EAST TEXAS UNFILTERED w/J. Chad Parker: Featuring Craig Berry

In this episode of East Texas UNFILTERED, host J. Chad Parker sits down with Craig Berry of Berry Marble & Granite. Craig shares how a Tyler-based company grew into a highly respected name in stone fabrication. He talks about learning business from his father and starting young. He explains how the industry shifted from cultured marble to granite, quartzite, and porcelain. He also explains why investing in people can be the most important investment an entrepreneur can make. Craig’s focus on quality and the customer have also been keys to his success.

Craig also reflects on the day he closed on the marble company. It was the most frightening moment of his life. The ride back from the bank felt heavy and final. He knew there was no backup plan. Success was the only option. That moment shaped how he leads and how he takes responsibility. This episode is for dreamers, builders, and anyone willing to bet on themselves. Like and subscribe for more real stories from East Texas.

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:00

Oh, do you remember the day that you closed on the marble company?

SPEAKER_02 0:03

It's funny you bring that up because that was uh that was actually the scariest moment of my entire life. Because it was all on you now. I had begged and begged, and this is all I'd wanted. And I remember going to the bank, do the closing, and I ride with the ex-own back. And and it was uh it it it was terrifying that ride back because I was like, if this doesn't work, nobody's ever gonna believe me.

SPEAKER_03 0:41

Welcome to another episode of East Texas Unfiltered. I'm your host, J. Chad Parker. Today I wanted to have a guest on the show uh that did me a wonderful job, and you look at it each and every podcast that I put on. It's this table. Um I looked at this table, I know that we selected stone to make it, but the fabrication process and the end result was absolutely beautiful. Um and I wanted uh our audience to hear uh from a company that lives here in Tyler, operates out of Tyler that can produce product like this. Craig, thank you for being here. Good to be here. Craig, I know your history. I know you went to Robert E. Lee High School because you were a year behind me. Correct. Uh you went on to TCU where you majored in finance, uh, and you always seem to have kind of this draw to having your own business. Is that uh is that right?

SPEAKER_02 1:32

Oh yeah, I always do. That's what I wanted to do.

SPEAKER_03 1:35

Tell me Tell me what your influence was. Like why did you think you wanted to major in finance and why did you want to have a business yourself?

SPEAKER_02 1:44

You know, that's the way I grew up. My dad uh had always owned his own companies and uh here in East Texas, and I that's all I knew. And to be honest with you, we were blessed and had a good life, and so I wanted the same thing.

SPEAKER_03 2:00

Right. I mean when you are control freaks like you and I, you normally don't like to work for other people. True. Am I right? Uh and when you get used to nice things, you want to have a company that makes money, and your dad was a very good example of that, was he not? Yes, he was. I mean, because I knew Jim, and uh for people who don't know uh Jim uh Barry, your father, uh and Leonard Leafer, they own crow towing. Correct. Um when you were growing up, did you ever do any work or work at the business in summers or things like that? Without a doubt.

SPEAKER_02 2:31

Yeah, I d I did. Uh so yeah, we uh when I was in high school, if there was um truck wreck or something, it could be two in the morning and he would call and I would round up all my my buddies uh and uh we would go on the side of I-20 and unloading a truck or something like that. And I drove tow trucks uh when I was in high school even. Really? I don't think you could do that.

SPEAKER_03 2:52

Yeah, I also got to say I don't remember you ever having a CDL, so uh you know, Barry was known for you know pushing the envelope. Uh there also was some questions about some of the missing goods on the side of the highway that you were over there picking up.

SPEAKER_02 3:05

Uh yeah, I only remember some peanuts one time, but that's about it.

SPEAKER_03 3:08

But your dad, you know, your dad, uh as successful as he was, uh he he was a working man type, wasn't he?

SPEAKER_02 3:15

He was. Um Leonard used to say uh sometimes when they would have a guy missing, he's a highest paid uh tow truck driver in the state of Texas. So yeah.

SPEAKER_03 3:26

Yeah, I mean, because Jim would actually drive the truck when needed and he owned the company. He would do whatever needed to be done. Um part of that good lifestyle that your parents provided included an education at TCU. Correct. How'd you like Fort Worth and TCU?

SPEAKER_02 3:41

I still love Fort Worth. My daughter uh went to uh TCU as well. So yeah, I I love Fort Worth.

SPEAKER_03 3:47

Yeah, and I mean uh for all those uh people that aren't in the ins inner circle like we are, uh your daughter your daughter was the rose queen just here recently, wasn't she? Uh 22, yes, uh she was. Uh, you know, um I guess uh you still paying for that, or is that uh that's pretty expensive endeavor, isn't it? It was uh I'm still recovering.

SPEAKER_02 4:09

But it's where they're I know you will she's a great girl.

SPEAKER_03 4:12

She is a great girl. Okay, so you get out of TCU, you've got a finance degree. Do you contemplate staying in Fort Worth, going someplace else, or is the plan I'm coming back home after college?

SPEAKER_02 4:23

No, I I really for some reason wanted to be in Austin. And uh, in nineteen ninety ninety one, uh you know, uh and uh early nineties, all through the nineties, Austin was great. And uh so I um that's where I wanted to be. Um and I had been looking the last two years that I was in college for a a business purchase, and it's a lot harder than you think to find. To find something for sale. Right. Because either somebody just wants to cash out for a ridiculous amount, or they've got something that's just really not viable.

SPEAKER_03 5:00

They're in trouble. Correct.

SPEAKER_02 5:02

One of the two. And uh so looked for two years and uh um couldn't find anything. And I moved to Austin, had a a job um uh i uh uh um a Toyota dealership down there, and um trying to learn the finance department and everything uh uh there and that was uh that was a a learning experience in a lot of ways because I got to uh talk to a lot of I mean you were the guy giving the guy the wrong interest rate or charging himself. Well I was learning because it uh it didn't it didn't last long and it was um and so it's exhilarating there in the finance department. Yeah I've got some stories. But uh but what uh what happened is I was very frustrated. Uh and I was talking to my dad one day and he was like, you know, son, I I really can't help you down there because I don't know anybody. I know bankers here, I know people here, I I know I said I can't help you. And uh and he's like, if you want to come work for me, I can't pay you very much, but you can come work for me. So that's that's what I did. He's while you look, and uh and so that's that's what happened.

SPEAKER_03 6:14

Okay, so you did actually come back and work for crow towing kind of in this window while you're also scouring the area for a business that might be viable?

SPEAKER_02 6:23

Yes. I I was in in the office dispatching and doing anything that they needed me to do. Uh yeah. What year was this, Craig? This was uh would have been the end uh let's say I graduated in May of 91. Uh this would have been the very end of 91 going into 92. All right.

SPEAKER_03 6:44

So you got here about a year before I came on back, right? Because you were already here, you know, and by then you had gotten to this very marble, I think. Correct. Right? That's what I remember. Yeah. All right. So what businesses can you recall that you'd identified as maybe potentials for uh either you, your and your dad to back, or however it worked out to buy?

SPEAKER_02 7:08

Yeah. Uh like I said, uh there weren't very many that were viable. Um and I was uh I don't know if you remember there was a savings and and loan crisis. And so uh there was houses available, but you had to be you couldn't make very much money to qualify, you know. And uh so I had a good friend, a f a friend of ours, who uh made too much money, so he needed somebody who didn't make much money, me, uh to uh to um purchase the house.

