Stone Business 3/2011

march 11

selling fixtures 2010 pinnacle awards T h e M a g a z i n e Fo r S t o n e Pr o f e s s i o n a l s

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ON THE COVER At the L.A. Live Hotel and Residence in downtown Los Angeles, some cleft-finish Indian Pearl Gray Sandstone adorns the exterior walls in this 2010 Pinnacle Awards winner from SMG Stone Company Inc. in Sun Valley, Calif. (Photo courtesy Marble Institute of America)

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SPALL Customer’s choice.

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PINNACLE AWARDS 2010 It’s the annual parade of the best in natural-stone design, as honored by the Marble Institute of America. The list of winning projects stretches from coast-to-coast ... and halfway around the world.

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FABRICATOR FOCUS: COGSWELLSTONE, PALMYRA, VA. When John and Lisa Cogswell made the move to rural Virginia, they realized the need to add fabrication to their measure-and-install business model. After 14 years, their full-service business – and their reputation – continues to grow and evolve.

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SELLING FIXTURES Sinks grew into a nice value-added product to boost fabricator profits in the past decade. Can faucets and fittings do the same to raise post-recession revenue?

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STATWATCH: DECEMBER 2010 The year finishes with granite outpacing import amounts of 2009. Unfortunately, other stone choices aren’t doing as well.

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A CLEAN PERSPECTIVE: A HOLE OTHER APPROACH Don’t get Tom McNall wrong – he loves travertine. He just wishes customers knew the score on stone quality and ratings up front, instead of installing a floor and getting filled in later.

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PRODUCT REVIEW The latest in materials, tools and services for the stone industry.

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NEWS Gasper “GK” Naquin takes the helm as this year’s president of the Marble Institute of America. Also, a donation to the Natural Stone Council can go twice as far in 2011, thanks to some matching funds.

Vol. 9, No. 7 Stone Business (ISSN 1539-5480) (USPS 024-729) is published monthly by Western Business Media, Inc., 8 Country Club Plaza, Orinda, CA 94563. Telephone: 925-258-3800, Fax: 925-258-3802. Reproduction in whole or in part prohibited without written authorization. Opinions expressed in Stone Business do not reflect the opinion of the magazine’s editor, its management or its advertisers. Stone Business cannot be held responsible for the opinions expressed or facts supplied by its authors or advertisers.

Stone Business is sent free of charge to qualified readers.

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POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Stone Business, PO Box 47463, Plymouth, MN 55447-9605. Copyright 2011 by Western Business Media, Inc. All rights reserved.

Printed in the U.S.A.

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CALENDAR

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ADVERTISING INDEX

AT STONE BUSINESS ONLINE: Check www.stonebusiness.net for leads to handy video reports from around the stone industry, including a couple of demos from the recent Stone Fabricators Alliance workshop in Palm Desert, Calif.

spall

name your place

By Emerson Schwartzkopf

In the modern consumerist society, here’s a theory that’s reasonably accepted: The intensity of marketing of a given product is equivalent to recognition and interest of the public in that specific product.

In short, money talks.

Spending a bundle on promoting something gives it a higher profile when people start to consider a purchase. The hoopla may or may not result in a sale, but the touted product should have a firm position near the top of the shopping list.

And that, in theory, isn’t good news for the top product offered by most of you: granite countertops.

Sure, it’s been a tough slog in the past few years with the economy. But, there’s that other problem out there. It’s not only competition ... it’s well-funded competition.

Laminate and solid-surface materials already hold strong household identities with Formica® and Corian®, respectively. Add to that the lineup of quartz surfaces and the procession of celebrity spokespeople, television commercials (including a Super Bowl spot), sports-arena clubs, placements on network and cable TV shows, radio spots, consumer-magazine ads and private-label magazines, and that’s some marketplace opposition.

Granite benefits from the good work of the Natural

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Stone Council; however, the group’s budget is pennies against the Jacksons spent by material producers with the potential of multinational-corporate budgets. It’s a battle with slim chance for granite countertops.

U.S. consumers, though, have this funny streak.

Sometimes, they don’t want be sold; they want to buy.

Apparently, when they think about countertops, they have one very clear favorite.

It’s granite. But, don’t take my word for it. Take Google’s.

Google Ad Words (those somewhat aggravating classified ads that pepper millions of webpages) turns out to be Google Inc.’s main cash cow, producing $28 billion in revenue last year. They set rates by studying several factors, including the frequency of searches for terms on this search-engine thing they operate at google.com.

Google offers a keyword tool to show the strength (and potential cost) of search terms; part of this is an estimate of monthly searches, based on a 12-month average. The result is a quick and non-biased measurement of interest from people using the Internet’s most-popular search engine – and, when looking up information on certain products, surely an excellent mix of intelligent, savvy and motivated consumers.

I decided to pair the term “countertops” with a variety of

spall Monthly Average Google Search For Countertops Granite .......................................... 246,000 Laminate .......................................... 74,000 Quartz .............................................. 40,500 Cambria® ........................................ 33,100 Marble .............................................. 27,100 Corian® .......................................... 27,100 Formica® ........................................ 22,200 Recycled .......................................... 18,100 Solid Surface .................................... 14,800 Recycled Glass .................................. 14,800 Soapstone ........................................ 12,100 Silestone® .......................................... 8,100 Concrete ............................................ 4,900 CaesarStone® .................................... 2,400 Zodiaq® ............................................ 1,900 Source: Google Ad Words, February 2011 Note: Materials were joined with the word “countertops” to determine monthly average searches

choices, including granite and marble with generic terms for manufactured materials (such as laminate and quartz) and specific brand names of those materials. I then fed those pairs through the Ad Words tool to determine monthly estimates for U.S. searches (in English, since I was using English spellings).

After I looked at the results, I saved the file, rebooted my computer and went through the Ad Words search again, substituting some common misspellings to see if I’d missed some search results. I repeated the operation one more time, just to make sure I’d get consistent results.

The numbers came up exactly the same each time. And, as the chart at the top of this page shows, the 800-lb gorilla in the countertop showroom is granite.

There are a couple of corporate offices where the first instinct will be to call my phone – or the company lawyer’s line – to complain that this isn’t a fair comparison. And if I’d spent millions for the large part of a decade to get whipped by a material where sellers can’t even agree on the names of colors and types, you bet I’d be irate.

However, we’re not talking about search-engine results in the hundreds-of-millions for pictures of singing cats or celebrities in various states of undress. These are results for clean, clear terms for the product we fabricate most – and granite is the overwhelming winner.

The results here aren’t to gloat or sulk over, though. It’s a clear sign – although others will likely be needed – is that the cold war between quarried-stone and quartz needs to end. Working at opposite ends, especially with quartz producers, is a strategy that will only get

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more expensive to get customers to the bottom-line signature.

For one thing, it’s probably time to unchain most of the channel/territory model from factory to fabrication to customer. Accreditation from the Marble Institute of America and product manufacturers can aid in guaranteeing work that stands up to consumer respect and warranty specifications.

It’s also time to end the semi-official shunning of U.S. stone events by quartz producers, many of which show up at major shows elsewhere on the planet.

Given the results of that Google report, granite shops are the ones getting the massive share of customer inquiries.

Maybe it’s time to quit being standoffish, shave a couple-hundred square feet off those AIA and K/BIS extravaganzas, and meet the other folks. There’s no time to spare; a newer breed of quartz producers is already looking to forge direct relationships with fabricators.

Both sides also need to de-escalate the nasty words and attitudes, although the tough economy mellowed some attitudes in the past few years. There’s a large difference between competition and deception, and there’s no reason to resort to the latter.

This won’t be easy, given the hard feelings built up in the past decade.

I still hear from the hardliners about even mentioning quartz products in Stone Business. (Curiously, the strongest words often come from vendors and companies that haven’t spent a nickel with us or our competitor to promote their stone products.)

There can be more of a respectful, if not necessarily friendly, attitude. Unfortunately, the industry get-togethers are mostly through for this year, although the International Countertop Expo is set for late this year.

Any quartz producer looking to do the Nixon-in-China act, though, might take the brave step and ask about participating at the Stone Fabricators Alliance Mega-Workshop in October. It’s sure to rankle both sides here, but someone’s got to start somewhere.

Given the results on Google, surrendering some pride may be a lot more cost-effective than a battle that’s not offering a good return for what’s being invested.

Emerson Schwartzkopf can be reached at emerson@stonebusiness.net. Keep up with Stone Business on Twitter (www.twitter. com/stonebizmag) and Facebook (www. facebook.com/ stonemagazine).

Publisher Dave Anderson dave@stonebusiness.net Editor Emerson Schwartzkopf emerson@stonebusiness.net Contributing Editor K. Schipper Contributing Writers Tom McNall Art Director Brenda Cooke Advertising- Europe/Publisher’s Rep Marco Selmo marcoselmo@hotmail.com Chief Financial Officer Bob Riegg Subscriber Customer Service 1-800-869-6882 Fax: 651-686-4883 Stone Business Contact Information: Business Offices: 8 Country Club Plaza P.O. Box 709, Orinda, CA 94563 Phone: 925-258-3800 Fax: 925-258-3802 Editorial Offices: 1601-C S. La Reina Way Palm Springs, CA 92264-8675 Phone: 760-323-9554 Fax: 888-558-8721 Address letters to the editor to: P.O. Box 4620 Palm Springs, CA 92263

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pinnacle awards

intercontinental excellence Grande Pinnacle Award LAS VEGAS – The 2010 Pinnacle Awards spanned the seas, with winners of the natural-stone-design competition on two continents.

Three projects from Bangkok, Thailand, joined an assortment of other work in North America in the annual award program from the Marble Institute of America.

The competition honors projects that demonstrate exceptional beauty, creativity, ingenuity and craftsmanship in the use of granite, marble, travertine, limestone and other natural stones.

