By Harry Hollander of Moraware After more than a decade in business, and after working with over a thousand countertop fabricators, we did something new. We fired a customer. I’m writing about it because it wasn’t easy, and I didn’t really see this one coming. Dealing With Frustrated Customers As a team, we’ve had conversations about […]
A full-day safety conference for both employers and employees will take place June 14 at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. Experts from across the country are holding workshops at the OSHA Summer Summit, which is sponsored by the Safety Council of Western New England, American Society of Engineers, Massachusetts Department of Labor Standards, OSHA […]
This month, the International Surface Fabricators Association (ISFA) published its annual Countertop Industry Outlook. This forecast is prepared each year by Kevin Cole, the communications director for ISFA and editor of the association’s magazine: Countertops & Architectural Surfaces. As always, Cole analyzes a variety of metrics to make an honest, and usually on-point, prediction about […]
By Harry Hollander of Moraware If you want to grow from a $2 million business to a $5 million business, you have to spend a scary amount of money on marketing. Owners who embrace marketing build businesses while owners who fear marketing frequently build jobs for themselves. The difference is glaring – your approach to […]
By Abby Sanders of Stone Interiors Across companies, industries and generations, one tenet of customer service has held strong almost universally: the idea that the customer is always right. Fortunately in the construction industry, at least when safety is concerned, we understand that there needs to be a compromise. Sure, the customer might demand that […]
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Posted on 06 April 2018
Coverings (coverings.com), the largest international tile & stone show in North America, is returning to Atlanta, Georgia from May 8 – 11. Coverings provides a stage for the most innovative tile & stone products from around the world and delivers critical information about the industry’s latest trends through the show’s annual CEU-accredited conference program—all free […] Continue reading this countertop info
Posted on 27 March 2018
By Kathy O’Lochlayne at SolidSurface.com How often do you find yourself rummaging through your solid surface remnant inventory for a color the right size for a job that may not require a full sheet? Have you considered using discontinued or overstock material for a job where you can influence the material to be specified? Below […] Continue reading this countertop info
Posted on 20 April 2018
Laser Products Industries (LPI) announced that it has finalized the acquisition of Precision Templates of Colorado and has formed a new separate company, Precision Measuring and Training (PMT), headquartered in Denver, Colo. PMT will initially serve the Denver market and will offer digital laser templating, CAD work, training, and tool measuring to fabricators primarily in […] Continue reading this countertop info
Posted on 19 April 2018
The International Woodworking Fair (IWF) will be held August 22-25, 2018 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta. With the continued growth of the show, organizers project this years’ fair will be one of the top woodworking trade shows in the world for the furniture manufacturing, architectural woodwork, custom and general woodworking industries. More […] Continue reading this countertop info
Posted on 18 April 2018
Wilsonart, a manufacturer of engineered surfaces, introduced new Quartz and Solid Surface designs that blend nature’s beauty and look stunning in both home and commercial settings. The new hard surface designs tap into the color trends of warm and cool whites, greys and neutrals but also takes advantage of the resurgence of classic black stone. […] Continue reading this countertop info
Posted on 16 April 2018
clé introduced Belgian Reproduction tile in three new shapes: rectangle, losange diamond, and circle. The Flemish black tiles now consist of seven shapes in square, hex, rectangle, losange diamond, circle, star and cross. The Belgian Reproduction tiles are hand crafted by artisans who are working in the traditional method of wood-fired terracotta production. The blackened […] Continue reading this countertop info
Posted on 12 April 2018
By Harry Hollander of Moraware After more than a decade in business, and after working with over a thousand countertop fabricators, we did something new. We fired a customer. I’m writing about it because it wasn’t easy, and I didn’t really see this one coming. Dealing With Frustrated Customers As a team, we’ve had conversations about […] Continue reading this countertop info
Posted on 10 April 2018
David Unger, plant manager at Dee Brown, Inc. in Garland, Texas has been named 2017 Natural Stone Craftsman of the Year by the Natural Stone Institute. Unger’s first experience with stone occurred more than fifty years ago, when he helped his father face a fireplace. A successful apprenticeship as a bricklayer led to restoration work […] Continue reading this countertop info
Posted on 09 April 2018
Ege Seramik introduced new small brick-sized glazed porcelain tile collections that recreate the look and feel of hand-made bricks. The Lisbon and the London collections are available in one standard 2.4 in. x 10 in. size and feature the colors Lisbon (grey, beige, mix) and London (cotton, anthracite, mix). The Lisbon collection offers twenty-five different […] Continue reading this countertop info
Posted on 05 April 2018
Artisan Group has welcomed new members Summit Stone Works in Buda, Texas and True Blue in San Antonio and Austin, in addition to welcoming back previous member Lakeside Surfaces Inc, based in Western Michigan. The group offers their own brands of premium countertops including: Metro Quartz, Artisan Stone Collection granite and marble, Saratoga Soapstone and […] Continue reading this countertop info
Posted on 04 April 2018
Studio Collection Design Resin, a brand of Aristech Surfaces LLC, released new colors for 2018. The new launch consists of two colors, Honey Onyx and Whimsy. Whimsy is part of the new Whimsy Design Series from Studio Collection’s Chromatix™ program. The two colors join more than 40 standard colors, patterns and designs offered by Studio […] Continue reading this countertop info
Posted on 03 April 2018
Braxton-Bragg CEO, Rick Stimac, announced that three new product lines will be available this Spring, giving Braxton-Bragg customers a wider choice of products for stone fabrication and covering the CNC market. Braxton-Bragg will once again partner with Terminator, offering the complete line of Terminator brand blades, CNC tooling, and resin- and metal-bonded diamond tooling. In […] Continue reading this countertop info
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