SPEAKER_03 7:42

Is that the house over there on fifth or wherever it was? 7th Street.

SPEAKER_02 7:44

Yeah, I remember it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 7:46

We know who that guy was who was making a lot of money back then. Yeah, we thought that was crazy, right?

SPEAKER_02 7:51

Well he was doing very well. And uh so uh I bought the house with the understanding and agreement that I would sell that after the period of time back to him. And so um Did you sell it back to him? Of course I did. Okay, and so uh but yeah, I b I bought the house, so that was my first house. But I in the closing room I overheard somebody outside saying, talking about this marble company that the guy wanted to sell. And so I think I can't remember his name. Um What was the name of the company before you? Uh uh uh he went by his initials, so which were OD.

SPEAKER_03 8:30

Right. That's what I it was something just not He was no marketing genius.

SPEAKER_02 8:34

No, he had actually OD marble He had actually bought the company um for his uh daughter and son-in-law who lived in Phoenix. And uh and he had bought it for them thinking that they were gonna m they changed their mind. All right.

SPEAKER_03 8:49

So he had a marble company and nobody to run it. Uh except uh good old Jimmy Dunkland. Jim Dunklin was there, yes. Yeah. I mean, which that was a good hand to have with as a younger guy buying a company, right?

SPEAKER_02 9:04

He had been there since 78. And uh so he had already been there a long time, a good guy. Yeah. He was a good guy.

SPEAKER_03 9:13

Now tell me how you go from overhearing somebody in the lobby to actually getting in touch and being in a position to buy the place. Well, I wasn't in a position to buy anything. Uh or at least in the position to be talking to somebody about it.

SPEAKER_02 9:26

Well, I just went and talked. And uh so that's what I did. And then uh the guy was very interested and then looked at the numbers. They weren't making any money, but it it you know, there's some assets. And he didn't want anything, he he was not motivated uh at at all to work. Uh so I saw opportunity there. And then what uh what I did next uh was uh I went to my my dad and mother and said uh I think this is a good opportunity. I can't do it. My dad is not one to give anything away as far as business, he doesn't believe that's the way you do it. And he said, I'll I'll tell you what, uh I I can get you a loan. Um and uh so I didn't get any money. I just got a loan. To buy the company. And I'm gonna own part of the company. Right. And cause nothing that's free.

SPEAKER_03 10:31

Right. Okay. And and that's that kind of fits with the old school hardworking uh Jim Barry. Right. Right? I mean, like, hey, nobody ever gave me anything. Right. Uh I'm gonna help you, but I'm not giving you anything. Right. Uh and um did did Jim participate in the business or or that was just his deal, like, hey, I'm just gonna own part because I'm just like a money partner.

SPEAKER_02 10:52

He didn't participate. Uh no, no. Now, I I if I had uh you know, like we would talk about financial stuff and everything like that, but he he couldn't have told you anything about stone or anything about countertop or nothing.

SPEAKER_03 11:07

He wanted to know how it was doing, though, because he owned an interest and and you were his son and he probably wanted you to do well. That's that's right. Right. And he had some experience, life, life, and business that he probably passed along to you. That's right. All right, so you finally close on the deal. Do you remember the day that you closed on the marble company?

SPEAKER_02 11:25

That's funny you bring that up because that was uh that was actually the scariest moment of my entire life. Because it was all on you now. That's it. I had begged and begged, and this is all I had wanted. And I remember going to the bank, Citizens Bank. Uh now it's not citizens anymore, but uh um and um so we we go, do the closing, and I ride with the ex-owners back because I had left my car uh at the hand you the keys when they dropped you off. And and it was uh it was terrifying that ride back because I was like, if this doesn't work, nobody's ever gonna believe me again with anything.

SPEAKER_03 12:09

You know, so they'd say like your parents would think, Craig, you can't identify anything good, or you know, you ran something in the ground that could have made it. Yeah. Right. I mean, there was no way out for you but success.

SPEAKER_02 12:22

That w that was really uh you know, and we haven't talked, so I I can't believe you brought that up. But yeah, that was a terrifying moment.

SPEAKER_03 12:29

But you know, it reminds me of so many people that end up being successful and take chances. It's like Teddy Roosevelt's uh it hangs in my wall. The man in the arena, right? It's not the critic that counts, but it's the guy who's bloodied and he fights and he fails and he keeps trying. But I mean, uh like you say, there's a lot of anxiety um that people might not appreciate. Oh, your dad helped you get a business. Oh, isn't that nice? Right. That's actually the scariest thing. Right. It's not as easy as it sounds. No. Um okay, so let's uh let's cue up. I you know, I'm seeing you. You're getting out of the car with an old guy who's happy to hand over the business. Hey son, good luck. Right? Pretty much. All right. Do the employees know you're buying this thing?

SPEAKER_02 13:16

Uh y no, they knew quickly. You know, I had a meeting. Uh I was the youngest person there. Um you know, so You were actually twenty-five? Twenty-three. Twenty-three. Twenty-three, the youngest person there. Very small company, only eight people. Uh and uh nowhere to go but up. Yeah, and uh, you know, so you had basically this kid coming in and having a meeting and telling everybody what we're gonna do, you know. And I didn't know anything.

SPEAKER_03 13:49

And you didn't know the nuts and bolts about the the stone, marble, granite, any of that. Nothing. I knew numbers. That's all I knew. All right. So you were coming in with the uh credibility of a college educated boy, right? Basically, but Jim Dunklin's over with a pencil behind his neck, you know, going, hey, who is this guy?

SPEAKER_02 14:08

Yeah, but but you know, uh growing up uh around my dad's companies uh you know for all of my life, you know, m riding in tow trucks when they when he and Leonard had the body shop and and running the sanders and being around guys and and being around customers and being uh I I understood that that part of it as well, not just like the accounting part.

SPEAKER_03 14:34

Right. I mean it's like a guy or a person who has a comfort level with a part of the working man that would be really the backbone of your company. That's who you were introducing yourself to. Yes. The guys that did the manual labor. Yes. They measured, they saw, they cut, they got dirty, they drove, they installed, you know, it they worked late hours, they came back, right? I mean, that's what they did. That's it. Um now when you started, it was called, and you I guess you changed the name to Bury Marble? Correct. Uh and were you exclusively just marble back in 19 say 93?

SPEAKER_02 15:14

Yes. That that's that's really all we did. We had the when we started, we had the culture marble plant. Things have evolved so much.

SPEAKER_03 15:22

I know we're going there, but I'm going all the way back to the Genesis. Okay. Culture Marble Plant. Nobody's talking granite, nobody's talking quartzite, nobody's talking uh you know Brazilian marble yet.

SPEAKER_02 15:33

No, it was uh culture marble and solid surface, when solid surface was like uh uh corian.

SPEAKER_03 15:39

Okay. And corian is a brand name product. Correct. And it's how is it different from marble? So back when you got these two choices in 1993, how is corian different?

SPEAKER_02 15:50

Corian uh um manufactured by DuPont, it's a half-inch product. Um you can make it any thickness you want on the front of the phone. When you say manufactured, did it come in long sheets or was it poured into a mold? Well, it it's poured in a mold uh on a um to make the sheets.