Mankato Kasota Stone Inc. took the top prize – the Grande Pinnacle Award, sponsored by Marmomacc and MAPEI Corporation – for its work on Fortaleza Hall and the Commons Building at the S.C. Johnson headquarters in Racine, Wis. Mankato Kasota received an award designed by Tobia Scarpa of Venice, Italy, plus an all-expense paid trip to Marmomacc 2011 this September in Verona, Italy.

Judges for the 2010 Pinnacles were Christian R. Pongratz of Pongratz Perbellini Architects, Verona, Italy; John Cook, FAIA, of HGA Architects and Engineers, Minneapolis; Edward Farr of Edward Farr Architects Inc., Eden Prairie, Minn.; and Guido Gliori, Grazzini Brothers & Company, Eagan, Minn., and MIA immediate past president.

The honors were presented during the MIA’s annual Awards Luncheon at StonExpo/Marmomacc Americas in Las Vegas in late January.

All photos courtesy of the Marble Institute of America.

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Fortaleza Hall and Commons Building • Racine, Wis. Stone Supplier, Stone Fabricator: Mankato Kasota Stone Inc., Mankato, Minn. (honoree, MIA member) Client: S.C. Johnson Architect: Foster + Partners Architect of Record: A. Epstein & Sons General Contractor: Gilbane Building Co. Stone Installer: Arteaga Construction Stone: Dolomitic limestone, Kasota Rose Blend limestone Built as a tribute to the late SC Johnson company leader Sam Johnson and his father, H.F. Johnson Jr., the hall features dolomitic limestone from the same quarry tapped by Frank Lloyd Wright for copings at the company’s famous Administration Building. It’s part of the architectural team’s desire to honor and incorporate Wright’s design principles, such as bull-nosed curves on the end of the building, while still maintaining a modern design.

The Commons building has a stone mass that curves around to envelope the east side of the glass pavilion. It uses solid Kasota stone walls and forms a visual separateness to the steel and glass structure of the hall.

Award of Excellence | Commerical Interior Tesoro Headquarters San Antonio Stone Supplier: TexaStone Quarries, Garden City, Texas (honoree, MIA member) Owner: Patrinely Group LLC Design Firm: Gensler Landscape Architect: Clark Condon Associates Civil Engineer: Pape Dawson Engineers Inc. General Contractor: D.E. Harvey Builders Stone Installer: American Stone Company of Texas LP Stone: Texas Pearl limestone, Texas Hadrian limestone, Permian Sea Coral limestone, Breche Oriental marble.

The design for the new corporate-campus headquarters used local Texas materials to both reinforce the regional flavor and target a sustainable design goal of LEED® Silver certification.

Native Texas Pearl limestone highlights major architectural features on both the exterior and interior of the project; a limestone structure forms the main “Stonehenge” entrance and leads into the grand double-height lobby that connects two buildings.

Also accented in limestone are the employee entrance from the outdoor courtyard and a dramatic “architectural slot” that extends 14 stories high along the building’s side and is visible from the highway. A stunning three-level monumental stair is one of the campus’ most spectacular design features, with an elliptical shape to mimic the curves of the building, which includes Permian Sea Coral limestone floors.

Award of Excellence | Renovation/Restoration O.C. Tanner Flagship Jewelry Store Salt Lake City Stone Installer: KEPCO+, Salt Lake City (honoree, MIA member) Stone Supplier, Stone Fabricator: Valders Stone & Marble Inc. Valders, Wis. (honoree, MIA member) Stone Etching: Vytek Laser Systems, Fitchburg, Mass.; Decoro Art Stone, West Jordan, Utah (honorees, MIA members) Client: O.C. Tanner Co. Architect: MJSA Architects General Contractor: Big-D Construction Stone Installers: Caffall Tile, Child Enterprises, Millcreek Tile and Stone Stone: Valders Buff Dolomitic limestone, Valders Dovewhite Dolomitic limestone, Heber Red sandstone Originally built as a book depository in 1905, the building was later converted into the city’s planetarium. The 18-month reconstruction included the cleaning and restoration of the historic limestone cladding and installation of an innovative new limestone façade; slabs of Valders Dolomitic limestone were laser-engraved to literally reflect the building’s history; the result is the largest stone-engraving project of its kind in the world.

Limestone flooring, patterned inlays, and a flowing spiral stone staircase complement the elegant finishes of the store’s interior.

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Awards of Merit | Commercial Exterior and Interior L.A. LIVE Hotels and Residences • Los Angeles On the cover

Stone Supplier (exterior), Stone Installer (interior), Stone Fabricator: SMG Stone Company Inc., Sun Valley, Calif. (honoree, MIA member) Architect: Gensler General Contractor: Webcor Builders Stone Supplier: Southland Stone (exterior); owner-supplied (interior) Stone: Indian Pearl Grey sandstone, Black Absolute granite, Black Basalt granite, White granite (exterior); Crema Marfil marble, Gris Pulpis marble, Calacatta Gold marble, White Wood limestone, Villa Romana marble, Stalatitti Gold marble (interior).

This expansive development includes the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels, plus The Ritz-Carlton Residences.

The hotel base exterior wall features 30,000 ft2 of quarry-inspected Indian Pearl Grey Sandstone with a cleft finish; each stone panel of 12" X 42" X 1 1/2" or 24" X 42" is independently supported by stainless-steel clips. The entrance of the hotel is a blend of black absolute, black basalt and white granite pavers.

The interior includes more than 450,000 ft2 of stone and tile, with the contract totalling more than $15 million. The JW Marriott’s main lobby showcases a sandstone wall, marble flooring, marble and granite countertop; the suites feature custom marble mosaic floors, marble tub decks, vanities and bathroom mosaic walls.

The Ritz-Carlton lobbies feature flooring of a combination of imported marbles in random sizes. The Residences’ 212 bathrooms showcase limestone for the vanities, flooring and tub decks. The kitchen countertops are granite and quartz surfaces, with granite, limestone and marble for the entryways.

Special Pinnacle Award of Merit | Craftsmanship Millard Sheets Mural Restoration, Chase Bank Rolling Hills, Calif.

Dimension Stone Contractor, Engineer, Mosaic Restoration: Carnevale & Lohr Inc., Bell Gardens, Calif. (honoree, MIA member) Owner: JP Morgan Chase Project Manager: David Carnevale Consultant: Jeffrey Matthews, Trade International Inc. (MIA Member) Art Consultant: Jeannie Denholm, SCAPE Stone: Emerald Pearl granite, travertine, Byzantine mosaics This project renovated a 1974 mural created for Millard Sheets Studio for exterior cladding of the local Home Savings of America banks (now Chase facilities).

The 12’ X 37’ mural, depicting horses with riders and dogs following them, with sea in the background, is made from 36 panels of stone and mosaic. The work involved repair of the Emerald Pearl granite panels with travertine liners, and removing and re-installing all the mosaics. The project took about six months.

A very intricate and detailed system protected the panels during the process, including photographs, a numbering system for each panel, taping panels to stop the continuing loss of mosaics, repairing the granite, cleaning, and basically starting the mosaic from scratch to re-install. Carnevale added expansion joints, new anchors and engineering for re-installation.

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Award of Excellence | Residential Interior/Exterior Villa Mayavee • Phuket, Thailand Stone Supplier, Stone Fabricator, Stone Installer: Stones and Roses International Co. Ltd., Bangpla Bangplee, Samutprakam, Thailand (honoree, MIA member) Clients: Gabriel Cardona, Paitoon Arunrat Architect: Martin Palleros, Tierra Design General Contractor: S. Charoenthongkiat Ltd. Part.

Stone: Black slate, Volcanic Grey basalt, limestone Interpreting the traditional typology of Thai residences, the four-level building forms a Z shape with a guest wing and master wing connected by the elevated living room. Exterior stonework includes a forecourt and drop-off paved with black slate leading to a large reflection pond paved and clad with the same stone. Large slabs of black slate pave the walkways, with walls clad in volcanic grey basalt featuring expressive horizontal pointing. The main feature wall is 35m (114.8') long and capped by the basalt-clad water feature of the fourth floor Jacuzzi.

Interior limestone flooring runs across the building and connects all areas through a set of terraces, corridors and staircases. At the centre is the elevated living room, a 385m2 (4,144 ft2) rectangular area paved with 90 cm2 (35.4 in2) slabs of honed limestone, which connects to terraces and stairs paved with the same limestone in a rougher texture.

Award of Merit | Commercial Exterior Cedar Hill Government Center • Cedar Hill, Texas Stone Supplier: TexaStone Quarries, Garden City, Texas (honoree, MIA member) Design Architect: Holzman Moss Architecture General Contractor: Hunt Construction Architect of Record: Wiginton Hooker Jeffrey Architects Landscape Architect: Newman Jackson Bieberstein Stone: TexaStone Pink limestone TexaStone Pink, a rose-colored limestone, wraps each of the three major structures facing Uptown Boulevard. The sense of permanence associated with older Texas civic structures is heightened by the use of 40,000 ft2 of limestone applied in four patterns, six course sizes and three finishes. Smooth-sawn blocks form a continuous stepped five-foot band along the tops of the structures, with rusticated blocks forming the building’s base. In between, ashlar-patterned blocks form a field with random placement of larger blocks, belt courses and special windowsill units.

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Award of Merit | Residential Interior/Exterior

Krungthep Kreetha Residence Bangkok, Thailand Stone Supplier, Stone Fabricator, Stone Installer: Stones and Roses International Co. Ltd., Bangpla Bangplee, Samutprakam, Thailand (honoree, MIA member) Client, General Contractor: World Trade and Accommodation Architect: A49 Stone: Light Brown sandstone, Blue Gray slate In dealing with the structure’s non-orthogonal angles, broken lines and arch-shape windows, grey slate cladding is used in a rough-ground finish away from the standard natural cleft surface, promoting the slate as an all application building stone. The large roofs, set below the two parallel balconies, are paved with 300mm X 1200 mm (11.8" X 47.2") slabs installed on plastic stands using the same technique as elevated floors for terraces or technical floors.

