Follow Up: Winning Through Hard Times

Dale says he was taken aback. For one thing, he’d never acquired a business. But, the call started a conversation that took the better part of a year before the sale closed on July 1, 2010.

Dale explains that Pollux had been owned by a company called Hallmark Building Supplies of Waukesha, Wis., a wholesaler for Dupont™ Corian® solid-surface countertops. Hallmark opened Pollux to fabricate countertops from Dupont’s Zodiaq® quartz product.

Alan Dale“He really wasn’t a stone guy,” says Dale. “His focus was on other areas of business and some other Corian growth opportunities.”

Taking over Pollux, Dale says he quickly found that one of its biggest problems was that its facility was too large and the rent too high. By renegotiating the lease, the company began paying less rent, and Dale began studying how he would meld his two stone operations.

Minnesota Tile and Stone moved into the Pollux facility, and Dale initially planned to remodel it to his needs. However, despite the amount of space, it lacked two things he deemed very important: a show floor and customer-service areas.

“With Minnesota Tile and Stone, we go out to the architects, the design community,” says Dale. “We work with them on residential and commercial projects, and we wanted to make the professional community aware of Pollux, as well.”

He adds that his new acquisition was mainly doing residential work with a core customer base throughout the Midwest of Corian dealers served by Hallmark.

“After we did our analysis and some architectural plans to put in a high-end design studio on the Pollux site, we realized the cost was too high,” says Dale. “Also, it was located in a large industrial park, and we were concerned that we might build a nice design studio and the professional trades wouldn’t come and use it.”

Instead, Dale purchased a 60,000 ft2 building in Minnetonka, remodeled it, and moved his stone operation into it at the end of January.

“At the same time, we bought all new fabrication equipment from Park Industries, so even though we have a smaller footprint (20,000 ft² in the new facility, as opposed to 30,000 ft² previously) than at the old location, our capacity is about 40-percent-greater,” the company owner says. “We also have an 8,000 ft² design studio where we’re able to display our tile and stone products. We’ll be able to display upwards of 150 different types of stone slabs and colors in a customer-friendly and convenient way.

“People will be able to pick their slabs and then seen how production actually happens.”

Although staying with Pollux’s core customers, Dale says that company – now a brand under the Minnesota Tile and Stone name – is also trying to push its commercial-work portfolio.

“They were working with some of the millwork companies that have a presence throughout the United States and even globally,” says Dale. “We’ve set up a department just to work with those companies on commercial projects. We’ve shipped countertops and displays for The Gap all around the U.S., and we’ve shipped products to stores in China and the Caribbean.”

He’s quick to call that part of the business “a diamond in the rough;” while Pollux’s production was only a third of what it was at its high point, the first year under Dale’s leadership increased sales 25 percent, and he’s confident it will grow by another 20 percent this year.

“It’s cash-flowing nicely,” he says. “Now, we’re integrating it into the ceramic side of our business. We’ve become more interesting to the architects and designers.”

One other aspect of the new facility that Dale hopes will prove useful to many of his customers: a large training room where he hopes to acquaint ceramic-tile installers with the countertop business while providing CEUs to architects, designers and builders on the various uses of both tile and stone.

“We’re going to grow and build our way out of this recession,” he says.

 Read the original Stone People profile of Pollux Manufacturing Inc. (October 2004)

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