SPEAKER_03 16:07

All right. So you just buy these long sheets from DuPont and then your people would cut them. That's exactly and back in the day there was no robot cutting machine, was there? No. I mean It was all handy. Yeah, if somebody made a mistake, I mean that's waste. True. If somebody measured wrong and cut wrong, that's waste. True. Uh did that happen a lot when you first started uh working in the company, or were the people that were already there just already pretty good?

SPEAKER_02 16:35

Uh again, I'm just gonna tell you, I've been really blessed with great people. Uh and uh all the way to now. Um most of the the people that um uh uh work at the company have been with us a long time. Yeah. Most over ten years, some over twenty.

SPEAKER_03 16:57

Yeah, I mean that's that's true. I mean, anybody who's not honest about that, I don't think he's being honest. Like a lot of my success honestly can be attributable to uh about five women. You know, my paralegal, my wife, and some other people that, you know, make me look good, do a lot of the work, you know. Um, and so I I understand how, you know, you're not in the back.

unknown 17:21

Right.

SPEAKER_03 17:22

You know, miter sawing and running the business, but um the business it seemed to take off though, as I recall.

SPEAKER_02 17:31

Uh yes. Here's what happened. Uh bought at the right time. No doubt. And uh so everything started to to grow. Building started home building started just because when when I first purchased the company, there wasn't a whole lot going on. There weren't a whole lot of houses being built. And you there was probably really ten good good builders in in the Tyler area. And I can't even count them all now. Your favorite Ken Deets? There's so many good great. Right, but you always liked Ken Dietz, right? Yeah, you did a lot with Paul Shewart and uh and uh so yeah, there's just so there's so many.

SPEAKER_03 18:12

You know, I was thinking now there's so many builders.

SPEAKER_02 18:15

And it's so many good ones. I mean, they really are. Well that's good, you know.

SPEAKER_03 18:19

Um But your business it starts growing, and um as I recall, eventually you made a decision to branch out away from Tyler. Tell us about that. Uh I did.

SPEAKER_02 18:35

In uh nine 1997, I had an opportunity to buy a company in Fourny. Uh so I bought um a company in Forney.

SPEAKER_03 18:46

Was it similar in size to OD Marble when you bought it?

SPEAKER_02 18:49

Well, here's what happened. Um granite was starting to become the thing. Okay. So I'm a firm believer in you just go where your customer wants to go. Uh, and that that's what you do. And uh, whatever we're gonna do. And so we were using this company to uh fabricate our granite for the Tyler area. Right. So we became pretty much their biggest client. Right. And so what happened is I was just like, I was just by the company, and so we bought bought that company. And then uh after that, I bought a company in Roy City, and I think maybe a year, year and a half later.

SPEAKER_03 19:31

What was Roy City and how was it any different from the other one?

SPEAKER_02 19:34

Was it just location? It it was just an opportunity. I had uh a vendor come come to me and say, Hey, this guy is not doing well, and um I think there's an opportunity. He's got a good uh some good clients. So I went to the clients and uh then I had a meeting with his employees um that I asked him if I could do, and they all wanted to stay, and so ended up purchasing that company.

SPEAKER_03 20:03

And um then what's Roy City doing? Are they doing marble cultured stuff or are they doing granite also?

SPEAKER_02 20:12

Uh they were doing a little bit of granite and also the culture marble. Uh but the key thing there is they uh had uh inside track with uh D.R. Horton. Trevor Burrus, Jr. Which is a huge home builder. Huge in in the Dallas Trevor Burrus Publicly traded, you know, uh uh and uh so giant. So they had an inside track. You're like, hey, I've got a big customer just waiting to be developed. Correct. And so what happened was is then I had another opportunity to buy another company just outside of McKinney in 2001.

SPEAKER_03 20:48

This farmers branch?

SPEAKER_02 20:49

Uh in in well, we're gonna uh get the building in Farmersville, but this was just outside of McKinney. And so I had these three companies all up there. Um then I had an opportunity to buy a building in Farmersville, which is just right down the road from from McKinney, uh about 20 miles. And uh so 110,000 square feet, I could put everything under one roof.

SPEAKER_03 21:19

Uh and when you say everything, are you saying Roy City, those businesses, you were gonna move all of them under one roof? Correct. And that's what I did. So when you say move, other than the people uh which might live in different areas and they might say, hey, I don't want to go to work wait over here. I mean, I don't know if that was a problem or not.

SPEAKER_02 21:38

It really wasn't because there's a it's kind of a uh corridor, if you can imagine a corridor on the east side of Dallas, uh that's that's the corridor. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 21:47

Uh I I would assume you'd have to move equipment, machinery, things of that nature.

SPEAKER_02 21:52

Yes. And uh maybe even upgrade and set up. Two of the properties were leased uh in the one outside of McKinney I owned with that purchase. So I had to sell that in a piece of property.

SPEAKER_03 22:03

Did you use that opportunity to say uh upgrade or purchase any new equipment since you know a lot of people like when they're going to a new office or going, they leave stuff behind and they and they kind of upgrade. Did you do that at all?

SPEAKER_02 22:16

We we did. That was when really, you know, from about 1998-99, housing exploded. I mean exploded. And for example, we moved into the new building. We were buying uh equipment it seemed like every month. Uh and uh D.R. Horton in 2005, I think we did over 1,700 homes for them alone. In that one year?

SPEAKER_03 22:44

In that one year. And is this primary, you know, the cultured poured in the mold type of marble, or is this granite or some other kind of uh uh uh maybe quartz for the uh kitchens and and then cultured marble for the bathrooms. All right. Cultured marble would probably be uh if people are thinking about this and trying to understand, you know, the solid surface industry. Marble would be the one that's poured into a mold. Culture marble. Right? Different colors, little swoosh, you know, and then uh uh is that product used much anymore?

SPEAKER_02 23:16

That's it It is uh a lot not for countertops because there's so many uh they're better products uh for um for countertops, but um uh showers and tubs, it's completely non-porous, it's completely sanitary, and you only have soap and water, so you're not gonna scratch it up. So it it really is uh a lot. So even on the higher-end homes in a lot of the um we use them.

SPEAKER_03 23:43

Right. Because uh I guess the knock on marble that I understand it, and it doesn't apply in a bathroom, would be a hot pan, and you can sear the surface, right, on marble? Is that right? We're talking about culture marble.

SPEAKER_02 23:55

You wouldn't do that in the kitchen at any time. Because of the Right. It has a gel coat surface on top, uh which makes it non porous, which is perfect for what I said, like tubs and showers, but that can burn.

SPEAKER_03 24:07

Right. I mean, and the non-porous is good when you talk about uh red wine stains and things of that nature, but it it would get seared, if you will, and that's why it's used where it's used, right? Correct. And the fact that it's poured and not mined or or, you know, it makes it a cheaper product, right?

SPEAKER_02 24:26

It's it's the Yes, it is one of the least expensive products you can do in the uh bathroom.

SPEAKER_03 24:31

Aaron Powell All right. And then you know the industry was evolving when you bought the company and and and started to grow your company to into solid surfaces which were already prefabricated sheets that were the Korean product, right? Right. And are those porous, are those suited for kitchens, or are those also bathroom-only type things?