The architecture innovates the use of stone as a link to blend modern architecture with the landscape; the bluish gray slate blends perfectly with the grass, plants and trees and creates a feeling of nature.

MGM City Center Aria Las Vegas Stone Supplier, Stone Fabricator: Las Vegas Rock Inc., Jean, Nev. (honoree, MIA member) Client, Stone Installer: Carrara Marble Company of America Inc., City of Industry, Calif.

(MIA Member) Architect/Designer: Peli Clark Peli General Contractor: Perini Building Co. Stone: Meta-Quartzite Awarded a LEED® Gold certification, the project relied on stone supplied by Las Vegas Rock with its Cradle to Cradle® Silver Certified status as a sustainable manufacturer of stone.

Approximately 70,000 ft2 of stone was used on this building; pieces of the project range from 9" X 12" to 96" X 60", and were processed over a 20-month timeframe. All cuts were made within a tolerance of 1mm.

The spa tower features 2' X 5' modular panels of the meta-quartzite with a honed face and a custom split-face accent band. Approximately 5,000 ft2 of randomly placed 3cm, 5cm and 7cm stone pieces make up the VIP entrance wall with its three-dimensional architectural relief.

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Award of Merit | Commercial Exterior

Award of Merit | Renovation/Restoration Dominican House - Saint Thomas Chapel Washington Stone Supplier, Stone Fabricator, Stone Installer: Rugo Stone, Lorton, Va. (honoree, MIA member) Client: Dominican House of Study Architect: James McCrery Architects General Contractor: Whalen Construction Co. Stone: Bianco Perlino marble, Olympian White Danby marble, Rosso Nembro marble

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For the renovation of the 60-year-old chapel, Rugo Stone carefully dismantled the existing rear altar, which was fused to the rear wall, and taken to the company’s marble-restoration factory for modifications to become a freestanding front altar. This involved fabricating a new rear face of the altar to match the Bianco Perlino marble quarried 60 years ago.

The project also involved installing a new Olympian White Danby marble platform, and fabricating a new fused rear altar out of Bianco Perlino marble with Rosso Nembro as the accent color. The final phase of the project was the restoration of various round stone statues of Catholic saints by repairing many chips, carving a new hand for the St. Dominic statue and fabricating various radial Bianco Perlino shelves and raised plinths for the sculptures.

Special Pinnacle Award of Merit | Sustainability Pioneer Courage Park Omaha, Neb. Stone Subcontractor: Architectural Granite & Marble Inc., Austin, Texas (honoree, MIA member) Client: First National Bank of Omaha Landscape Designer: JVR and Associates Landscape Architects: HDR Inc., Brown Sardina Inc. Architects: RDG Planning & Design, Leo A. Daly Architects Art Consultant: Boody Fine Arts Artists: Kent Ullberg, Blair Buswell, Ed Fraughton Contractors: Hawkins Construction Co., Kiewit Construction Co. Stone: Hayton White dolomite Limestone from Hayton, Wis., unified the project by forming the contours, the steps and paving that allow hands-on access to the sculpture. The flagstone pavers, park furniture, interpretive diorama, and creek and waterfall features complete the area. The stone was also chosen to address sustainability goals including durability, low maintenance, and controlling storm water runoff as the walls, paving, and statue bases were installed over permeable base The highly reflective stone allows “moonlit� lighting; the stone also, in combination with native plantings, minimizes the heat island effect during the day. Attention to the details of processing resulted in water and energy savings, and no waste.

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fabricator focus

learning for success

By K. Schipper

(Top) Green malachite may be considered a semi-precious stone, but it’s nothing out of the ordinary for the higher-end clients CogswellStone serves. (Above) John and Lisa Cogswell. Their desire to start a family led them away from Long Island to rural Virginia. (All photos courtesy CogswellStone)

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PALMYRA, Va. – At first glance,

A DIFFERENT APPROACH

it might appear that John and Lisa Cogswell are doing business pretty far out on a shaky limb.

This is a couple who moved a successful installation business from the populated environs of New York’s Long Island to a place so small it doesn’t have a single stoplight ... or even show up on some maps.

Not only did its size quickly encourage them to add fabrication to their business mix, but they then dove into deep water financially – buying a CNC machine when it was more of a curiosity than a must-have item in the industry.

Fortunately, they came up swimming, buoyed by some additional canny decisions that have positioned CogswellStone as the go-to place for stone – particularly marble – in what’s proven to be an area with some very well-off neighbors.

Among the amazing things about this successful couple is that John Cogswell hasn’t spent his entire career in stone. He began his working life as a plumber.

“I went into business as a partner with a marble setter, out on Long Island,” he explains. “We primarily did renovation work – soup-to-nuts renovation – and I helped him and he helped me. Over time, it got so I enjoyed doing what he did at least as much as I enjoyed my part.”

Even after the partner moved out to the eastern end of Long Island, Cogswell kept the company going, doing renovations. And, he adds, much of his stonework involved taking templates to a fabricator, having the pieces cut, and then assembling them in the field.

Things might have continued in that way indefinitely. But, when the

fabricator focus

(Above) Some of the Marble Institute of America members who attended a seminar on stone restoration hosted by the Cogswells pose in front of the general store that’s now their showroom. (Below) The showroom’s center is the coffee bar, which features backlit green onyx sides, topped with a 6cm Absolute Black countertop.

Cogswells decided to start a family, they wanted to do it away from New York.

“We found a nice spot, and when we got down here, we started doing the same thing in Palmyra, Va.,” Cogswell says of the move in 1993.

“But, there were not nearly as many fabricators that we had options to go with as we did in New York.”

Realizing they would have to take a slightly different approach, the Cogswells borrowed some money from Lisa’s grandmother, bought some equipment, and started doing their own

fabrication. CogswellStone opened for business in 1997.

About the only difference between the Cogswells and many other start-ups of the time is that they were able to begin in a space somewhat larger than the proverbial garage.

“We rented a warehouse, built our own worktables, and started with grinders and hand-tools to put a bullnose edge on,” John Cogswell says. “It was very primitive, but we did have a designated shop area and enough space for inside storage.”

Besides their background in installa-

tion, the Cogswells did have a couple other things going for them; one was employees. After re-launching their operation in Virginia, they hired two helpers.

“The man who is our shop manager has been with me for about 16 years,” John Cogswell says. “We grew up in the business together.”

And, while Palmyra may be little more than a wide spot in the road, it’s conveniently located about 15 miles east of Charlottesville, Va., the historic home of Thomas Jefferson, as well as the University of Virginia and its internationally known schools of business, law and medicine.

“There are a lot of businesses that contract to the U.S. government in the area, too,” he says of the neighborhood. “There are also a lot of large homes and affluent people.”

BEST INVESTMENT From its humble beginnings, CogswellStone (that’s one word, no space in the middle) continued to grow steadily. After outgrowing the warehouse, the business moved into what’s grown to be an approximately 6,000 ft2 facility that initially incorporated the shop, showroom and covered warehouse space.

“We outgrew that relatively quickly, and started looking for some additional space,” Cogswell says. “We

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fabricator focus

(Above) A couple of the shop’s fabricators apply a hand finish to a job. (Below) The shop’s Marmoelecttromeccanica bridge saw sees plenty of use.

ended up moving our offices and showroom to another location about a mile from the fabrication shop in an old general store that we remodeled.

“It has about 1,500 ft2 of office space, a 3,000 ft2 showroom, and a 4,000 ft2 indoor warehouse. Plus, we have a two-acre yard where we can spread slabs out all over.”

The company had already purchased a fair amount of equipment – bridge saw, radial-arm polisher, inline backsplash polisher and hand-held routers – before the Cogswells took an unexpected but ultimately profitable plunge into the world of CNC technology.

Cogswell explains that he went to StonExpo one year with the idea of

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buying an automated line-polishing machine. Then, he ran into an old friend from New York.

“I asked him how his business was going, and he said, ‘It’s going great because I bought one of these CNC machines,’” Cogswell relates. “I looked at it and thought, ‘Wow; I’m looking at spending $75,000, and this is a $200,000 machine.’”

Fortunately, the friend explained that the purchase could be financed for a minimal down-payment and then paid off over time.

“Of course, when I got back and told Lisa I thought we needed to spend $200,000, it was quite a shock,” he adds, although the couple eventually decided

to buy an Intermac Master Stone CNC. “It was the best move we ever made,” he says. “We paid if off and it’s been making money for us for 10 years.”

However, the CNC isn’t the only area where the Cogswells invested big and were rewarded with big returns. In a world where granite became a musthave in even moderately priced kitchens, the couple banked on marble.

“In our area a lot of our clients use marble, so we do a lot of marble kitchens,” John Cogswell explains.

“So, while most distributors will carry 50-100 different varieties of granite and 10 varieties of marble, we’ve spent a lot of time and money investing in marbles that even the vendors and distributors don’t have.”

Over the years, that’s meant committing not just money, but also the time to visit Italy and to develop a relationship with someone there with whom the Cogswells are very comfortable. Often times, they buy by the block.

“We have it cut into 2cm, 3cm and 5cm slabs, so not only do we have matching materials for that $5 million house, but we can give them the 2" island and the 3cm countertops and the full backsplash,” Cogswell explains.

“We’re not going to have to fudge on the project.”

Additionally, he believes it’s a huge sales tool for the discriminating client who’s working with an architect or interior designer.

fabricator focus

Another of the higher-end residential kitchens CogswellStone produces – this one done with semi-precious Blue Louise granite, which is really a quartz.

