Classic Stone Design, Plantsville, Conn.

Although Barbuito is dedicated to the craft of stone fabrication, he’s not one that believes in sticking to the old ways at all costs. After putting together a business plan and assessing the situation, the owners of Classic Stone Design opted to go with some of today’s high-tech tools to help them along.

“Seeing the trend the industry is going, I really felt we needed more automation than people,” says Barbuito. “The first machine we shopped for was a CNC, and we ended up with a Northwood Machine Mfg. Co. model.”

Click to enlarge The partners also purchased a bridge saw, and then added a water-recycling system and a digitizer.

The one piece of equipment the partners had planned to start with that hasn’t made an appearance is a Comandulli in-line polisher. By the time the men had installed the other two major pieces of equipment, “we found the building is just a little too small to accommodate all those machines,” says Barbuito.

A HAPPY MEDIUM

While a great deal of time and attention went into the particulars of opening a new business, the choosing of Plantsville, a community of slightly more than 10,000 people off Interstate 84 some 20 miles southwest of Hartford, Conn., was a less-formal decision.

Barbuito explains that when his previous partnership was dissolved, the agreement put some geographical restraints on where he could open his new business. The suggestion for their new location came from Charamut. Click to enlarge

“My partner lives virtually down the street,” Barbuito says. “He said, ‘I drive by this place every day; why don’t we check it out?’ That’s how we ended up here.”

The shop “here” is a 4,500 ft² building that, at the time, was a new shell. Finished out, it gives Classic Stone Design approximately 3,000 ft² of shop space with 22’ ceilings, as well as offices and a small showroom.

“There are actually two floors in front,” says Barbuito. “We have offices upstairs and the showroom downstairs. Each is about 900 ft².”

The “here” of Plantsville has also worked out well for the fledgling business.

“I know the business in this area, and where other shops are; I didn’t want to be right in the middle of their mix,” Barbuito says. “Plantsville is a nice, happy medium. And, for our client base, we’re pretty centrally located for most of them.”

And, the location of the operation probably isn’t as important as it might be to some other companies, given Classic Stone Design’s business mix. Barbuito says more than 90 percent of its jobs come from wholesale clients – mainly a mix of cabinet and kitchen-and-bath shops, builders, remodelers, architects and designers.

He estimates the bulk of that work comes from cabinet shops, with only about five percent of the business coming from walk-in traffic. The shop draws from an area that includes central Connecticut north, plus parts of southern Massachusetts.