SPEAKER_02 24:51

Aaron Ross Powell Definitely suited for kitchens as well. Um it is possible to burn, but it's at a very high temperature.

SPEAKER_03 24:58

Okay. So that's a better product. And is that a kind of a less expensive product than granite and why people maybe were using it when all that home building was going on?

SPEAKER_02 25:09

Strange thing is uh granite at that particular time in the late 90s, um there wasn't very many colors, maybe ten colors being brought into the United States, really, and except for super high-end projects. And so there just wasn't a lot of options. And that's the colors black, you know? Yeah, you had dark green, you know, like Uba tuba, you had black, you know, and you j you know, absolute black. You just didn't have a whole lot of options. Uh they were good products, uh, but uh there wasn't a whole lot there. And the so the the industry was kind of just getting rolling. And once it did, it that's when your solid surface, your corian uh solid surface started to go to the wayside, except for commercial applications, like it's great for hospitals and everything like that, because it's non-poorish. But uh but as far as housing, granite took over.

SPEAKER_03 26:06

All right. And granite is uh is it sourced in the U.S. or is it outside the country?

SPEAKER_02 26:11

Most all granite, not just in the United States, but all over the world from Brazil.

SPEAKER_03 26:16

All right. Um that's interesting. Why do you think that is that most of the granite is sourced out of Brazil? I mean, is there a reason for that geologically in our historical record or cheap labor to get it out of a mine it out of the ground?

SPEAKER_02 26:32

Aaron Powell No, it's it's it's I don't think it's the cheap labor I it's just because uh that particular spot on the planet just seems to have the greatest source of stone. Many different colors, many different options, all the way from now uh the quartzite and um and and um hard marble and granite.

SPEAKER_03 26:55

All those products come from Brazil? All Brazil. Okay, so um there's granite. Is granite the high-end product um uh for you know homes and and customers that that you you know a lot of times do work for? Granite's not the the high end. Um What is it about granite? Every time people say granite, you got granite countertops, it sounds like you've got something nice.

SPEAKER_02 27:20

Well you you do. But the when I say it's not the high end, uh the thing about granite is it's the least expensive in stone all the way to some of the most expensive. And I have to explain to people all the time, uh you know, it's kinda it's not like buying a car. It's like a diamond. I want first choice granite. Well, not just that. Um some of the least expensive stone is the best stone. And what by best I mean there's no fissures, there's no nothing. It's it's awesome. It looks like a solid. The and some of the harder to work with stone is the most expensive. And it's about rarity in the ground. So it's n not like I've got whatever X brand of car or I've got uh Mercedes, you know, and i you you you have to look at what you want and how it fits what you want. But and you can't go really by price because it doesn't correlate the same way.

SPEAKER_03 28:25

You know, I know your business is um a lot of times relationships with people that hold a lot of these stockpiles of of slabs of granite, right? Yes. I mean you take customers around and y'all actually look at uh very unique pieces uh that are available in the Dallas area primarily, I think, right?

SPEAKER_02 28:47

Yeah, it's Dallas. Um we we have importing partners in Dallas, Austin, um, and um you there's no way I was telling you there might have when we started when in stone there might have been ten colors. There's ten new colors every day. And uh so you can't have it all. So you have to have all of these partners, and you've got to have them everywhere because the most important thing is the customer.

SPEAKER_03 29:14

Aaron Ross Powell And so the customer nowadays, uh with you know websites, photography, pictures, they can look around and say, hey, I like that or I like that. And that is that how you show people the multitude of colors that may be available for their project? Yes. Uh i it just starts by asking questions. Like, hey, what kind of color are you thinking? Brownish, orangish, greenish, and then you go from there? Aaron Ross Powell, Jr.

SPEAKER_02 29:40

And the other great thing with uh um over the last 10 years with the uh of course Google and now with AI it's even better. Is um people come in way more educated. Right. There's so much more they know, they know the material. I've I've joked with some of my clients. I'm like, you know, if you ever need a another job, you know, because they they know, they know their stuff, you know. And uh so we it's it's really nice. And then it's just they just need uh you to guide them and and let them know what the pros and cons of everything. There is no such thing as perfect countertop. Everything has its pros and cons.

SPEAKER_03 30:21

What about um quartzite? That's another commonly used material. What is that and how is it different from granite or say cultured marble? Oh well, uh cultured marble is manufactured.

SPEAKER_02 30:34

So and uh granite quarried, and quartzite is quarried just like granite.

SPEAKER_03 30:39

Okay. When you say quarried, somebody has to cut it out, blast it out of the ground. That's it. And then it's uh in the giant box and slide. It's like going and getting a Swiss cheese cut at the grocery store. They carve that thing one after the other, and each of those may look a little different.

SPEAKER_02 30:58

Slightly. But but they're they're bookmarked and that's the way we we like to get it. Um that way when you put them together, they're they can be perfect.

SPEAKER_03 31:06

All right. And that yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_02 31:07

So that will quartzide is is awesome. Because people like um They don't like seams. They like well, they also like a veined look.

SPEAKER_03 31:15

And they like the vein to be connected all the way through.

SPEAKER_02 31:18

And uh so yes, they like that. Uh but the the first granites that were brought over like in the nineties um were very speckled. And it's kind of a early into the quarry. Right. People like natural marble. Uh you know, that uh dates back. I mean the Romans used marble. But natural marble is veined and it's beautiful. Uh and we do a lot of it. Is it quarried? Uh it's quarried. It's quarried to, you know, um uh whether it be Italy or hard marble in Brazil.

SPEAKER_03 31:53

So Wait, you said Italy, uh and then you said hard marble in Brazil. Is there something different about where they're quarried in is Italy versus Brazil?

SPEAKER_02 32:04

The um the Brazilian marble is a little denser. Uh is that compression in the earth? Honestly, that would be something that a geologist.

SPEAKER_03 32:18

I mean, that was my geology question. Yeah. Is this compression uh more and therefore the material is denser in Brazil than it is in Italy? It's it's denser. Okay. For the most part. It just just I didn't give you the heads up on the uh geology questions. I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_02 32:32

No, it's uh but but it is it is denser. We run tests on all the products and uh you know, but uh it uh it it's definitely denser. You can use it uh in uh a kitchen, no problem.

SPEAKER_03 32:44

Okay, so it that's a marble. The Brazilian marble, Italian marble, both of those can be used in a kitchen? Uh yes.

SPEAKER_02 32:52

Some of the Italian marbles, uh especially the less expensive Italian. There's no absolutes in the grid. Yeah, I would it would be like um it would I would be careful about using it in the kitchen. Um it depends on how you use your kitchen.

SPEAKER_03 33:07

Aaron Ross Powell Right. I mean people, you know and you have to assume with customers that there's a certain amount of abuse that they're gonna engage in and then pretend like that they didn't or didn't understand that you weren't supposed to do that.

SPEAKER_02 33:18

Well that's why the whole point of educating about and you you gotta what we want to do is try to find the right product for the for the client.

SPEAKER_03 33:26

All right. Um so this is the current logo, Barry Marble uh granite.

SPEAKER_02 33:32

Yeah, I think the newest one has red, which I like better. But anyway, yes. All right.