“I can take them into my warehouse and tag the slabs,” he says. “If we have the materials here, I’m much less likely to have to bid the fabrication against someone else.”

Cogswell also takes care to have the marbles the distributors aren’t

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likely to have, or have them in a better quality than his competitors. And, he says it’s no accident that the company’s showroom has space to lay-out plans and little amenities such as cookies and cappuccinos.

BUILDING U N D E R S TA N D I N G The other area where the Cogswells invested in a big way is the training of their employees. Particularly in the early days of the business, John Cogswell says it was difficult to retain

fabricator focus good employees, and then get them to understand what had to be done – let alone how it should be done.

Rather than throwing up his hands or throwing in the towel, he took every process in the shop and broke it into steps and then tiers of steps – writing manuals and taking pictures in the process. Eventually, the entire set of materials was assembled into a DVD. “We determined what someone who’s been with us three months should know,” Cogswell explains. “We could say, ‘We want you to be able to

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run this machine and complete these tasks, and before you graduate to the next pay level or move up a position, you have to be fully competent in all these levels.’”

For instance, a machine operator would have to demonstrate everything from how to turn the power on and off to how to grease and maintain it. And the employee would have to successfully demonstrate its use on a piece of stone.

The Cogswells even took on the job of teaching their new employees basic math skills, such as geometric

shapes and measurements.

“We had some who didn’t know what 5/8ths was on a ruler,” he says.

“We tried to give them the tools to enable them to be successful in what they do for us.

“And, all of a sudden, it started to click for us,” Cogswell adds. “We started to see less and less of the horror stories where people mis-cut $1,000 pieces of stone.”

The program also created unexpected side benefits, he says. It gave the couple something to talk about when interviewing potential employees and, Cogswell believes, ultimately led the company to get better applicants because they could see a clear path to bigger paychecks and more responsibility.

It’s also led people to look on their jobs as careers. At the moment, Cogswell says no one has worked for the business less than four years.

And, he says that’s a benefit when working with the high-end clients CogswellStone aims to serve.

“The people who are building these homes need to have some stability in who they have on their worksites,” he says. “They see the same installers, and the same general manager. If they first came in two year ago, they know that when they call Rachel in the showroom, she’s still here. Some of these projects are that long in the making, and there’s a level of comfort for them.”

Because of the longevity of the employees, Cogswell says the shop has gotten away from its training program as of late. With the sagging economy, the number of people on the payroll dropped from a high of 18 down to the current 10, plus the Cogswells.

“But, when we do start bringing in new people, we’ll head back and start using our training program again,” he says.

But, then, the Cogswells aren’t just about making their employees better. John Cogswell served on the Marble Institute of America (MIA) committee that developed the criteria for accrediting stone-fabrication shops, and CogswellStone was among the first dozen shops in the country to be accredited.

“I thought it would be another milestone that would help set us apart from some of our competitors,” he explains. “We jumped on it as a company, did the things that had to be done, and we’re very proud of it.”

It was that same desire to improve his business that’s led Cogswell to be an

The Intermac MasterStone CNC helped propel CogswellStone toward success. Buying it 10 years ago was a big investment, John Cogswell says, but one that definitely paid off.

active member of MIA for more than a decade, and to host MIA educational lectures and seminars at the shop.

“I enjoy sharing some of the things I’ve been through with other MIA members,” he says. “I also know, when I’m looking for something, I can make a couple phone calls and talk to someone and

get the information I need.”

And, despite the economy, Cogswell remains upbeat about his second career.

“I think a lot of things are going on in the stone industry right now that are very positive,” he concludes. “I see a lot of activity from stone fabricators

looking to get better. I see the equipment getting better and the machine manufacturers working hard to enable us to do a better job.

“The templating and installation equipment is making our jobs a little easier every day, and I’m happy to see that happen in our industry.”

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selling fixtures

start a new cash flow?

By K. Schipper

T

he next big thing to help set your shop apart from the rest may not be stone at all – but it’ll tap into a genuine customer need.

Just as sinks went from something the client bought elsewhere to a standard item in many showrooms, faucets and fittings may be the latest profitable add-on to countertop and vanity jobs.

Certainly the reasons for offering the items are much the same. There’s convenience for the shop owner and for the client. And, with a variety of faucet manufacturers looking at fabrication shops as a natural place for expansion, something’s likely to fit your needs and those of your clients.

However, it’s also going to take some extra work in terms of preparing the showroom and the staff to sell these higher-end items.

MIDA S TOUCH? Among the changes in the stone industry during the past decade was,

Not only does this faucet work well with the asymmetrical sink, but the wall behind it isn’t going to present a problem with the handle – to the installer’s relief. (Photo courtesy Kohler Co.)

indeed, the proverbial kitchen sink.

Not all that long ago, most fabricators told clients to go to a plumbing supply shop or big-box store, pick out a sink, and have it delivered back to the fabricator for measuring the cutouts.

The advent of sink companies that specifically targeted fabricators, however, helped change that.

“When we started this business nine years ago, I would say two percent or three percent of granite fabricators sold sinks,” says Brent Cohn, president of Mill Valley, Calif.-based Eclipse Stainless. “The fabricators were touching every sink they put in, but it wasn’t a profit center for them; it could sometimes create difficulties.”

Hunter Adams, co-president of Suffolk, Va.-based fabrication company Trindco Premium Countertops, agrees that his business’ decision to add sinks didn’t focus as much on dollars as on convenience.

“We carry sinks as a convenience to our customers and also a convenience

to ourselves,” Adams says. “We had a lot of people who came in who weren’t sure what sink options they wanted.

It was also easier for us if we already had the cutout files, so we started offering them.”

Today, the presence of sinks in the showroom makes it not only easier to do that cutout in a timely manner, but they add to the bottom line. The offer of a free or reduced-price sink can even serve as an inducement to a wavering client to sign a contract.

However, shops that latched onto sinks in a big way in recent years now notice that much the same arguments can be made for offering faucets and even plumbing fixtures.

“We quickly realized that a lot of people would – if they’re getting a new sink and new countertops – want new faucets,” says Adams. “And, we realized we wanted to be more of a one-stop shop. We didn’t want to capture part of the sale and then send them off to another channel to pick out a faucet.”

Continued on page 33

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Only an excellent display can adequately show this out-of-the-wall bathroom faucet setup (above) or give clients an idea of the myriad showerheads now on the market (right).

(Photos courtesy Montana Tile & Stone Co.)

As with sinks, it can be a convenience factor for all involved. Just as sink configurations have moved away from the single bowl or two equal bowls into more exotic designs, consumers are changing the way they think about faucets – and that can again complicate fabrication.

Adams, for example, notes that many of his clients have gone to a big-little basin combination sink, without understanding all the ramifications.

“A lot of people with the big-little sinks were going with the traditional three-hole faucet with the left and right water control, and it just doesn’t work,” he says.

Beyond not having to send that client out to struggle with questions about how many holes it needs and the presence or absence of a soap dispenser, Jason Nottestad, national customer services manager for VT Stone Surfaces in Rome, Ga., says offering a line of faucets also helps ensure your familiarity with the product – which, again, can be a real plus.

“You know what the issues are as far as placement,” Nottestad says.

“And, you’re also going to know what to look for in the handles, as far as clearances. It’s just bound to make you more efficient.”

WEIGHTY QUESTIONS Just about every fabricator deals with issues regarding a job that didn’t go right. Few are going to argue that if the installation leaves an uneven seam, or a chip comes out during the final polish, the responsibility lies with the

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selling fixtures fabricator. But, what happens if that faucet has a problem?

“For instance, I’m not sure, from an insurance perspective, what happens if something goes wrong with the faucet and damages the customer’s home,” says Nottestad.

Less frightening, but still disturbing, is the issue of a faucet that doesn’t work. Eclipse’s Cohn says when his company added kitchen faucets to its line of sinks, it had to develop a whole new customer-service infrastructure.

“We don’t expect our fabricators to make house calls or field phone calls from a consumer,” Cohn says. “This has put us into a different business. Rather than selling the sink and walking away, we have to be able to service that faucet customer and support our fabricator’s name and reputation by taking care of any problems a consumer has.”

He adds that in the case of Eclipse, the company added a customer-service department and a toll-free number for faucet hotline support.

However, sometimes the fabricator gets involved anyway. Trindco is a dealer for Kohler, Wis.-based Kohler® Co.; Adams says that when there’s been a

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rare malfunction or manufacturer’s defect, the company has been happy to replace or warrant the product.

“But, the customer is going to turn around and ask you who’s going to disconnect it and reconnect the new unit,” he says. “We work with a plumber who’s not on staff, but is somebody we refer business to. And, because of the volume of business we give him, if we get into trouble in a situation like that, he’ll certainly assist us and modify his rates accordingly.”

Adams adds that Kohler’s reputation for reliability is also one reason Trindco carries that company’s products.

In some markets, still another drawback can be how the move to offer faucets can affect what’s often a three-way relationship between client, fabricator and plumber.

Nottestad notes that some fabricators and installers get job referrals from local plumbers, and the move to faucets can damage that relationship.

“Some plumbers still expect to make a good bit of money on the sale of faucets,” he says. “They want more than just the plumbing bill.”

On the other hand, Price Wills, owner of Montana Tile & Stone Co., in Bozeman, Mont., says not all plumbers are willing to make the investment in showroom space and employee training to properly staff a fixtures showroom.

“The showrooms have gone to the expense of putting together an operation to show various lines of plumbing, both in operation and not, so the customer can evaluate the items far better than just looking through a catalog,” Wills says. “A lot of our plumbers are becoming install entities, versus ones that supply.”

H I G H - E N D M AT T E R S When it comes to selling fixtures and fittings, Wills probably represents the higher end. In terms of faucets alone, he offers lines such as Dornbracht, Lefroy Brooks, Rubinet and Blanco, and his showroom includes toilets and tubs as well as sinks.

