Slippery Rock Gazette

Years ago, if you wanted pure white marble, Thassos was the first choice. There were no granites or quartzites in pure white available, and engineered stone was just a gleam in the eyes of chemists. Your best choice was Thassos, if white was right for your project, and Nickolas Politis, owner of Eurostone Marble knew it.  

Opening the doors as an importer/distributor in 1989, Politis and his fledgling company didn’t stock many other varieties and colors other than Thassos. Today, thirty years later, Thassos is still the preferred pure white marble, although Eurostone does continue to sell other colors. Recently, the Slippery Rock Gazette reached out to Nick to ask him about his career in stone.

Above left: Nick Politis selects Thassos blocks on one of his yearly buying trips to visit Thassos quarries and factories in Greece. Above, right: Thassos White slab from the Eurostone warehouse in Houston, TX.

A Company Built on Trust and Quality

“I came to America from Athens, Greece in 1987,” recalled Politis. “I was married, and my wife had been living in New York. We then settled in Houston, Texas. Being a marble distributor was in the back of my mind, but at the time, I didn’t know how distributors worked in America.” At the time (and to this day), Politis’ cousin in Greece was well connected with the right stone sources.

“My family encouraged me and backed me, and so I started a career selling natural stone. My cousin owned a factory in Greece, and had one of the best sources for pure white Thassos. This helped me to get the right quality and the right price. Some of my first customers were companies in Miami and California. Big companies like Continental Marble, Marble Supply and Walker Zanger. They are still in business.”

When the granite craze arrived sometime in the 1990s (depending on your location), Politis thought about offering granite and determined that he needed to be more specialized, focusing his efforts on his brand of pure white.

“During the mid-nineties, interior designers were getting to know us, while at the same time companies around the country were also getting to know us. We were not selling much of other materials, but when it came to Thassos, they would call us and we would deliver. People didn’t call me for Ubatuba, Blue Bahia or Cremamarfil. They called me for Thassos, because we had a good position in that market and direct access to high quality.”

All of Eurostone Marble’s materials are cut to size and containerized, and then shipped to Florida, California or Houston where they are then delivered direct to the buyer, nationwide. Current square footage averages 90,000 per year of combined tiles and slabs nationwide, or around the globe. 

Retail stores, commercial, hospitality, upscale residential and universities are all within Eurostone Marble’s market, said Politis. “The key to our growth and sales is not only our price. We are very competitive as well, and constantly maintain a high standard. Other types and colors of stone can be discolored or blemished and are still usable, but our material, thank goodness  because we’ve been lucky, we haven’t had any major deviations with the quality. So we have very high standards for what we sell. You have to with any white material, because when your customer asks for white, it needs to be white! We are also capable of producing custom sizes of slabs or tiles for any specification.” 

Production of 24 x 24 Thassos White tiles, and 12 x 24 honed tiles (above, right).  Most materials are cut to size at the factory and containerized.

Customer Satisfaction

“I love to hear the compliments. Just this morning, a designer called and told me they had been looking everywhere for first quality Thassos, and a friend had told them to contact me. Also, a while back, I had a guy in San Antonio call me, wanting seven containers, twelve months from now. I said, ‘Why are you calling me twelve months in advance. Is this real?’ He said, ‘Yes, this is real!’ 

“Anyway, I was hardly expecting anything to come of it, but I gave the guy my cell phone number and told him to call me. Two days later, I received a large amount of money as a down payment for the material he needed. I then called him to ask the quantity so I could start production, and what really made me proud is when he said, ‘Nick, this project is for next summer. We just want to make sure that we get what we ordered on time. We know about your company, we trust you, and we don’t have a problem with giving you a down payment early.’ 

This really made me proud. Then the following year, when they received their order, they wrote me a nice letter saying how beautiful it was. I love hearing things like this, and let’s face it, not many people are going to give you a big down payment based on your reputation, and tell you they don’t need it delivered until next year.

“So it’s been a happy trail. I’m sixty years old and very content where the company is right now. We have done well. Sometimes I tell my kids that they went to college because of Thassos! 

“I plan to spend a lot of time in Greece starting next year, and I invite all my friends and customers to contact me through my U.S. number. It has been a very nice journey and I want to thank the dealers for the support and trust they have given me, over the past  30 years.”

For more information on  the material available at Eurostone, visit www.eurostonemarble.com or call Nick at 713-202-6780.