Meet the Tish Flooring Team: Mel Tishler

Tish Flooring really is a family affair. Fred, who started the company 1992, and his brother Harry work with their father, Mel who was introduced to the flooring business by their grandfather over sixty years ago.

The man himself, Mel Tishler

In 2000, Mel was sitting in his backyard in Florida after having retired from the floor covering industry. And he was bored. Frequent trips to Indiana to visit his sons’ flooring company helped, but eventually he had to return home. But one day, he decided to stay in Indianapolis.

“I’m just not made for retirement,” Mel says.

Mel stays very busy at Tish Flooring today, wearing a wide assortment of hats. On any given day, he may be working in pricing, invoicing, administration, installation oversight or any other area of the business. “I help however I can lend my expertise,” he says.
Is it ever weird working with his two grown kids? “Well, the kids know more than I do now, but I do enjoy seeing their continued success.”

His kids tell a slightly different story. “Mel has deep experience in the industry as both a retail executive and multi-store operator. In his own special way, he’ll remind us of his six decades of experience whenever we think we’ve come up with a novel solution to a problem,” Harry Tishler says. “He’s pretty much seen it all. So we’re lucky that he is as driven and involved as he is. And his humor and knack of connecting with people on the phone have made him a bit of a local celebrity, at least with all of our longtime clients — and many of them have never met him in person.”

Mel has no plans to slow down any time soon. “I enjoy seeing my kids do well and I like staying busy.”

The next time you call Tish Flooring make sure you say hi to Mel. Or you can read his entertaining blog entry, “Mel’s Minute.”