SPEAKER_03 33:36

So I mean I'm okay. So we've talked about some products. Let's look at them now just to kind of give, let's look at some granite. You know, people that are watching this and maybe they've done a little research, but they don't know exactly because now we're starting to see things. Now, this green in this bar, it looks to be with my favorite drink, and why I picked the picture is because there's the Syroc vodka over there. You see that? Right, I do see that. So I I chose this one. Is that my house? No, I'm just kidding, it's not. Um, but that is granite, is it not?

SPEAKER_02 34:06

That that's granite, and that is more like um uh that's probably if I had to guess, probably 2005.

SPEAKER_03 34:17

Are you saying that the uh granite is getting better than it was early in your career owning these companies? Uh better is no, not better. Looking? Looking better. Looking. Okay. Um you said the early stuff was speckled, or are you saying that that's a little speckled? Correct. All right, let's go to the next one. All right. Now, this is a beautiful bar here. Uh and uh It is a beautiful bar. And uh, did your company happen to do this bar? Yes. Uh and uh wonder where that is.

SPEAKER_02 34:51

Hey, that looks awful familiar. And and that's uh and that's look at that Siroc up there on the top shelf. More modern, uh yeah. See that Ciroc up there?

SPEAKER_03 35:01

All right. So this is granite, right? Right. Less speckled. Yes, more veined. And this was done last year. Right. And now let's go to the next slide. Now, do you see uh this fireplace? Yes. All right, this is the same product. Right. And it's a granite product, and uh, you know, in the early years, I didn't see people go floor to ceiling with the granite. Is that something that was done back then? Not very often. All right. I mean, obviously it costs more. Yes. And then, you know, if you looked at the product placement, you needed enough granite to do the bar, to do the this room, the top in here. You know, do you have to have two slabs, or how do you make sure, if you're trying to do two areas the same, that you have enough product?

SPEAKER_02 35:46

Well, with uh we usually have about a hundred different products that we do by only what you need. And so the client does not have to worry about how many slabs. We go straight by the square footage. Okay. So if we have to go barely into another slab, the client doesn't have to worry about that uh because we know we're gonna go through it because we buy the whole bundle.

SPEAKER_03 36:12

Right. And so you've got it, and if there's a mistake and you need some more, you have some on hand, and that's what y'all do as part of your business practices. Correct. All right, let's uh let's go where we're going next. Okay, we're going to marble, but I think we're gonna go hard marble here, I think. Um this kitchen. Popular design, right? The island, you slide the right. Remember the old days how you had the the dual island where you had something low and then you had something up here? Yes. It's all changed now. What do you call this?

SPEAKER_02 36:40

Uh it it's just all one level. Yeah, you used to have the split a lot. We don't see that as much as we used to. And that one's got the uh waterfall edge. Uh that's what I was looking for. It's a waterfall edge. Waterfall edge on the end. And if you can see even on the inside right there, that's not just the rough edge that's been sandwiched on the on the backside, so you can even see that. That's this is marble. That one is marble or might be that might even be a quartite. Okay. I mean it's either a honed quartzite or a marble.

SPEAKER_03 37:14

Hard to tell. All right, because sometimes when they're white and they look the products look a lot alike. Sure. All right, let's go on to something else. Okay. Now this brings up uh an interesting uh comment that I'd like to make. I mean, that's not a kitchen countertop, that's not in the bathroom, that's not in my bar. What is this?

SPEAKER_02 37:30

Uh that's Calcutta Gold, uh, it's Italian marble. And uh that um tabletop and that's a very nice stone.

SPEAKER_03 37:39

I mean, do people uh call upon very marble and granite to make them things that are outside the norm of things that go in a house as part of the bathrooms, kitchens, and bars?

SPEAKER_02 37:49

Yes. I mean we anything that you could possibly cover, we've we've done, you know, whether it be we've done uh walls that uh out of onyx or something that looks like artwork. Um and uh it's not just countertops. It's not just countertops.

SPEAKER_03 38:07

All right. Well, I mean Red just got some awesome stuff. Yeah. What's the uh I mean what are some of the unusual things that you have made people out of stone? Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_02 38:17

Uh so um we're doing now uh there's a the newest product in our um business is porcelain. And so porcelain can look like anything. It can look like the most perfect piece of uh Calcutta Gold marble, or it can look like rusted metal. Um it can look like all sorts of things. It's a completely non-porous manufactured product, and it's the newest thing. So non-porous is good for kitchens. It's good for just about everything, but it's it it's several different thicknesses, so it can be lighter weight. So to answer your question, uh we had a client in Highland Park and did this unbelievable Calcutta Gold, to be honest with you, uh kitchen. And he wanted he's big into uh dogs. And so he wanted uh basically kind of a a uh uh dog feeding station for his his dogs out of the same material in the kitchen, automatic water thing.

SPEAKER_03 39:25

He didn't like the plastic bowls laying around that kitchen in Island Park.

SPEAKER_02 39:28

No. So but it kind of spurred us on. We knew not everybody would want that. So what we did is we created a line of porcelain which looks just like it, uh uh dog bowls and that that people could buy in the Is that on your website? That's not on the website. We just we in fact manufactured some uh last week.

SPEAKER_03 39:51

Yeah, I mean, because I've heard you talk about that before uh off camera. The dog bowl thing, and I've seen I've seen some of them, including at your house. Um and is there any other products that you plan to make that are smaller like that that could be more consumer items uh that kind of just you thought of uh out of the business that you already had? Aaron Ross Powell, Jr.

SPEAKER_02 40:11

Yeah, we we've got uh out of that product, um we've got charcuterie boards and we uh things like that. Well, I mean that's a good thing. It's it's just the the thing about it. I've always wanted to do that, but our product, granite, quartzite uh quartz, it's also heavy. And so with the porcelain, you get the perfect look. You get Is it durable? You you can't burn it.

SPEAKER_03 40:34

Uh porcelain sounds fragile to me. Like if you handed me a porcelain, you know, plate or something, uh or a porcelain figurine, I think I'm gonna break it. It's thicker than the plate. You could break it if you slam it down or something. You say man-made, is it uh is it whipped up in a mix of some kind? Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 40:51

It's like uh quartz is another man-made product. It's pressurized and heated. So it kind of mimics or tries to mimic what the earth does.

SPEAKER_03 40:59

I mean, do you make those products or do you buy those prefabricated? Right. All right. Um now um I mean I can't move past this moment without uh looking down at the table we're sitting at. Now who made this table? We made that table. Right, at my and it was a custom request, right? I said, Hey, can you make me a table that lights up uh and is you know fabricated with metal to hold the and this is what you guys brought out, right?

SPEAKER_02 41:29

Yes. It's unbelievable, beautiful onyx.

SPEAKER_03 41:33

I mean it's very impressive, and I just wondered if, you know, do other people I I don't know if they I mean this reminded me of the Grove, right? So but we outdid the Grove with the miter saw on this one, didn't we? I think so. All right. Uh let's go on to the next slide. Okay. Now, what is this product?

SPEAKER_02 41:50

Uh that is a Brazilian hard marble. It's panda. It's awesome.

SPEAKER_03 41:56

Because I mean, how hard is it? You know, like I said, you got this this uh stripe through the island and then you have it in the backsplash of the uh behind the oven. You know, you gotta kind of have pieces that kind of look alike, don't you?

