Mario & Son Inc., a Spokane Valley stone fabricator, wants to carve out a larger share of the market here for granite, marble, glass, and quartz surfaces used to class up homes and commercial buildings.


To achieve that end, the 14-year-old company is considering developing a nearly 40,000-square-foot facility that would enable it to boost production and market itself more aggressively, says Joey Marcella, its president. Such a facility, with new equipment, would cost $3 million to $4 million, he estimates.


Mario & Son has been looking at potential development sites from Airway Heights to Liberty Lake and hopes to begin construction of the envisioned new facilityor, if possible, be moved into itwithin a year, he says. Thats assuming it decides not to expand the 13,000-square-foot building at 6523 E. Main that it currently leases, which remains a slight possibility, he says.


Our facility here is bursting at the seams, so the company expects to decide on one of the two options by this summer, Marcella says.


Mario & Son had revenue of about $2.5 million last year and hopes to increase that to about $3.5 million this year, he says. Its work force fluctuates in size seasonally, but averages around 20 employees, and that number likely will increase after it expands, he says.


Mario & Son fabricates countertops, wall coverings, and other surfacing pieces for customers throughout Eastern Washington and North Idaho, and Marcella says, We feel we have about a third of the market. We want to get to at least half.


The company caters to a mix of contractors, interior designers, and home owners. Residential work probably accounts for about 70 percent of its revenues. It also, though, has worked on some noteworthy commercial and institutional projects, such as the Davenport Hotel restoration and upgrades to a number of churches here.


Countertops and other surfaces for kitchens and bathrooms are Mario & Sons bread and butter, but Marcella says, We do a lot of crazy things as well, such as unusual table tops and furniture that meld different materials.


Through the use of computerized, high-precision cutting equipment and 3-D digital processing technology, the company can do intricate bas-reliefsculptures of customers choosing that are carved into flat surfaces so they project from a recessed background. Marcella says it now even has the capability to scan your face and produce it in stone.


For its creations, it uses marble, granite, glass, and Silestone, a strong composite material consisting of natural quartz chips and resins. Mario & Son has been fabricating and installing products from those materials for the dozen or so Inland Northwest Home Depot stores for about three years, and last summer became a distributor for Silestone, Marcella says.


That was a key development because quartz surfacings are the fastest growing segment of the overall countertop market, and Silestone has the largest share of that segment by a wide margin, he says.


Its really on the rise, Marcella says. Silestone, he asserts, is on par with granite. It behaves and acts a lot like granite. It fabricates similar. It has all of the same qualities, but is available in more vivid colors, he says.


Its touted by Cosentino, the manufacturer, as being virtually maintenance-free and highly scratch-, scorch-, and stain-resistant. Also, beginning this summer, it will be available with a built-in antimicrobial protection, called Microban.


Marcella says, Granite still is our biggest seller, just because its such a good product. Silestone hasnt caught up to granite yet, but its certainly giving it a good run for its money. He adds that he expects the Silestone dealership to give Mario & Sons revenues a strong boost.


Granite remains the most expensive product Mario & Son offers, averaging $50 to $100 a square foot installed, but Silestone is close behind, at $40 to $80 a square foot installed, and both are considered lifetime products, Marcella says. A typical granite countertop kitchen installation probably runs around $3,500 to $4,000, he says.


Marble costs are similar to those of granite, but Marcella says marble is a more elegant stone that works best when used sparingly. You get a lot more beauty with marble, but not the performance of granite or Silestone, such as in countertops, he says.


Joey, 37, and his father, Mario, who was a freelance ceramic-tile installer for most of his career, founded the company here in 1991. Joeys brother, Mike, 41, joined the business in 1996 and now is vice president. Joey says his father, 65, remains active in the business, but is moving toward retirement. Joey now mostly oversees the production side of the company, and his brother handles the financial side.


Recalling the period before Mario & Son was founded, he says, Dads business at the time was very different than what we have become.


He says he had worked with his father installing ceramic tile for a time, but they turned their focus to stone tile when they founded Mario & Son. That shift forced them to learn how to polish the tile edges, which led them to begin making bull nose edge finish pieces and, from there, into broader fabrication work.


We had no intention of becoming a major fabricator at the time. It was just a supplement to the installation business, he says.


The business operated initially from his fathers garage, then moved into a small commercial space on Trent where it began fabricating finished pieces from large granite and marble slabs, Marcella says. Early on, he says, We did everything the hard way. Everything was hand cut and hand polished.


Mario & Son moved to its current location in 1995, initially leasing about 2,000 square feet of floor space there. It later took over the adjoining spaces of two other tenants, then had the buildings owner construct a 6,000-square-foot addition two years ago.


Marcella says his brother, Mike, brought a lot more business sense to the table when he joined the company nine years ago, and the bulk of the businesss growth has occurred since then.


The company bought an expensive computerized cutting machine not long after Mike arrived, which some competitors regarded as foolhardy, Marcella says. He adds, though, that boosting volume through increased automationwhile also keeping a focus on high product qualitywas something we believed in very strongly.


Since then, he says, Mario & Son has bought two even more advanced cutting machines and sold the original one. Its shop also includes two large automated saws, several polishing machines, and overhead cranes fitted with vacuum lifters that are used to move the heavy stone slabs.


As part of its expansion strategy, the company also has acquired digital templating equipment that will allow it to eliminate the need to make templates by hand and transmit job-related dimensional data directly from a customers home or building to Mario & Sons production floor.


Were implementing it now on a small scale, Marcella says.


A showroom displaying some of Mario & Sons workone eye-catching piece is a thick, polished-stone table top that looks like it was made from giant interlocking puzzle piecesdominates the companys front office area. Just off the showroom, the restrooms and a conference room with a massive granite tableflanked by huge upright pieces of granite and marble of contrasting colors and patternsalso are used as showcases for the companys abilities and materials.


Adjoining its building is an outdoor stone yard where it keeps the massive rectangular-shaped slabs of stone that are waiting to be processed. Being left outside doesnt affect the slabs, Marcella says, but the company hopes to move them indoors after it expands.


In addition to its operation here, Mario & Son last fall opened a two-person office and small warehouse in Richland, Wash., and the company hopes to expand that operation eventually.