The Future of Granite
No Longer the Go-To, But Far from the Has-Been
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By K. Schipper
It’s doubtful technology will ever totally replace one of Mother Nature’s finest, but the stone industry can watch granite imports drop from year-to-year and wonder about the future of the material that built the high-end countertop market – and structural landmarks – the world over. Quartz surfaces, with their broad array of colors, are certainly part of it. However, in the fickle world of fashion – with granite’s constrained color palette -- the stone’s enormous success even a few years ago has helped make it passé with some customers and designers today. Fortunately, there are bright spots in the picture. Current supply chain issues are making granites produced in North America more popular than before. And, while it’s not today’s top choice in kitchens, granite’s beauty and durability still creates a great demand for a wide array of exterior uses.
FASHION FATALITY Some of granite’s current problem in interior use stems from its earlier success. It’s the progression of customer desire to be a little bit more fashion-forward than the folks next door. Summer Thornton, co-owner of Summer Thornton Design LLC in Chicago and a National Kitchen and Bath Association (NKBA) industry design winner, says she rarely specifies granite at this point, mainly because of the heavy use it received in the early 2000s. “Uba Tuba was everywhere, and it created a commodity look,” she says. “People called it ‘luxury,’ but once you were seeing it in non-luxury homes, it lost its luster. Now I’m oftentimes tearing out granite and installing other stones.” Jennifer Stoner, owner of Richmond, Va.-based Jennifer Stoner Interiors and another NKBA award-winner, points specifically to quartz, although its look is only part of the story. “Quartz has garnered a big chunk of the marketplace by touting its durability and ease of care,” says Stoner. “There are so many new quartz manufacturers in the market now with so many unique offerings. Quartz also tends to be a cleaner, more-modern look that has fit in with the growth of more contemporary interiors.” While quartz has flooded the market, it’s not the only competitor granite is facing, and again much of the issue has to do with fashion. While the lighter shades of quartz are ubiquitous, marble is still an option for those looking for something natural. In fact, Thornton says for her clients, lighter marbles are already following in granite’s footsteps. “My clients want things that aren’t mass-market yet,” she says. “Ten years ago, I was specifying lots of white marbles, but now those have gone mainstream, and the all-white kitchen is the norm. It’s becoming a commodity now.” Stoner says the advantage to marble is that it, too, plays into that cleaner, more-modern look her clients want, although with caveats. “While everyone loves the look of marble, they don’t always want the fragility of marble,” she says. “Along with quartz, quartzite offers some good marble-looks with more durability. We’ve been using a lot of quartzite in our projects over the past few years.” Michael Carnevale, CFO for Bell Gardens, Calif.-based Carnevale & Lohr, Inc., says that fabrication firm is also seeing more quartzite. “We’ve seen granite replaced heavily by the quartzites which are neutral in color,” Carnevale says. “With these quartzites you get the warmth of a limestone but with the properties of a granite.” At the same time, he cautions about their makeup, since many of granite’s replacements have been injected with resin. “Despite suppliers’ assurances, we still find that many of these resins change color over time, perform poorly when exposed to the elements, and can make reworking the stone difficult,” he says. “With granite, you don’t have these issues and that may be granite’s ace in the hole for a future revival.”
“We’ve seen granite replaced heavily by the quartzites which are neutral in color.”
Michael Carnevale Carnevale & Lohr
“The darker granites are not as popular as they were even five years ago.”
Katie Jensen Triton Stone Group
“For domestic suppliers like us, we’re selling more granite today than we ever sold before, and in all markets.”