SPEAKER_02 42:11

Well, that and uh the probably the harder thing right here is you see how on the edge on the island, how it uh it just looks like it folds straight down. I know that this piece is mitered and it's uh but to to make it appear thicker than it really is, but you've got to line that up perfectly. And so that's that's what you do. And that's why uh our digital process is so nice because we can make it perfect.

SPEAKER_03 42:40

We're gonna show a little bit a little bit of that in a minute, about you know, the precision in the equipment that your company utilizes versus uh I don't know how other people do it, just maybe the old way.

SPEAKER_02 42:53

I I think most companies in uh in the state of Texas and even around the United States, it probably do it the old way.

SPEAKER_03 43:02

What would you say right now, if we've talked about a lot of the stuff thus far that that makes your company very marble and granite different from some of the other companies doing the exact same thing that you're doing?

SPEAKER_02 43:16

I think um our people, first of all, and then the investment that we've made in equipment.

SPEAKER_03 43:24

Uh to ensure not only efficiency but also uh consistent outcomes. Without a doubt. I mean, because that's a killer, right? I mean, mistakes, remakes, all those things in your business is nothing but waste wasted product and wasted time. Without a doubt.

SPEAKER_02 43:42

And at the end of the day, the most important thing is is the client. So if they're not happy, uh Right.

SPEAKER_03 43:48

I mean that's right. I mean, you want people saying, um which which I say all the time, you know, there's nobody uh you should not go to anybody but Barry Marble Company. I mean, I say that all the time, and obviously I'm biased. But um quartzite's on the on the screen now. Is that any different from what we think about quartz?

SPEAKER_02 44:08

Very different.

SPEAKER_03 44:09

Okay, because they sound almost the same. And people get confused always.

SPEAKER_02 44:12

Is that quartz lights? Uh uh. Quartzite is natural stone quarried out of the ground. Quartz is a manufactured product. Okay. And it's manufactured in slabs, and it's very popular, uh uh especially with designers, because it can be consistent. Uh so if you look at a sample, that's what it's going to look like. Out of the ground, each each m bundle can look different. Now, this particular one spectacular.

SPEAKER_03 44:42

This is a fireplace that you have built floor to ceiling, and it looks like you've built a mantle out of the same material. Is that is that what you y'all did? Yes.

SPEAKER_02 44:54

And the uh the different angles and uh that that one I know exactly which one this one is, and uh that was a very complicated project, but it was it was fun. It all goes together. You can see how the the vein flows all together. Yeah, I mean it almost looks like it was built together.

SPEAKER_03 45:13

It just looks like a it should look like a block. And then we move in on the closer uh at the corner. Yeah. Um and the precision um to put that together, I guess it would involve not only the cutting of the material, but the installers, the guys that they're actually out there on the job. It it's everything.

SPEAKER_02 45:34

It it starts with um digital templating and on this particular one, even a design, and then uh from that it goes to the CAD department, and this material has been selected, and so the our CAD department takes the the photos of the slabs and then they build this, and then it is sent to the client for their approval. They can make any changes that they want, and then uh the CAD department will make make those changes. Once it's approved, then it goes to the plant. Then the CNC machines and all the machines down the plant have to cut all this perfectly. Then the installers have to do a perfect job in the field.

SPEAKER_03 46:18

Right. I mean, I mean, that sounds like a very difficult undertaking, you know, from me or someone as a client going, hey, this is what I want, to actually executing and that fireplace looking the way it does at the end.

SPEAKER_02 46:34

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 46:35

Yeah, it is. It is. Um you mentioned automation, and and I know uh, and I want to show this video because I took this from your website. I know it's older, but I think it speaks to the investment that your company and you've made into being in a position to do the type of jobs that we just looked at.

SPEAKER_01 46:52

From start to finish, it's uh pretty much all digital. Everything is barcoded so the machine can read what's on the table at any particular time. The CMC, Waterjet, and CNC stall all combined in one. It's exact, it's precise, it's perfect every time.

SPEAKER_03 47:25

All right, uh, that's pretty impressive looking. Um, you know, just the technology uh in Tyler, Texas for a marble company, uh granite company, uh might surprise people because, you know, I drive by and I see other businesses out there and you know it looks like a bathtub. Looks like a, you know, a rack with some granite laying in there, and I'm just wondering, you know, how do they do it is what I keep asking myself when I drive by. If they don't have what you have.

SPEAKER_02 47:54

Um most of them uh focus on putting slabs out uh and then they have to ship them to a fabricator? Pay somebody else to fabricate. Yeah. And uh um a lot of them do not own their own fabrication facility.

SPEAKER_03 48:13

Okay, so yeah, I mean it's kind of like Craig T. Berry, right? 1994, 95. Uh granite's starting to get hopping. So Craig goes out to Roy City and he has them fabricate for him. That's right. That's what they're doing. What you did is you evolved your business from that point to where you were also the fabricator. That's right. Tell us the benefits to the customer, uh, not just the efficiencies to the company, of being not only the person that's there for the design, talk to the customer, but do the fabrication on site. Uh it's really about control.

SPEAKER_02 48:55

It's about control of the problem. And that's one of your favorite things. The whole quality uh of of of the product. Uh I mean, right.

SPEAKER_03 49:01

I mean, you don't want somebody else messing up the job on the part that you didn't have control of.

SPEAKER_02 49:05

Right. Because you don't want to be the the middleman with that with that fireplace. You know, you don't want the client calling you saying this fireplace is not what I want, and then you got to turn around and make another call.

SPEAKER_03 49:16

Right. And I can see that happening where uh you know builders unfortunately sometimes get blamed for poor contracting work. Right. Right, because they're talking to the builder like, hey, this isn't what I wanted, right? And I'm sure um you probably have to walk a fine line sometimes between, you know, the builder of the project, the customer, and if something didn't turn out quite right. I I mean you you always do. Or they're unreasonable. There's that too, right?

SPEAKER_02 49:49

Yeah, you you uh I've doing this 32 years, so yes, I've uh come across, thank goodness, very few uh unreasonable people. But uh and our our builders and designers and architects, most have been doing work with us a long time and we have good relationshi and they are super talented. So it would they're just we can we can have a dialogue, an honest dialogue where uh we can we can say, you know what, this might work better this way, and they actually will listen.

SPEAKER_03 50:24

Yeah, I mean, uh I'm sure I mean I think it would just be jeopardy on your part if they the that is the homeowner, the remodeler, the person that was the customer didn't have a clear understanding of what the strengths and weaknesses was of each product that they were wanting to have.

SPEAKER_02 50:40

That's right.

SPEAKER_03 50:40

Right? Like, I want this, says the uh the homemaker who is dead set on this color and that thing, right? Right. And um and they're wanting it in a place where you say, uh I see an awful lot of bottles of red wine, you know, in this wine cellar, right? You know, there's gonna be a chance for some red wine stains. Right.

SPEAKER_02 51:00

I I I always I I think about this story from about, I don't know, about six, seven years ago. And uh uh had um a lady and she wanted uh this Italian marble on her island. She was doing a house, uh restoring a house that was uh from like the 1920s. And so I explained everything about uh the pros and cons, and hey, this can get scratched up and it could get stained. And she goes, I cannot wait for it to get scratched up and stained so it looks old like the house. And I'm like, you're the perfect client. So but you just have to have that.

