In 1989, Mario Hernandez was the General Manager of Garcia’s of Scottsdale restaurant in Rancho Mirage, California. The restaurant floors were in need of maintenance, so he investigated how and what it would take to restore the restaurant’s 9,000 sq.ft. of Mexican Saltillo paver floors. Mario’s brothers Mark and Michael and his cousin Raul decided to take on the challenge to strip, clean and reseal the floors throughout the business. After the successful restoration, he immediately started receiving compliments from restaurant customers on how beautiful the floors looked. This got him thinking…

Forest and Glenda Wikoff loved our work so much that they hired us to restore the pavers in their Rancho Mirage home based on the work we had done at Garcia’s and became Tilecare’s first official customer. Over the next ten years, Mario and his expanding crew worked on over 100 floors in their off hours, solely through word-of-mouth referrals.

In 1996, Mario retired from the restaurant business to dedicate his efforts to the now-thriving family Tilecare business with his business partner and wife, Maru. He received his contractor’s license and worked hard to learn everything he could to become a specialist in stone and tile maintenance and restoration.

Mario’s family business has grown to serve over 10,000 customers and has proudly worked with homeowners and businesses across the Coachella Valley for over 30 years. He takes the utmost pride in providing the highest quality service and ensuring that Tilecare customers are the happiest customers.

In 2015, Mario has embarked on a new venture to manufacture eco-friendly cleaners and provide enhanced concrete cleaning to the Coachella Valley and beyond. Working with his partner Ben Sawchuck, this new venture will feature a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility and showroom for commercial and retail sales. We’re excited about this new venture and hope you’ll visit us to learn more!

P.S. The Wikoffs have hired Tilecare every year since that first job to maintain the exterior and interior floors of their home!

Always looking for ways to improve the lives of of the people of the Coachella Valley, Mario has also devoted himself to donating his time to various community organizations. He joined the Indio Boys and Girls Club Alumni Board of Directors — the same club he enjoyed growing up. Then in 2012, he joined the Martha’s Village & Kitchen board after taking a tour of the facility and falling in love with their full-service facility and the programs and services they offered to those most desperately in need, the homeless in the Coachella Valley.

That same year, he joined the Palm Desert Chamber of Commerce to help fellow local businesses succeed. As an outspoken advocate for shopping and hiring locally, Mario is proud to lend his expertise to young entrepreneurs across the greater Palm Springs region.

Mario Hernandez, Jr, Maribel Pimentel, Mario Hernandez, Vanessa Hernandez and Eric Moreno

In 2007, Mario along with his friend and business partner Tim Bloom, noticed the effect that the economic downturn was having on local businesses and entrepreneurs. Many individuals were closing their offices because they couldn’t afford rent. Mario and Tim decided to gather their resources and do what they could to help their fellow business men and women by creating The Planning Center to give local business owners a private and professional place to conduct business.

Mario and Tim, with the help of 20 local contractors, leased a 4,500 square foot building in Palm Desert and created office spaces and a conference room for business owners to use for free. Individuals could access The Planning Center Monday through Friday to conduct business as they would have in their own offices. In addition to individual business use, business groups could hold mixers and events at the center to promote their businesses and network with other professionals.

Boys and Girls Clubs of Coachella Valley

Volunteer and Alumni Board Member

Aside from serving on the Board of Directors, Mario made it his mission to spread the word about the organization through sponsored events. Mario sponsored a booth at the Palm Desert Business Expo so that Martha’s could promote their organization to businesspeople who are interested in giving back to the community.

Understanding the value that volunteers bring to an organization, particularly a nonprofit, Tilecare sponsored the 2014 Volunteer Appreciation Event for everyone giving their time to enrich the lives of others at Martha’s. As the main sponsor, Mario’s Tilecare paid for dinner and the venue so that 150 hard working volunteers who completed more than 50 hours of service in the previous year could be acknowledged for their community involvement.