Patrick Perus Polycor
DOMESTIC DEMAND So, will granite simply sit on the residential sidelines until fashion turns away from the white-and-subtle-color phase? It depends. “We’re really pushing our clients to get away from the all-white kitchens and baths,” says Stoner. “That’s helped to open up our countertop options.” Katie Jensen, president of Harahan, La.-based Triton Stone Group, says while designers and fabricators served by that company’s 21 outlets throughout the Southeast have continued to buy whiter shades, there is some interest in grey. “The darker granites are not as popular as they were even five years ago,” Jensen says. “Even with the speckly granites it has to be on a light background.” Patrick Perus, president of Quebec City-based quarrier Polycor, Inc. also mentions grey granite. “Grey is still a very popular color,” he says. “Grey granites are widely used, even if they mostly come from Spain and Portugal. And we sell more black granites every year. However, white is definitely the most-popular color today in kitchen and quartz has become the material of choice.” Jason Krohn, Midwest Region sales director with Cold Spring, Minn.-based quarrier Coldspring Granite, believes there are even good lighter options with granite that people may not recognize. “We’ve seen a ten-year trend of blacks, whites and greys,” Krohn says. “Then, there are all the various finishes you can do. You can take a fairly white stone and by putting a sanded finish or a thermal finish on it, you can make the thing glow white. “Designers can do a lot with the palette of granites that are available domestically. By using finishes, they should find a shade that fits their needs.” Both Krohn and Perus say their companies aren’t seeing a decline in use of domestically produced granite. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. “To the extent that supply issues are driving down demand on the stone, some of that is being picked up by domestic manufacturers,” Krohn says. “We’re experiencing a lot of the demand on our end to fill those needs.” “For domestic suppliers like us, we’re selling more granite today than we ever sold before, and in all markets,” agrees Perus. “Kitchen, outdoor living and commercial construction are all up, and I know it’s not specific to Polycor. The entire domestic industry is doing well.” Supply-chain issues, when it comes to incorporating granite in a project, are varied. While designers, such as Stoner, say they haven’t had any problems with availability, Triton’s Jensen says – as a supplier – that’s not the case. “With the global shipping challenges there are supply issues up and down the supply chain,” she says. “If a supplier can manage the supply-chain challenges, the granite is definitely available.” Krohn says he doesn’t believe the issues are any worse for granite than for a host of other building materials, including wood and quartz, as well as associated items such as adhesives. The result has been extended lead times, even for domestic manufacturers. “We’ve been able to help out a lot of project teams who have projects that are getting to the tail-end, and they can’t wait any longer for material,” he says. “They need product and it’s good that we’ve been able to help some people out.”
PEAK PERFORMER So, is granite just a product for the commercial market these days? Not necessarily, although Carnevale says it’s lost a greater market share on the residential side. “It’s lost some market share on the commercial end due to current architect/designer preferences,” he contends. “However, granite faces less competition in that market segment. Granite won’t be confined just to the commercial segment, but that will be its stronger niche.” However, both Jensen and Stoner say quartz is even taking over certain aspects of the commercial market; Stoner mentions quartz’s ease of maintenance as a selling point there. However, Jensen brings up pricing in a market where low bids are often important. “The entry level price point of granite is still less-expensive than your less-expensive quartz option,” Jensen says. “For that reason, granite is still going to be relevant” That may be true on the interior of a restaurant or medical clinic, but outdoors it’s another story, even with home backyards. “In the residential market it’s gaining popularity for outside applications such as hardscape,” says Perus. Krohn acknowledges the influence designers have on the entire market – including commercial jobs. However, he adds that in many applications, natural stone is the superior building product. “It’s very, very durable,” says Krohn. “You’re borrowing something from the Earth. And the aesthetics of natural stone are just awesome. There’s a stone that fits just about any nuance, whether it’s commercial or residential.” The other issue where granite – in fact, all natural stone – has an edge is in sustainability, although many people agree the industry doesn’t do enough to sell that aspect. In fact, the perception often is that quartz surfaces are more sustainable, although Stoner says that rarely seems to factor in clients’ decision-making. Perus thinks customers might consider it. Quartz surfaces’ main component of quality quartz sand comes from relatively few sources when compared to granite and other natural stone. While there are supplies of good-quality quartz in North America – Polycor itself is a leading producer – Perus points out that most of the material used in quartz surfaces is shipped to-and-from other countries worldwide on fossil-fuel-burning transport. Perus adds that he can’t understand why anyone would choose something made with petroleum resin, let alone other options, such as cement with its global-warming properties. Cement production is the source of up to an estimated 8% of the world’s CO2 emissions. “Very few people understand that stone has the lowest carbon footprint of all building materials – if it’s local,” he says. “The public doesn’t know because we don’t tell the story. And we can’t tell that story if what we mostly bring in this country comes from the other side of the world.” “Showing that sustainability level is important to the Natural Stone Institute,” agrees Jensen. “It’s a matter of rallying the industry and that’s a challenge for us as natural-stone distributors.” “Climate crisis will change consumer behavior eventually,” Perus adds, “and when it does, stone is definitely a material of choice if it is local.” As quarriers, Coldspring’s Krohn and Polycor’s Perus agree that granite for exterior uses can’t be beat. “I’d use it for hardscaping, building envelopes and infrastructure,” says Perus. “The oldest bridges in this country are made of granite.” “When you get anything that’s at grade or even close to ground level where moisture, dirt or salt can become a factor, granite is going to outperform the physical characteristics of those other materials,” says Krohn. “And there’s a stone to fit any aesthetic.” “I really think you can use it anywhere,” says Triton’s Jensen. “Some slabs are literally works of art. You can fall in love with a natural stone and use it literally anywhere.” Interior designer Stoner agrees, but she says the breadth of other materials won’t allow granite to ever return to its previous popularity. And yet …. “We’re seeing more of it recently,” Stoner concludes. “It can make an incredible statement in a space.”
“We’re seeing more of it recently. It can make an incredible statement in a space.”
Jennifer Stoner Jennifer Stoner Interiors