SPEAKER_03 51:41

But when it conversations scratched up and stained, was she still happy? She's happy. Uh I mean, you know, I found myself getting upset a couple of times in a project based on fear. And the fear was based on the lack of understanding of what defects could be cured on some of these solid surface products, right? Right. Because you know, you go through and you're remodeling, and the guys that are doing their work, a lot of times they are not interested in your stuff. Right. I mean, they're interested in doing their job, and a lot of time that involves a drill that they are working with. Right. And that drill oftentimes is sitting on my marble and my countertops with a drill bit in it. Right. Your your expensive countertops are now workbench. And I'm wanting to get in the house, and it's been 10 months, and there's only one of those slabs left in the world, and they're all gone. And I'm thinking to myself, this could be dire. I'm very upset with that guy, right? But I did learn and have learned you guys can cure and fix many of the scratches and the things that occur to some of these products, can't you? We we can. All right. And I I think people would really be interested to hear this because, you know, I plan on being a lot nicer to that contractor next time than I see him with that drill. I might not be. But yeah, I mean, look, there were some scratches, right? Um, and uh I don't know what it was. It was a bathroom product um in uh at my house. And, you know, I know you guys are like, oh, don't worry, I think we can get them out. And sure enough, they were gone. I mean, I don't know. Uh is there kind of something you could tell people that were listening who may have a deficiency or defect in one of their solid surfaces in their home and they've just been aggravated, but they don't realize there's a fix. Yeah, and and there's not always a fix. Right.

SPEAKER_02 53:42

I'm not saying there's uh but what we need to do is just analyze it and look at it. It depends on what material and it depends on how bad. Um but most of the time we can fix it or make it look a whole lot better.

SPEAKER_03 53:57

Yeah, well that's good to know because um you know you get some single scratch in the middle of it. And uh if you're a little OCD like me, it'll drive you crazy that thing sitting there.

SPEAKER_02 54:09

No, that's that's what happens. You get one spot that ninety percent of people walk in and they can't see, but you know it's there. So that's all that matters.

SPEAKER_03 54:20

That's all really all that matters. I mean, I think anybody hearing this show, listening to you talk, clearly uh determines you're intelligent, you're you're thoughtful, you have a superior product and equipment to make it work. Uh do you have a lot of building relationships here in Tyler or is or is the work that you do primarily somewhere else?

SPEAKER_02 54:40

No, I a lot, Tyler. Now um it's almost like two companies. We we have commercial stuff that goes all over the state. Uh, but then our housing is really from uh Dallas and basically uh 60, 70 mile radius uh of from from Tyler. And uh that's all custom and all fabricated here in Tyler. Whatever it's all done here in Tyler, yes. The uh the plant that we were talking about uh in uh Farmersville, we sold that plant, 255 people working there. I didn't even know everybody, which is one of the reasons I wanted to sell it. You know, and uh we have 40 something now, and I know everybody, thank goodness. And uh so we sold that in 2008. All right, and so So everything's done here to answer your question.

SPEAKER_03 55:32

So you've told a story about um growth, evolution, and you know, kind of back to this area, but uh with more sophisticated equipment and uh, you know, maybe a higher end uh customer. Is that right? Aaron Ross Powell, Jr.

SPEAKER_02 55:49

Yes. And I'm I'm it feels right now like uh it almost feels like in ninety-three, ninety-four, ninety-five, I feel like it's about to uh really take off again. Aaron Ross Powell, Jr.

SPEAKER_03 56:05

I do. Okay. Some people have suggested that, but they've really not provided any evidence. Uh and also people are a little gloomy. They're like, I'm not sure, you know, we're having interest rates are high. What do you think? Uh and are you talking about Tyler specifically, or are you talking about around the state?

SPEAKER_02 56:24

I'm I'm talking about around the state, but Tyler in particular, or Tyler and the surrounding areas. Um Tyler has always and me owning the the companies in Dallas, and I actually one we didn't talk about, I had one for Worth as well. And uh so it that was a more up and down market. Tyler is has always been in the 32 years I've done this a lot more steady. Right.

SPEAKER_03 56:50

Because people retirement community, people are always moving in, people are always remodeling. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_02 56:55

You've got uh uh a lot of um the medical industry, which uh you know people have good jobs and uh uh the legal industry. And um so it it's just been steadier. It might not have the ups, but it doesn't have the downs. So but I do think um I think there's going to be some uh rate decreases over the in 2026.

SPEAKER_03 57:18

I mean, we're all hoping, right?

SPEAKER_02 57:20

Right. And everything else in the economy uh is looking relatively solid. The only outlier is housing, and there is a big uh pent-up demand for housing and there's just not a supply. So it feels a lot like uh that uh, like I said, that early nineties to mid-90s before it really exploded. So I think twenty-six uh might be the beginning. And that's just my my gut feel from having lived it before.

SPEAKER_03 57:53

Aaron Ross Powell Well, I mean, it's good to be optimistic. And obviously, you have kind of you're in the front lines of orders. Yes. Right? I mean, I I don't see people ordering marble, granite every day, right? You probably contract that by the by the day, by the month, by the week, you know, whatever, right? And just feel something maybe happening. Aaron Powell That's great.

SPEAKER_02 58:14

We're we're doing m more bids, more and more bids. And then uh for the first time in a while, we've even had a few of our um builders sending us uh spec home bids, which we have not had in in a while. Right, for granite. Right. I mean, for the they want uh they're doing a spec home, and um so that is we haven't had that in a while.

SPEAKER_03 58:42

What about uh you know product cost? Do you have product cost that you know is subject to inflation, tariffs, anything that can affect your the pricing that you ultimately do for the uh consumer?

SPEAKER_02 58:57

Um yes, a lot of our stuff is subject to tariffs and things like that. But what people don't know is a lot of the tariffs have been um eaten by either competition or the um the companies know that they need to sell into the United States. Brazil in particular? Right. So they just they don't make big changes uh no matter what the tariff is. Uh they don't hike the prices uh pr you know accordingly. Trevor Burrus Yeah, they don't. And uh so it what was worse was what was it about three years ago, two years ago, in inflation really hit just across the board. And uh so that was worse. Um in fact, in all the years I've been doing this, I've never seen it like it, where we had to make in twelve months three price increases, and I've never done that.

SPEAKER_03 59:56

And so And people who just did something a couple years ago, they go in and try to do something, they get a price, and it's kinda like sticker shock, right? Wow.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:03

That's it. And I think that hurt housing and remodel as well, because I had no idea it was going to be this expensive.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:12

Well, I mean, you certainly seem like um what you do is more of an art, you know, than a contractor job. You know what I'm saying? We're talking about specialty stone and uh do people get into the details of trying to select a certain grade or quality of product, or is that just generally dealt with by the budget that they have?

