Avanti Marble and Granite, Denver

A TRIFECTA
   Jones came to Avanti in early 2005 to partner with Todd Coday, who’s been in the granite business for nearly a quarter of a century. Coday’s company, Avanti, was doing well, but the veteran stone mason wanted to expand and introduce his products and services coast-to-coast.
   Jones, who has a degree in engineering and a master’s degree in international business, sought out Avanti because he felt the stone industry was a lucrative one. He’d previously operated a metal-machine-parts company and felt, as an engineer, that marble and granite are also highly engineered products.
   “Granite wasn’t my thing when I started this,” he says, “But, we wanted to see what Todd had created grow and expand to other cities and states.” The goal was to reach more customers with the same service Coday had been providing.
   “And we really wanted to focus on making every house unique.”
   Jones brought in Stonehenge Capital Co., a nationwide specialty finance firm, to help kick off a new direction and growth at Avanti. Stonehenge specializes in mezzanine and private equity, tax credit finance and structured finance transactions, managing approximately $500 million in private equity funds.
   Jones believes Coday is “the most well-versed person of stone in the state.” Combining Coday’s expertise with stone, Stonehenge’s financial backing, and Jones’ engineering and business operating skills is proving to be a prosperous mix for Avanti Marble and Stone.
   “In 18 months we’ve already doubled in size here and plan to expand even more,” Jones says.
  
MULTI-TASKING
   The bread-and-butter for Avanti are bathrooms and kitchens, but the staff can provide so much more, Jones says.
   Stone fireplaces, sculptures and floors are also a part of the products they provide.
   Fabrication manager Corey Cashiwa says they operate a couple different saws, including a Matrix.
   “We also have two Park Industries machines: a Wizard and Pro Edge,” he says.
   Supplying custom residences – usually retirement or second homes – Avanti suits the wishes of high-end home owners across the country.
   But most recently Jones started an offshoot of Avanti called Core Granite, a marble-and-granite supplier for multi-unit renovators. Most of Core’s products are large-run countertops.
   “We’re usually working with people who are doing renovations of 100-unit apartment buildings. They’re not as customized obviously, so the price point is right,” he says.
   Avanti’s also a company that works mainly with stone from India, China and Brazil, although they’ve worked with local products as well.
   “While we have used Colorado marble and granite, I’d say 95 percent of the granite installed here comes from another country. It’s not necessarily a better quality, it’s just where all the facilities are,” he says.
   Cashiwa estimates Avanti houses 2,000 to 3,000 slabs and pieces of stone in its four on-site storage yards.
   When supplying multi-units, Avanti continues to use foreign fabricating facilities and high-quality stone, but says the pieces are not customized.
   “We design (the countertops) so we can do it with a minimal amount of fabrication and still compete with price and quality,” Jones says. “Of course, the lead times are a lot longer.” 
   Core Granite is a fairly new business for Avanti, but fabrication manager Cashiwa says it’s taking off and getting busier everyday.
  
NAME GAME
   Avanti’s custom work is evident nationwide. Currently, they’re working for the Cabela (of sporting-goods fame) residence in Nebraska, and Jones says the company’s also supplying high-end custom granite and marble products to homes in Las Vegas. Recently, Avanti produced a 20-foot mosaic lion to mimic the mascot of the Italian-inspired Venetian Resort Hotel Casino.
   “That’s what we do,” Jones says. “We provide the highest-end custom products to the highest-end clients, and we do all the fabrication and installation. I think we’re unique in that every person that goes to a customer’s house is an employee. Nothing is subbed out.”
   They provide what Jones calls “pieces of art” in every countertop, floor or shower wall.
   “And we think when you’re buying a piece of art for your house you should be working with someone that’s trying to get it in as quickly as possible.”
   Because of the work Avanti has provided to clients in Las Vegas, Jones says that a fabrication facility there is on the not-too-far horizon. He estimates they’ll open a shop later this year or in early 2007. For now, Avanti operates a sales office in Las Vegas, but still fabricates in Denver.
   Other growth is on the drawing board as well. Sales offices and fabrication facilities could find their way to Wyoming and Montana, as well as the high-growth cities of Phoenix and Albuquerque. Being closer to a customer base brimming with second-homeowners and well-to-do retirees is one of the keys to Avanti’s success, according to Jones.
   He says people like that expect high quality products in their $3-million dollar-home, “and granite is a big part of that. It’s a very visible part of a house.”
  
WORD-OF-MOUTH
   Keeping in the competitive spirit, Avanti also employs its own designers. While many homeowners hire their own interior decorators, those who don’t wish to are welcome to visit Avanti and receive professional design help.
   “The customer can bring their drawings or ideas to us and we can help them work with their current house design. We can take their ideas from start to finish,” Jones says.
   If the customer’s own decorator can’t make it to Denver to view the granite, Avanti’s on-staff designers can step in to assist the customer.
   “Our interior decorator clients feel comfortable sending their customer to us to meet with our designers,” he says. “We can tell the customer, ‘let me help you understand how stone can accentuate what you already have.’”
   Or, he added, Avanti’s on-staff designer can introduce the interior decorator to what’s new, unique and possible in stone.
   Word-of-mouth is Avanti’s best form of advertising. Jones understands there are “thousands of other shops out there and we certainly don’t have a corner on the market,” but he also believes the high-end home market is gravitating toward Avanti.
   Homeowners want the job done correctly and within budget, so Jones says the staff at Avanti passes on as much information as possible about the cost and the process that will affect them.
   “That’s how we get the word-of-mouth that helps us get more customers,” Jones says.
   Terri Chance is a freelance writer in the Denver area.

This article first appeared in the October 2006 print edition of Stone Business. ©2006 Western Business Media Inc.