ANN SACKS created her first showroom in Portland, Oregon specially to market assorted Mexican tiles from regional artisan factories. Working with local ceramists, Sacks developed her own line of color tiles, and by 1983, offered handmade tiles in 100 colors that could be matched to any existing product or environment. The success of this program allowed Sacks to subsequently open showrooms in Seattle and Vancouver, BC.

By the mid and late eighties, Sacks broadened her collection to include other architectural surfacing materials, primarily limestone, marble, and granite skins, to coordinate with her tile collections. Working with suppliers in Italy, she began to address a more modern aesthetic. "The high end of bath design had always been so traditional," Sacks says. "We became more interested in showing how modern design could be used." Ann Sacks fostered working relationships with Kohler, the Wisconsin-based, family-owned plumbing manufacturer and eventually sold her company to Kohler in 1989, though she remained as president and design director.