SPEAKER_02 1:00:38

You know, that's one of m the most fun things about what I do is uh I like dealing with that. I like the challenge of all right, I want this, but here's my budget, and let's figure it out. Because there's so much out there right now. I mean, there's so much. There's almost always a way to figure out to make it look like it for the same price that they can afford.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:01

That's it. I mean, there's almost always a way. Anybody watching this and says, Well, there's no way I can afford what we'd like to have, you're telling them, yes, there is a way. There's a way. And it may not be the same, but it's gonna look about the same, and that's really what you want.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:16

Right. You just gotta talk. That's it. You've got to talk to us, tell us what you want, and that that's it. We can figure it out.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:22

Now, a person who is watching this show and they're and they're, you know, they're interested, they're in a product, uh, I mean a project right now, or they're thinking about it and they want to kind of, you know, come and talk to you. Where do they go or how do they make an appointment to talk to somebody about, you know, kind of honing in on something they want? Um definitely call, uh old school way.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:45

Yeah. Uh but that's what I mean.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:47

They call, okay. After that, is there going to be any face-to-face? Are they going to see anything or is this just going to be over the phone?

SPEAKER_02 1:01:53

Well, what would just call, let us know you're coming in, tell us what your project is, and like if it's new construction, bring the bring your plans with you or email them to us. Uh, you know, we don't we won't keep your plans. And you'll come, we'll go through the showroom, then we'll go down to the plant and the slab yard, also at the plant. If you want to take a quick tour, you know, we we love doing that as well. It's it's pretty cool just to see. And uh so you pick out your stone and um we'll schedule to template and go from there.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:28

All right. Um, you know, every week, I mean, are y'all doing bids, having people come by? I mean, is this an ongoing, pretty busy type business? All the time. I mean, like, are there times of year or months that for the your business, the granite, the you know, the solid surface, is it is it all about the same or is there highs and lows during the year? It's it's it's all the time. I mean, well, you know, that's a good, you know, I mean, uh when I had uh uh Taylor Fitzgerald uh he did a real estate one, uh I said, how are you selling houses? He wasn't over saying it. That's all the time. So I mean, you know, what I'm saying is I need his job. That's a positive. That's a positive for you uh in the industry.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:09

And uh, you know, um Yeah, peop people are like, oh, it's it's December, you know, it's probably slow for you guys. And now uh one of our biggest months ever was December.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:19

But I did make reference to this and probably something towards the end of our show. Uh I mentioned diamonds. You remember that? Mm-hmm. Um because there are some grades to the granite, are there not? Yes. I mean, like, and I wasn't like crazy just coming up with, hey, you know, because diamonds are, you know, this A, A, B, or whatever the numbers are. I mean, uh I should tell as many as I've given away. But you know what I'm saying? Yeah. Do people ever come up and say, I want this grade of um granite? Or is that just a non-issue?

SPEAKER_02 1:03:55

No, no, they they do. Uh and we um there's it depends on what what color, what material, on how many grades there are.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:04

Why would it matter in granite? Some hard old rock.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:07

Why would anybody care what it was graded? It i i it commercial grade stuff, uh which we wouldn't never ever put in the house. Put in a house, yeah. Uh so i it usually has fissures and and different um imperfections uh that uh people are going to see. Um but we we don't even bring it in.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:31

I mean, as far as your company, um, you know, you're making a pitch, you know, to someone who's listening uh to give you a chance, to let you bid, to show them uh what your company's capable of. I mean, uh what's the pitch that you give them? Just come talk to us.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:50

Uh I I we'll be glad to show you everything that we do. We are completely transparent. Transparent with pricing, transparent with you could see our plant, transparent with everything. So just come talk to us. We're just here to help. We've got really good people, really good people that know, and all they want to do is is help you.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:13

And nobody likes surprises, and so that's the benefit. Uh and it it sounds like your company, yourself, that's your philosophy, but uh the equipment, the precision with the equipment seems to leave little room for a surprise at the end result. It's it's not.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:28

You know, and uh I've been doing this so long. I remember where you know the worst thing you could get was um a customer calling you and saying, I love it, but I didn't think it would quite look like this. And now they get to see it before it's ever cut. So the there isn't I don't get those that we never have those calls. None of our people have those calls because you you chose this, and this is what this is what everybody agreed on, and it it always looks good, and everybody's happy.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:00

Well, do you see any type of what's the progress in your industry? I mean, you know, uh is there any artificial intelligence that's further integrated in your business that you foresee? Uh yeah, I think that's coming.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:11

I really do. I mean, uh as far as the machines go, I mean we're right now. We're we're we've we've got a robot that moves uh the slabs around, and we have um a new uh arm that is a CNC water jet and it's in incredible. Um I was telling you about that, and it's just like the ones that uh uh are used in the auto manufacturing business all over the world. Uh and uh they just adapt it to our industry. But um but you know that's the thing about it is is I think AI is coming. Uh AI is already used um because with all the changes with material, uh our people use it right now to find out about a material that might be brand new. And so, you know, you it it's uh it's just right there. And also, like I was saying, I think it's great when with the customers and they're so much more educated.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:11

So much more educated. Aaron Ross Powell, do you think the plant gets further automated with robotics? I mean, in your industry, just based on, you know, you've got a big slab, you've got cutting, you know, you've got precision measuring, probably done with AI. I mean, does that seem like your business will maybe have less employees in the future and more equipment?

SPEAKER_02 1:07:30

No, I I I don't see that uh at all. Because uh what what the automation does is besides what we talked about precision and and uh quality and things like that, it's also in this business you gotta think all of this is very heavy. And so we have robots uh moving uh slabs around, because the worst thing in our business is you don't want people moving this stuff around. So but it really doesn't affect uh you have to have people running the machines. They have to program the machines. Um that's it. And and I've I've told you in in in private, um like, you know, my business the complicated thing is is every single job is different. So every measurement is custom. Everything is custom. We're not making you know one thing uh you know, this is over and over. I mean, this is everything is different. So you have to have these talented people that know what they're doing.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:32

Um, you know, it seemed like that the Home Depots and all of those people got into the the solid surface game back when, right?

SPEAKER_02 1:08:43

I mean, Home Depot, they they don't actually fabricate anything or they just call somebody else.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:50

They just eventually they started selling it though at some point, is what I'm saying. Right. And you've kind of, you know, you've adapted and you've kind of fought through those years to where we are in the things that you've talked about that you do now, right? Right. Uh and it sounds like, you know, um you you seem to have some credibility. Uh I don't know if you do in the industry or not. Are you a member of any groups or are uh is there even groups of people that are focused on solid surface and the way things should be done and that type of thing?

SPEAKER_02 1:09:19

Uh yeah. We're a member of the artisan group, uh, and uh that's um I believe we're up to like 36 members across the United States and uh um there might be two in Canada. Uh and it's the top-notch, very best fabricators across the country. And uh also um Natural Stone Institute uh and uh that is an accreditation that is unbelievably hard to get.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:50

Do you have that?

SPEAKER_02 1:09:51

We have that. And it's unbelievable. It's very hard to do.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:55

Okay, so if somebody asks somebody else, hey, do you have this natural stone accreditation? Uh you're saying that it's not something they can just fill out a form and get. Absolutely not. All right. And the artisan group, you're saying is for fabricators, which your company is, right? And there's only how many in the United States? Uh 36. Well, Craig, that's impressive. Uh, you know, just from Little O Guy from Tyler, Texas, um, to, you know, to have a dream, uh, to take a chance uh and to be successful. Um, I applaud you, of course, because I'm your friend. Uh but people who are listening to this should see what you've done on your own. Uh, and maybe it inspires somebody to try something like this. Thank you for being on the show today.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:39

Definitely didn't do it on my own. But thank you.