He says part of his expansion came five years ago simply because he had the space to build a separate showroom. He also likes the idea of being a one-stop service to his high-end clients, although it goes beyond that.

The old three-hole faucet is a thing of the past in many kitchens. Today, the lines are sleek – and the right unit complements both the sink and the countertop, and helps finish the look of the entire kitchen. (Photo courtesy Eclipse Stainless)

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selling fixtures

Montana Tile & Stone created a separate showroom for plumbing faucets and fixtures and made it an integral part of its high-end shopping experience.

(Photo courtesy Montana Tile & Stone Co.)

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“A lot of it has to do with relationships and trust with your clients,” Wills says. “It also enables us to keep the level of plumbing equal to the level of our dimensional-tile and -slab work. And, we find that – if someone is purchasing a brand new kitchen – the sink and the faucets, in terms of the style, the size and the material, matter quite a bit.”

At this level of sales, Wills adds that it requires having not only the right space for the showroom, but also the right people to work in it.

He estimates it took a full year to build and fine-tune the showroom so it had both the right components and was user-friendly, as well as staffing it with people both knowledgeable and excited about selling these components.

“You must have a plumbing-showroom manager who has experience and is passionate about the fixtures and fittings business, because it’s completely separate from selling the stone and tile fabrication and installation,” Wills contends. “It should be treated as such until the entities meet and create a comprehensive design together.”

While that may seem a bit extreme, Tim Maicher, director of marketing for Lumberton, N.J.-based manufacturer Blanco America, Inc., says a good sales person is key to helping buyers assess their needs in a faucet.

“A good place to start is with the faucet they have now,” Maicher says.

“What do they like or dislike about it?

How do they use it? Do they wash things in the sink such as pots where a spray arm with force would be helpful?

Do they need a tall faucet for filling big pots or watering cans?”

Other questions include what style and finish they’d like the faucet to have, where it will be positioned (which relates to the sink they select and how it will fit with the countertop), if they’re interested in water-saving features, and if they have a disability such as arthritis that would require a handle that’s easy to manage.

“Each question carves down the options,” says Maicher.

And, he adds, it’s only the less-confident salesperson who sells faucets based on price alone.

At Trindco, Adams says adding faucets simply required making some space in the showroom for the two Kohler-branded displays required when the company signed on with that manufacturer, and developing the necessary (also Kohler-required) sales materials.

“We had already worked with our supplier to know what the anticipated lead times were with the models and finishes we are representing,” says Adams. “He came out and talked

about some of the features and benefits of the different products that they offer.”

More recently, he adds, Kohler came out with a 40-page book showing which accessories fit with which sinks, as well as the colors and finishes that work well together.

For Adams, the biggest issue with selling fixtures may come down to the same concern he had when his customers bought them from someone else: lead times.

SOMETHING FOR E V E RYO N E ?

Even the shop that doesn’t have space for a separate fixtures showroom shouldn’t be discouraged from taking a line, however.

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selling fixtures

Fit and finish can be critical in buying a faucet, and are good reasons to combine the purchase with choosing a sink. (Photo courtesy of Eclipse Stainless)

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Manufacturers are anxious to work with shops willing to carry their products, and will provide both display materials and staff training to get their products in front of buyers. (Photo courtesy Trindco Premium Countertops)

“If someone wants something other than what we normally offer, we know to either steer them away from it or help them understand it’s going to delay their project,” he says. “It’s important to coordinate the ordering, and we don’t want to have a countertop sale slowed down because of a sink or faucet that was on back order.”

Eclipse’s Cohn says the fabricators

carrying his line of sinks and faucets offer them in just about every way imaginable.

“We have hundreds of different accounts,” he says. “Some buy a sink for each job. Some stock the sinks and faucets. One item we offer is called Total Eclipse, and it has everything a fabricator needs to complete the job with the countertop. It comes with a

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selling fixtures sink and a faucet which has a matching finish to the sink.”

As with Adams’ experiences with Kohler, Cohn adds that Eclipse is happy to send its representatives to a shop to provide training on selling the product, and also assist with in-shop displays.

“A lot of people don’t want to make the investment, especially if they don’t know it’s going to work, or how hard it’s going to be,” he says. “We try to make the process as painless as pos-

sible. We know this isn’t for everyone, but once we get product in somebody’s hands, it sells itself.”

Kohler’s John Hansen, who works in this area of business development, agrees with Cohn that selling fixtures isn’t for every shop. However, it’s probably indicative that the idea is catching fire with more fabricators since Hansen was assigned three years ago to find better ways to reach stone shops.

Hansen says what his company is

Even the shop that doesn’t have much extra space for a display can still work with a manufacturer to show a few sinks and faucets. (Photo courtesy Blanco America Inc.)

seeing is that consumers buy their plumbing supplies for their home projects from different channels, and selling the faucets can be a way for a fabricator to become more of an advisor to his countertop clients – especially since Kohler has different business models designed to fit just about any stone shop.

“It’s more a matter of business philosophies than size,” Hansen says.

“It’s the people who are interested in differentiating themselves from the competition, who are interested in quality and what branded companies can bring to the table. I’ve had success working with guys who are doing two kitchens a day, all the way up to shops that are doing a considerable amount more – like Trindco.”

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statwatch

granite shipments grow in december ‘10

StatWatch is a snapshot of U.S. dimensional-stone imports, offering a summary and exclusive Stone Business analysis of data from the U.S. International Trade Commission.

Comparisons are made mainly on an annual level to gauge market trends.

Analysis is made on import figures of the latest month available.

China again shows a small decline – two percent – with its $18.5 million in value. And, Italy, at $10.1 million, doesn’t move much at all (-0.4 percent). The surprise of last year remains Saudi Arabia, going from sub-$100,000 months in 2009 to a strong finish of $811,052 in December 2010.

All figures give are for December 2010 (change from December 2009 amounts in parentheses). “Worked” stone is material that’s shorn from boulders and blocks, and then cut in standard dimensional measures (such as slabs and tiles) and polished (at least once, one side).

WORKED GRANITE VOLUME

WORKED GRANITE VALUE Total: $79.7 million (8.53%) Sector leader: Brazil @ $33.0 million (9.0%) Backfill: December becomes the middling month in granite value for the recovery year of 2010; while Brazil advances from the end of 2009, the increase fails to reach the 33-percent climb seen in November 2010. India makes a strong showing at $12.4 million in customs value to show a 51-percent hike from December 2009 – but it only moves the country into third place.

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Total: 156,213 metric tons (84.1%) Sector leader: India @ 62,225 metric tons (499.8%) Backfill: Granite import values may be wishy-washy, but last December’s tonnage likely put a dent in U.S. docks. India dramatically reverses a second-half 2010 downward slide, sending more granite to the United States in December than in the previous four months combined. Brazil moves to #2 for the month, and its 42,123 metric tons are a 14.4-percent increase from December 2009.

China finishes a comparably weak second-half 2010 with 25,518 metric tons, down 2.9 percent from December 2009. Italy, meanwhile, posts its third-best month of 2010 with 20,174 metric tons, up 210.7 percent from the previous December.

WORKED MARBLE VALUE Total: $15.2 million (-7.1%) Sector leader: Italy @ $6.5 million (-17.4%) Backfill: Last December proves to be a lumpy flight for marble’s import values, as Italy’s decline accounts for falling farther behind 2009’s tepid pace. Spain also records a significant drop – $1.4 million, down 32.4 percent – from December 2009, while Israel freefalls to $89,278, a 73.3-percent decline.

December 2010 also shows some high points, though, as China sends $3.9 million in worked-marble value, up 23.8 percent from the previous December. Turkey bumps up its marble imports by 23.9 percent to $1.2 million, and Greece finishes 2010 in decent fashion with $439,149, up 37.1 percent from December 2009.

WORKED MARBLE VOLUME Total: 14,125 metric tons (-0.8%) Sector leader: China @ 5,309 metric tons (-1.5%) Backfill: The lead for top worked-marble exporter to the United States changes hands again, as China ships 5,309 metric tons in December 2010. Sharp-eyed observers will also note that China increased worked-marble

statwatch customs value while decreasing import volume, which means the country’s getting more for its stone at the end of last year.

Last December also finds few slouches as far as tonnage totals; Italy’s 3,652 metric tons offers a 1.6-percent increase while Turkey pumps up its shipments by 82.9 percent to 1,983 metric tons. Only Spain shows any major loss among the top exporters, with its 1,444 metric tons representing a 33.7-percent decline from December 2009.

TRAVERTINE VALUE Total: $17.8 million (2.5%) Sector leader: Turkey @ $11.5 million (8.2%) Backfill: December 2010 shows the shipment values declining from major exporters, save the one that matters – Turkey, since it controls more than two-thirds (by value) of the U.S. travertine-import market. China makes some positive noise, moving up 29 percent from December 2009 to 914,412 metric tons.

Mexico still lags behind 2009, with last December’s nearly $3.2 million representing a 9.3-percent drop.

Peru also fails to exceed December

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2009, with $954,870 showing a 6.9-percent decrease. Italy finishes an up-and-down year on the down side, with its $714,213 behind December 2009 by 36.7 percent.

TRAVERTINE VOLUME Total: 28.281 metric tons (1.8%) Sector leader: Turkey @ 21,236 metric tons (1.9%) Backfill: It’s not hard to see

Turkey’s shipments to the United States keep near-exact pace with the total tonnage of travertine entering the country.

For every four tons of travertine accepted at ports-of-entry, Turkey accounted for three of them in December 2010.

At 3,947 metric tons, the imports from Mexico in December 2010 mark the second-worst month of the year, but it still beats the end of 2009 by 1.7 percent. China manages a 59.5-percent boost to 976 metric tons; Peru’s 939 metric tons shows a 12.3-percent decline from December 2009.

