Saying goodbye after 27 years ❝It’s time to smell some roses. I know that’s a cliche thing, but honestly, you can’t buy health.
Owner of Toowoomba Tile Warehouse hands over reins
FOR the past 27 years of his 45-year working career Ian Rooks has been his own boss and is now about to say goodbye to his business.
Mr Rooks will walk out of Toowoomba Tile Warehouse for the last time this week and mark the start of his retirement.
However the business will remain in his family, with Mr Rooks’ son David taking over his share of the business.
The reason for Mr Rooks’ retirement is simple, he wants to live life to the fullest and will do it by joining wife Di on a trip around Australia.
“It’s time to smell some roses. I know that’s a cliche thing, but honestly, you can’t buy health,” Mr Rooks said.
Mr Rooks said his first job was as a trolley boy at Coles before moving onto a couple of other positions before becoming one of the youngest sales reps in Toowoomba for 4GR.
It was through this role that he eventually entered the tile business, meeting the former owner at the radio station.
“The guy who we bought it off, he said to me one day you would be the type of bloke to suit this business. He said you can talk and you can relate to people,” he said.
“We talked about it and said ‘look I will have a go’.”
Mr Rooks worked with the former owner for three years in its original site on Robertson St before building a purpose-built showroom in its current location on Stephen St in partnership with his wife’s brother and his wife. They even added Toowoomba Carpet Court seven years ago.
“The ideal thing for us is we got out on our own terms,” Mr Rooks said.
“My son is a tiler, he is one of the biggest tilers in Toowoomba, so this is a natural progression for him because he knows the game.
“The business has grown over the years and the good part about it now is there will be fresh ideas coming in.”
Mr Rooks said the best part of his 27-years in the shop was meeting lovely people who had become lifelong friends.
Following his retirement, he is most looking forward to sleeping in after years of 6.30am starts, and discovering more of outback Queensland like Winton and Longreach.
Find Toowoomba Tile Warehouse at 60 Stephen St.
— Ian Rooks