been,” he reflects.
John is still working the floor at Signorino Tiles, finding solutions for people and investing in the next generation.
“I want to live through their eyes, their heart and their spirit in a new era,” he says. “I want to see if I can enjoy some of that. The old days are gone. I’d find it a privilege if I can still see success, but in a new model of what success means.”
» www.signorino.com.au