OTHER CALCAREOUS VALUE Total: $6.3 million (-29.5%) Sector leader: Italy @ $1.0 million (-33.7%) Backfill: Even without the Lebanon Effect (and we’ll get to that soon enough), this category of limestone and other like stones remains a laggard for 2010. Long the leader, Italy may be surpassed soon by one of three other candidates with decent December 2010 showings: France ($835,645), China ($814,898) or Portugal ($779,273).

China became the only one of the lot to post a gain from December 2009 at 36.1 percent.

Only two other countries with more than $200,000 of import values managed an annual gain in December 2010 – Mexico ($574,593; 22.7 percent) and Egypt ($342,491; 233.0 percent).

OTHER CALCAREOUS VOLUME Total: 8,404 metric tons (-89.9%) Sector leader: Portugal @ 1,549 metric tons (44.9%) Backfill: The drastic drop-off is the result of the Lebanon effect; that Mideast country dominated the U.S. import market for other calcareous until last June, when it stopped shipping any of the stone here. However, even if Lebanon’s 71,483 metric tons in December 2009 is discounted, the imports in December 2010 still show a decline of 28.9 percent from the previous year.

SLATE VALUE Total: $4.6 million (11.9%) Sector leader: China @ $1.9 million (13.3%) Backfill: China widens its lead over India in dimensional, non-roofing slate during December 2010, although both fall short of the $2-million values each racked up in November 2010.

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a clean perspective

holey floors!

By Tom McNall

I’ll never forget a genteel lady from Alabama asking me, in her regional drawl: “ How do Ah keep these holes from appearing in my fla-oors?”

She was, of course, speaking about her travertine floors.

I replied with a serious, sober look and straight delivery: “Quit walking on them.”

Since then, I’ve explained this to many a homeowner uneducated in geology, but nonetheless still perplexed with the perceived problem of peculiar pits presenting themselves in their floors. To put it simply: If you’re going to walk on your floors, you’re going to wear them.

You can no further prevent holes from appearing in travertine then you can prevent clouds from appearing in the sky. It’s nature; it’s gonna happen.

Now ... in some parts of the world you get very few clouds, and in others it seems like the sun never comes out.

It’s the same with travertine floors; some will have itty-bitty holes and others will have craters.

I hear a lot of talk about the grading of travertine. It’s usually from an end user who bought the low grade of the stone (not knowing there was a difference) and ended up being educated by the seller.

Look, I sat on the board of the Marble Institute of America for five years. I know several members of committees and boards of the most-influential associations, societies and institutes in the floor industry, and I’ve YET to see any published “official” documentation about grades of travertine.

A few unofficial classification systems from some distributors offer three grades, the definitions of which most tile sellers and end users never see until a problem arises. The terms vary, depending on supplier, but generally there is a first grade (or Premium or sometimes a luxurious Italian title), a mid-grade (with an impressive-sounding European name) and a third (or commercial) grade.

Why anyone would specify a third-grade travertine in any commercial application is beyond my thinking capacity, but it does keep my family fed.

Generic descriptions of each classification are as follows: Premium travertine (aka first grade) – These tiles/slabs are double-filled (first by machine, then by hand).

They are selected to have consistent coloring throughout the crates, and the only limitation about holes (again this varies by producer) is either “no large holes” or “no holes/fill all the way through each tile.” They will also specify no chipped or cracked edges, and that the tiles/slabs be the same thickness throughout.

Mid-Level (aka second grade) – The definitions are similar to first grade, but each supplier uses looser language.

They generally call for consistent color; one advertises “double-filling,” but doesn’t specify if the second fill is done by hand, as is done with their first grade of travertine. Large filled holes are allowed; some filled holes through full thickness allowed. One even says: “May contain swirls or long striations (lines).” I’ve actually seen many machine marks in certain suppliers’ travertine, usually after installation.

Commercial Grade – Wide light/dark color variation, with gray or black inclusions allowed. Defects in honing and sizing allowed. Small unfilled holes allowed; no hand filling, large filled voids allowed, non-stop holes allowed (from the bottom to surface). Cracked and broken edges permitted.

Delivered without any color selection or sorting. (Anyone who has spoken to me in person will have heard where this grade is usually sold, and the reasons behind the sales.)

Don’t get me wrong here. I love travertine. It’s in my en-suite shower; I plan on doing my foyer, breakfast room and kitchen in travertine with black granite highlights.

I think it is a great stone. It looks awesome and wears well – but, my friends, I know what to expect out of it.

You can get your fill of travertine – a lot of fills, depending on the quality of the stone – when restoring a floor, but you can make a pitted floor look great.

As an example, try this job-in-progress, with the yet-to-be-worked surface in the foreground. (Photo courtesy Tom McNall)

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And, I also know how to repair it.

We can bring mountains of this stuff out of the ground, but it’s going to expose a few holes when we slice it up, fill it, and put it on our walking paths. Expecting anything less just isn’t practical.

One of the reasons that travertine is so popular today is that it’s a natural stone affordable to the masses.

However, many of the masses fail to do their homework, and assume that all stone is top-notch and rock-solid. I truly believe that travertine is a timeless product and, when used in the right application, each grade has its place.

One thing I’ve learned from working on travertine in all levels and grades is that a bargain when buying travertine is almost always perception, not reality.

If you’re getting travertine for $2 ft2, you’d best put that stuff on the walls, my friend.

The Getty Center in Los Angeles is literally covered in travertine; floors, columns, interior/exterior walls, even moulding. When I visited the museum, I was more impressed by the artwork of stone then I was with the works of Monet, Pissaro and several other dead Europeans.

The main things I hope to impart to you: 1.) That you won’t speak harshly of a stone that does have plenty of practical applications; 2.) That you’ll urge the sellers of travertine to pass down their insights on the stone (including its makeup and limitations) to their customers before problems occur; and 3.) That perhaps the industry as a whole, can produce, document and distribute some practical and easy-to-understand standards for the classification of travertine, so the customer can tell what they are getting.

Just about every other industry, such as timber and meat, can grade their natural products: We should, too.

Until next time, keep your stick on the ice.

Tom McNall is founder and owner of Great Northern Stone Care, a Huron Park, Ontario-based stone-cleaning and -restoration company servicing all of southern Ontario. Tom also offers corporate and private consultations; he can be reached at stone_rx@earthlink.net.

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product review M AT E R I A L S STONE BRAND GBI Tile and Stone Inc., Costa Mesa, Calif,, launches its Quarry Collection brand to support specialty retail accounts and position a recognized consumer brand. The line includes a stone system arranged in families of coordinating sizes and border options; a selection of antiqued stone flooring recreating the patina and grace of reclaimed stone flooring; an extensive range of border, accent, and mixed mosaic tiles; and a carefully edited selection of marble, limestone, and granite slabs appropriate for indoor and outdoor applications.

Contact: Quarry Collection, 949-567-1880. www.quarryc.com

NEW SANDSTONE

and Mosaic shapes. Both are available in 1" thin veneer and 3"-5" building veneer. Thin Veneer options include flats and corners.

Contact: Stoneyard.com, 978-742-9800. www.stoneyard.com

BUILDING STONE

K2 Stone, Nanaimo, B.C., introduces Big Sky Stone. Quarried in northwest Montana, the Big Sky line includes thin stone, full-bed stone, retaining blocks and flagstones among other shapes.

Colors include Autumn Gold, Autumn Flame and Elk Ridge.

Contact: K2 Stone, 250-722-2420. www.k2stone.ca

seam setter units with 8" cups (with cup covers), storage case, four vacuum cup thumb-pump plungers, and 15' of extension tubing with adapters. This enables installers to join and level two seams simultaneously (up to 15' apart), or link all four seam-setter units together for one large seam – all with the use of one vacuum pump.

Contact: Omni Cubed Inc., 877-311-1976. www.omnicubed.com

WET STONE SAW

BUILDING STONE

Colorado Sandstone Quarries, Loveland, Colo., introduces Colorado Blonde, the latest addition to its line of locally quarried sandstone products.

It’s available in a variety of cuts and sizes, including slabs, blocks, 4" and 8" strip stone, patio squares, and thin veneer in both flats and corners.

Contact: Colorado Sandstone Quarries, 970-5677388. www.ColoradoSandstoneQuarries.com

NEW VENEER

Slimrock™, Cecil, Ark., offers Arkansas River Valley stone quarried near Ozark, Ark., for use in a wide variety of applications. The company features thin veneer in a range of colors and sizes, including its Essentials line, with faces from 4"-12" in height, and the Magnum line, with faces up to 22". Slimrock also offers building stone in a 4" thickness in both split and tumbled faces, flagstones, pavers ranging from 2"-2.5" in thickness, and 1" thick sawn tiles for flooring.

Contact: Slimrock, 479-667-2121. www.slimrock.com

M A C H I N E RY Stoneyard.com, Littleton, Mass., now offers Greenwich Gray and Colonial Tan in the Square & Rectangular shape for natural-stone veneer; previously, the stones were available only in Ledgestone

MULTIPLE-SEAM SETTING Omni Cubed Inc., Placerville, Calif., introduces the Multi-Seam Expansion Kit for the company’s Automatic Stealth Seamer™. The kit includes two

Braxton-Bragg, Knoxville, Tenn., offers the new Skil Wet Stone Saw, using a 5" blade for cutting up to 1 1/2" deep. The unit features an 11-amp motor with a top speed of 12,000 rpm, with a spindle lock for easier blade changing; it also includes a 12' water kit with metal hose connection to fit a standard hose or faucet at any basic water connection.

