Stone People: Back Again (and Again and …)

If anything, he says his service is even better than it used to be because he’s not running so many people – and so many jobs – constantly to meet his overhead. And, he says, he has the time to visit jobsites more often.

Another returnee is California Pizza Kitchen. Beber did 110 restaurants for the chain; corporate ownership changed since then. It’s a new ballgame for both sides, but one Beber believes he can still play.

Click photo for gallery“They’re saying they want to build the new restaurants for less because of the economy,” he says. “We’ve always been competitive, and they want our workmanship, although they’ve gone to quartz instead of using granite. We did the first prototype in Florida and got rave reviews, and I hope they’ll come back to me.”

Since plans are to build several new restaurants in the next three-to-five years, it’s understandable why Beber wants the contact. As it is, he fabricated the job to spec, crated the materials, and sent along a two-man crew to Florida location where they did the install in three days.

Still, some portions how Beber did business are in the past. He doesn’t stock slabs, and maintains tighter relationships with fewer wholesalers than he used to. And, the 12,000-ft² showroom experience of the Tile Mile days is no more.

“I have a 500-ft² office where I have all our edge details on display,” Beber says. “And, in the space we share at Royal Marble, my friend has a lot of slabs that he sells to the big-box stores. He’s also got a tremendous amount of quartz that he shows.”

Simply because he isn’t selling all types of flooring, Beber says he really doesn’t need the space, although given his commitment to give every customer 100 percent on every job, he will sell and install those other items if a client asks him to do the work.

“I’ll go back to some of the guys who used to work for me in that end of the business and who have gone on to other jobs,” he says. “They know what I’m expecting and I’ll subcontract with them. I bring them in for a job here and there.”

Beber says he can even see the positive in what’s happened to him since selling his original business in 2006. With the turn of the economy, he’s convinced he’s in a better position by not having all the overhead and equipment.

At the same time, he’s been able to keep some of his former crew working, help his friend maintain hisshop  payments, and keep his overhead under control.

“I really don’t want to expand,” Beber says. “I don’t know where this is going to go, but I know it’s working for me and my guys right now, and because I don’t have the overhead, I can be more-competitive.”

While he admits it hurts to drive by what used to be Centsible Tile and see it sitting empty, he says ultimately a lot of that operation was just props.

“These days, the majority of my clients don’t see the shop; they don’t come over,” Beber concludes. “I’ve been doing this for 30 years now, and I’m still excited about it, and I don’t want to do anything else. I love working with my customers and with my crew. I just wouldn’t do anything else; stone is in my blood.”

Then, he adds, “It’s been a journey, but that’s what life is about anyway.”

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