Contact: Braxton-Bragg, 800-575-4401. www.braxton-bragg.com

ROTARY-SCREW COMPRESSORS Kaeser Compressors, Fredericksburg, Md., offers the redesigned SK rotary-screw compressor series with a smaller design footprint and greater flow at 46-89 cfm with pressures from 80-217 psig. The new machines retain the Sigma Profile airend, as well as automatic belt tensioning, efficiency motors, heavy soundproofing and a four-zone air cooling design. The

Get It Online!

Product Review is available at Stone Business Online (www.stonebusiness.net) with direct links to manufacturers and vendors. Just click on the “Product Review” button of the Main Menu!

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product review standard height is useful for working with thick blocks requiring extra Z-axis clearance, and can hold pieces securely when hand-grinding and –polishing.

Available models include three round, three square and five long-axis sizes.

Contact: Blick Industries, 949-499-5026. www.blickindustries.com

SPECIALTY SUCTION CUPS concentrations for long life; available diameters are 12", 14", 16" and 18".

Contact: GranQuartz, 800-458-6222. www.granquartz.com machines are available as stand-alone compressor units, with integrated dryers or as AirCenter packages, and with variable speed drive.

Contact: Kaeser Compressors, 877-586-2691. www.kaeser.com/sigma

LOW-PROFILE CUPS

BRIDGE-SAW BLADES GranQuartz, Tucker, Ga., introduces the Pearl® P5™ REACTOR™ ProII™ line of bridge-saw blades in 50mm/60mm arbor and engineered with ADM™ diamond-pattern and –layering technologies. The blades feature 26mm segments and high diamond

Blick Industries, Laguna Beach, Calif., offers low-profile suction cups in a variety of sizes. The 55mm (2.17")

Anver Corp., Hudson, Mass., offers a full line of small vacuum suction cups for end-of-arm-tooling to optimize specific process requirements. The cups come in silicone, NBR, nitrile, neoprene, natural gum rubber, vinyl and static-dissipative

` META CREME™

Next Generation Impregnating Sealer

• Permanently seals all stone, concrete and grout • Invisible and breathable • Superior oil and water stain protection • Easy single coat application • LEED-compliant, low odor, ultra-low VOC cream • Treated surfaces are food contact safe • 15 YEAR NO-STAIN WARRANTY available*

Remember to ask about STAIN-PROOF, our proven, permanent, solvent-based sealer. * Ask about becoming a Dry-Treat Accredited Applicator.

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Nomastat™ materials. Offered in flat and single- or multiple-bellows styles in diameters from 2mm to 88mm, the cups are designed to meet a variety of job requirements.

Contact: Anver Corp., 800-654-3500. www.anver.com

INSTALLATION, RENOVATION, RENEWAL NEW GROUT COLORS

out sagging, slipping and slumping.

The solution can be used with moisture-sensitive stone, and bonds effectively with resin backings on natural stone.

Contact: Custom Building Products, (800) 272-8786. www.custombuildingproducts.com

ADHESIVE Axiom 25 Ltd., Amherst, N.Y., offers Axiom High-Tack™, a one-component adhesive/sealant for natural stone and

engineered stone. It offers instant tack, high strength, and is odorless, neutral and free of silicone and isocyanides. It is available in 290 ml cartridges.

Contact: Axiom 25 Ltd., 716-619-4990. www.axiom25.com

LATICRETE International Inc., Bethany, Conn., offers six new colors – Tawny, Desert Khaki, Hot Cocoa, Terra Cotta, Espresso and Dusty Grey – for its LATICRETE® SpectraLOCK® PRO Grout, LATICRETE SpectraLOCK 2000 IG, and LATICRETE PermaColor Grout™ lines, as well premium acrylic caulks to complement each of the six new grout colors. The company also discontinued the following colors: Navajo Tan, Caramel, Copper Beech, Cinnamon, Buff and Dusty Rose.

Contact: LATICRETE International Inc., 800-243-4788. www.laticrete.com

EPOXY MORTAR

Custom Building Products, Seal Beach, Calif., introduces EBM-Lite™ Epoxy Bonding Mortar, a lightweight, 100-percent-solids epoxy mortar formulated with recycled content for horizontal or vertical joints. The recycled aggregate offers a smoother, creamier consistency for holding materials with-

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news GK NAQUIN ELECTED MIA PRESIDENT CLEVELAND – Gasper “GK” Naquin, founder and president of Stone Interiors, is the new president of the Marble Institute of America.

Naquin, chosen at the MIA’s annual meeting in Las Vegas during StonExpo/Marmomacc Americas last month, succeeds Brett Rugo.

A longtime active member and educator with the MIA, Naquin founded Stone Interiors in 1996, Naquin building it into a company with two locations in Loxley, Ala., and Gaston, S.C. (Both are MIA-accredited facilities.) Stone Interiors also won the 2004 Pinnacle Award for Special Use of Stone.

Prior to starting Stone Interiors, Naquin was a partner for more than 20 years with Intrepid Enterprises in New Orleans. Intrepid grew from a regional commercial stone company to one covering most of the southern half of the United States, Naquin sold his interest in Intrepid in 1996 to found Stone Interiors.

Other 2011 officers chosen for the MIA’s Board of Directors are: • Michael Twiss, Columbia Stone, Tualatin, Ore., as vice president; • Jonathan Zanger, Walker Zanger Inc., Perth Amboy, N.J., as secretary; • Tony Malisani, Malisani Inc., Great Falls, Mont., as treasurer.

In addition, David Castellucci of Kenneth Castellucci & Associates Inc. in Lincoln, R.I., and Patrick Perus of Polycor Inc. in Quebec City, Quebec, were elected to the board of directors for four-year terms. Luca Burlamacchi of Decolores Marmores de Granitos LTDA, Cachoeiro do Itapemirim, Brazil, was elected to fill the vacant Central/South American board seat.*

NATURAL STONE COUNCIL GETS FUNDING MATCH HOLLIS, N.H. – The stone industry will get a chance to double their donations to the Natural Stone Council (NSC) this year.

The Natural Stone Alliance pledged in late January to match industry contributions to the NSC in 2011 on a dollar-for-dollar basis up to a maximum of $100,000. Currently, the NSC reports 2011 pledges at more than $30,000.

The industry group will use the funding in its efforts to certify and promote the sustainability aspects of natural stone.

At its Jan. 24 meeting in Las Vegas during StonExpo/Marmomacc Americas, the NSC’s board of directors re-established several key committees to support one of the primary NSC initiatives of funding and promoting the development of an American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Dimension Stone Standard. This global effort will establish a credible sustainability certification program and environmental standard for natural stone.

Other key committee work will focus on improved awareness and promotion for both the NSC and its efforts to position natural stone as a sustainable and preferred building material.

Publicity, website and video-development teams will work to ensure the message behind the NSC’s collective effort is well-documented, explained, and reaches its audience.

The board also elected Brenda Edwards of TexasStone Quarries as NSC chair for 2011. Other officers elected for this year are Harry Triebe Sr. of Sonny and Sons Stone Co. as vice chair; Jim Owens of the Indiana Limestone Institute as treasurer; and Jane Bennett of the Building Stone Institute as secretary.

To learn more about the NSC or pledge support under the matching contribution program visit www. genuinestone.com or contact Executive Director Duke Pointer at 603-465-2616 at dukepointer@aol.com.*

STONETECH 2011 GOES, GETS BIG BEIJING – Dongsheng Stone, Huahui Stone, UMGG, Junli Stone, Yingliang Stone, Forever Stone, Jiecheng Stone, and other big stone companies will show together here at STONETECH 2011 on April 20-23, with the rapid growth of stone market in North China powering the grand get-together.

Owing to the saturation of the South China market and increase of production cost, stone companies in Shuitou adjusted their focus to North China. The Nan”an Shuitou International Stone Exhibition in Fujian late last year showed more companies decided to move northward and build factories, especially in Tianjin, a modern port city just 30 minutes away from Beijing.

Along with the northward movement is the large-scale construction of stone markets and wholesale centers. Currently there are six stone wholesale markets and each one is covering at least 3,000 acres. In 2011, more companies are expected to be located in Tianjin, including Kangli Stone and Xishi Stone.

The project demand for stone materials keeps a sustainable annual growth of approximately 25 percent especially of the top-grade kind. Because of the vast demand of stone from project construction, UMGG and Xishi are engaged more in the project market. It’s said that the North business of Xishi Stone increased rapidly, and more than half of it is ascribed to project construction.

For more information on STONETECH 2011 Bejing, go to english.stonetechfair.com.*

BRETON SHINES WITH SOL AR AT FACTORY CASTELLO DI GODEGO, Italy – Breton s.p.a. recently went green in a big way – as in getting almost a third of its electrical needs via the sun.

The stone-fabrication-equipment manufacture recently installed photovoltaic panels on its factory roofs, in cooperation with ESPE S.r.l. of San Pietro in Gu’, Italy. The project included an overall net area of 161,458 ft2 (15,000 m2).

The grid, generating up to 2,250 kWp, will produce approximately 2.45 million kWh annually. Breton hopes to obtain up to 30 percent of its energy consumption via the system, and reduce CO2 emissions by more than 1,300 tons.

In addition, the outside parking shelters of Breton’s headquarters in Castello di Godego have been provided with a photovoltaic plant.

ESPE will provide the technical management, administration and maintenance (O&M) of the new plants.*

*WANT TO KNOW MORE ... AND SOONER? All of the noted* items are covered in-depth at Stone Business Online (www.stonebusiness.net) – where you can read industry news long before you get your magazine in the mail.

Make it a habit to check our webpage, or keep tabs at our Facebook fan page (www.facebook.com/stonemagazine)!

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NKBA: GRANITE LEADS, QUARTZ GAINS HACKETTSTOWN, N.J. – Granite is still the overwhelming choice of North American designers for bathrooms, but quartz surfaces are still cutting into that lead, according to a “Top 11 Trends” survey from the National Kitchen and Bath Association (NKBA).

The survey of 100+ NKBA-member designers, in their work during 2010’s last quarter, showed that 83 percent of them incorporated granite in designs, compared to 54 percent using quartz surfaces. That’s a perceptible change from the 2009 NKBA survey, where 85 percent used granite and 48 percent worked quartz into a job.

The big 2010 loser in the bathroom, according to the survey, is solid marble, with 37 percent of the designers choosing the stone. The previous year, 46 percent of those surveyed put marble in a project.

Solid-surface materials, meanwhile, made a small gain – from 23 percent in 2009 to 25 percent last year. No other material made it past the 20-percent approval line.

The NKBA survey also showed one area of near-total agreement among designers – 97 percent of them specified an undermount bathroom sink at the end of 2010, up from 95 percent in 2009. For those stone fabricators and installers grumbling about fitting vessel sinks, be prepared for more; the survey showed 51 percent of designers using them, up from 39 percent in 2009.

Drop-in bathroom sinks, meanwhile, also improved in designer selection last year, but run far behind other types.

Only 27 percent of the designers specified a drop-in.

Green – as in the color, not the sustainability factor – made a big gain, moving to 24 percent from 2009’s 14 per-

cent. Other popular colors with designers at the end of last year included blues (22 percent), grays (21 percent) and bronzes/terracottas (17 percent).*

COLORADO MARBLE QUARRY REOPENS MARBLE, Colo. – The Yule Marble Quarry is back in business here, and with new ownership.

The Aspen Daily News reports that the marble quarry – which provided the stone for the Lincoln Memorial and the Tomb of the Unknowns – reopened last November, ending a 10- month closure.

The rights to quarry at the site changed hands last October, with previous owner Polycor selling to Carrara, Italy-based Locati Luciani Enrico Sas. Terms of the deal remain confidential, according to the Daily News.

Under the agreement, Polycor will remain as exclusive distributors of the Colorado Yule marble in North America.

The quarry’s administrator told the Daily News that the quarry will employ eight workers, although staffing may increase to 15 during summer months; an adequate annual yield is 7,000 cubic meters.

The quarry and a close-by mill, developed in the early 1900s, produced marble until a disastrous 1941 flood. In the 1990s, Sierra Mineral Corp. restarted production under a lease from Swiss minerals giant Omya; Sierra then sold the lease to Polycor in 2004.

Polycor continued to operate the quarry after being acquired by French stone conglomerate Rocamat S.A. in 2007. In January 2010, however, Polycor shut down operations at the Yule quarry, citing the recession and high transportation costs, according to the Daily News.*

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calendar MARCH 2011 Events 22-25 Revestir 2011, Transamérica Expo Center, São Paulo, Brazil. ANFACER, +55-11-32897555. www.exporevestir.com.br/en 23-26 Marble 2011, Izmir Fair, Izmir, Turkey.

IZFAS, +90-232-482-12-70. www.izmirfair.com.tr 31-April 3 TechniPIERRE 2011, Liège Exhibition Centre, Liège, Belgium. Foire Internationale de Liège, +32-4-227-77-67. www.technipierre.be Education 30 “Business Success for Fabricators,” Atlanta. Marble Institute of America, 440-250-9222. www.stoneindustry education.com

APRIL 2011 Events 20-23 STONETECH 2011, China International Exhibition Center, Beijing. CCPIT Building Materials Sub-Council, +86-10-68362774. www.stonetechfair.com 26-28 K/BIS (Kitchen and Bath Industry Show), Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas. Nielsen Expositions, 800-933-8735. www.kbis.com Education 14-16 Stone Fabricators Alliance “Diversification with Stone and Concrete” Workshop, Wilmington, N.C. Bluewater Surfaces, 910-254-9888. www.stonefabricatorsalliance.com 14-15 Restoration and Maintenance Seminar, Powell, Tenn. VIC International Corp., 800-423-1634. www.vicintl.com/Jan_San_Seminar.htm 14 “Marketing Your Stone Company in Today’s World of Google & Social Media,” Houston. Marble Institute of America, 440-250-9222. www.stoneindustryeducation.com

New Orleans. AIA, 202-626-7300. convention.aia.org Education 12-14 Stone Fabricators Alliance “High Production Facility” Workshop, Beltsville, Md. Artelye Marble & Granite, 301-931-6616. www.stonefabricators alliance.com 19 “Marketing Your Stone Company in Today’s World of Google & Social Media,” Denver. Marble Institute of America, 440-250-9222. www.stoneindustryeducation.com

JUNE 2011 Events 22-25 Stone+tec 2011, Nuremberg Exhibition Centre, Nuremberg, Germany.

NürnbergMesse North America, 770-6185830 or NürnbergMesse GmbH, +49-9-1186-06-81-08. www.stone-tec.com Education 16 “Marketing Your Stone Company in Today’s World of Google & Social Media,” Boston. Marble Institute of America, 440-250-9222. www.stoneindustryeducation.com 16-17 Restoration and Maintenance Seminar, Powell, Tenn. VIC International Corp., 800-423-1634. www.vicintl.com/Jan_San_Seminar.htm 16-18 Stone Fabricators Alliance “Brembana VNT” Workshop, Winnipeg, Manitoba.

River City Stone, 204-927-8663. www.stonefabricatorsalliance.com 23 “Business Success for Fabricators,” Toronto. Marble Institute of America, 440-250-9222. www.stoneindustry education.com

J U LY 2 0 1 1

M AY 2 0 1 1

Education 14-16 Stone Fabricators Alliance “Marketing/Sales/Branding” Workshop, Woodinville, Wash. Venetian Stone Works, 425-486-1234. www.stonefabricatorsalliance.com

Events 12-24 American Institute of Architects (AIA) 2011 National Convention and Design Expo, Ernest N. Morial Convention Center,

28 “Business Success for Fabricators,” Seattle. Marble Institute of America, 440-250-9222. www.stoneindustry education.com

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AUGUST 2011 Education 1-4 “Basic Fabrication/Hands-On Training,” Gilbert, Ariz. AZ School of Rock, 480-309-9422. www.azschoolofrock.com 8-11 “Basic Fabrication/Hands-On Training,” Gilbert, Ariz. AZ School of Rock, 480-309-9422. www.azschoolofrock.com 11-13 Stone Fabricators Alliance “Advanced Production” Workshop, Bangor, Maine.

Qualey Granite, 207-947-7858. www.stonefabricatorsalliance.com

SEPTEMBER 2011 Events 21-24 Marmomacc 2011, Verona Exhibition Centre, Verona, Italy. VeronaFiere, +390458-298-111. U.S. contact: Consultants International Group, 202-783-7000. www.marmomacc.it Education 8-10 Stone Fabricators Alliance “An Eye for Detail” Workshop, Carson City, Nev. Perfection Connection, 775-882-4488. www.stonefabricatorsalliance.com 14 “Business Success for Fabricators,” Washington. Marble Institute of America, 440-250-9222. www.stoneindustry education.com

OCTOBER 2011 Events 20-22 International Countertop Expo, Rio All-Suites Casino & Resort, Las Vegas.

International Surface Fabricators Association, 877-464-7732. www.countertopexpo.org 27-29 Hardscape North America 2011, Kentucky Exhibition Center, Louisville, Ky. Sellers Expositions, 888-580-9960. www.hardscapena.com

Have an event, classroom or workshop for professionals?

Send the information to emerson@stonebusiness.net.

For a complete, up-to-the-minute listing of stoneindustry events, go to www.stonebusiness.net.

March 2011 Ad Index Company

Page

AMJ........................................................................................ 50 Anderson Bros & Johnson ...................................................... 4 Beckart .................................................................................. 27 Blick Industries ...................................................................... 11 Braxton-Bragg LLC ................................................................ 3 Cemar Electro ...................................................................... 26 Chemcore ............................................................................ 39 Chippewa Stone .................................................................... 35 Custom Building Products .................................................... 28 DAA, Inc................................................................................ 13 Diamant Boart/Husqvarna Construction Products .............. 34 Domain Industries ................................................................ 44 Eclipse Stainless................................................................ 30-31 Fabricators Choice ................................................................ 21 Flow Intl........................................................................ Insert-4 GranQuartz ............................................43, Inside Back Cover Hi-Tech Fastener .................................................................. 45 Integra Adhesives .................................................... Back cover JMS Jura Marble .................................................................... 16 Jerong Products ...................................................................... 7 LAP Laser .............................................................................. 47

Company

Page

Laser Products Industries...................................................... 29 Lustro Italiano........................................................................ 36 MS International ........................................................ Insert 2-3 Marmomacc 2011 ................................................................ 15 Marble and Granite Service .................................................... 1 Marble Institute of America .................................................. 55 Master Wholesale.................................................................. 51 Meshoppen Stone ................................................................ 49 OMAX .................................................................................. 25 Omni Cubed Inc .................................................................. 37 Pearl Abrasive Co. ................................................................ 19 Polycor ....................................................................................5 Prestige Granite .................................................................... 56 Prodim .................................................................................. 41 Rye Corp .............................................................................. 23 Salem Stone ........................................................................ IFC Stone Fabricators Alliance .................................................... 17 Stonebroker.com .................................................................. 47 THE SIZE .................................................................... Insert-1 Wilson Electric ...................................................................... 18 Wood’s Powr-Grip ................................................................ 40

M S International, Inc. (www.msistone.com), a leading importer and distributor with 11 Distribution Centers nationwide is seeking a sales professional to cover the Northeast territory to represent its ceramic and porcelain line of products.

Prior experience in the product category preferred. Must have a proven track record of sales achievements and knowledge of the target distributor and dealer base in the territory.

Competitive compensation plan includes: base salary, bonus opportunity, 401K Plan and more. Please submit your resume and salary history for immediate review to: msirecruit@msistone.com

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