Solid Surface Rocks at AMC Countertops
by Peter Marcucci
Photos Courtesy AMC Countertops
It is amazing where a healthy mix of imagination, ambition, and drive will take you. Add a bit of good luck and who you know to the mix, and you’re well on your way to success. In the case of Axel Mendez, owner of AMC Countertops in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, it was his brother-in-law, and a company called Stone Systems that helped shape his future.
Growing up in Mexico City, Mexico was not easy, said Axel Mendez. Due to not feeling safe at the time due to rising crime, he wanted to sell his auto parts company and move to northern Mexico. However, unbeknownst to him, fate had a different plan, he recalled. “I had always been an entrepreneur, and toward the end of 1998, my brother-in-law had invited me to come to Minnesota. He was working for Stone Systems at the time, where the beginning of Cosentino and Silestone took place, and when Roberto Contreras was starting the company.”
Staying with Stone Systems for three years, Mendez learned the business as a shop foreman, quality control inspector, scheduler, and finally a measure tech for their Home Depot account. Things were going well for Mendez. Nonetheless, three years later, it was time for the entrepreneur to move, again. This time it would be Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, where he was met with great approval, he said. “I was welcomed! Fond du Lac is a small city in the middle of Madison, Milwaukee and Green Bay, and a great location to start a countertop company. They were very friendly, and the city was offering loans.”
 |
|
Above: White Moon Sensa Granite island. Kitchen fabricated and installed for AMC’s client, Premier Builders. AMC Countertops offers a
|
Build It and They Will Come
Now fast-forward to June 2002. The doors of AMC had opened, and the fabrication of quartz countertops was underway, continued Mendez. “Naturally, in the beginning, I became a quartz fabricator, because that’s what I started with, not natural stone. When I did start fabricating granite, it was for Lowe’s in 2008/2009 when the economy was down.”
A few years later, again looking for opportunities, Mendez recognized the next big thing on the horizon. It was Dekton, a new material that seemed to intimidate many natural stone fabricators, at the time. Nonetheless, after getting Dekton certified by Cosentino in 2014, Mendez added production of this new and unique ultra-compact countertop material to his shop’s offerings. “You know, I’ve always been interested in solving problems that nobody else wanted to work with. It’s my nature.”
At present, AMC has a total of 25 company team members. This includes Mendez’s wife, Carmina, who’s been with the company since the beginning. Carmina is a Moraware expert, and does everything as an owner, but marketing, sales and customer service are her specialties.
The shop consists of 12 team members who take care of fabrication, material handling, machine operations and programming, as well as all day-to-day logistics, while 13 other team members fill the administration, sales and design roles.
Currently, installations are performed by subcontractors, and will stay that way for the foreseeable future, said Mendez.
“We have a very strong team right now. ‘Great things in business are never done by one person. They are done by a team of people.’ That’s one of my favorite quotes, by Steve Jobs. It is so true, because if you have a great team, you can do a lot of great things. So, yes, I recognize that without my team, their efforts, and them being here every day supporting this company, it wouldn’t be what it is. Sometimes we’ve worked 14-hour days, and Saturdays while working on a project that had to be done, and they were so willing to do it. AMC is not one person. AMC is a team.”
That team puts out an average of 8,000 square feet per month, which equates to approximately one-hundred sixty kitchens, vanities, and extras. AMC has approximately three-hundred slabs on hand at any one time, most of them purchased from local suppliers. Their clientele, at present, consists totally of residential customers, mostly mid to high end, and includes ten Home Depots, local builders, kitchen centers, designers, and walk-in retail customers. AMC also offers sinks and faucets, with samples shown throughout the newly built, 5,000 square-foot showroom full of vignettes.
 |
|
Above, left: AMC Countertop’s Park Fusion is a busy machine – shown here with multiple jobs lined up for sink cut-out production.
|
 |
 |
 |
|
Onyx bartop fabricated and installed for the Take 5 Bar in Madison, Wisconsin. |
Shop Equipment and Production Software
Their shop equipment consists of a Park Industries Fusion CNC, a Donatoni CNC Saw, a Marmo Meccanica LCX622 edge polisher, and a Marmo Meccanica LCV711 edge polisher. Two jib cranes are used to safely move all materials around the well designed, 12,000 square-foot shop.
To help facilitate and coordinate the company’s work flow, AMC uses Moraware Software for estimating and scheduling, Job Well Done software for communication between the company and clients, and Pinpoint software, also for communication between company and clients, as well as storing all information relevant to each job. They use Slabsmith software for managing inventory and workflow.
Never Let the Customer Down
“What makes us different from others is our service,” continued Mendez. “We are not cheap, and don’t try to beat everyone’s price. That is not the way we want to sell. From the initial contact to the installation, we don’t let our clients go without an answer, without a solution, or something that we can do for them. We are not perfect, but we never let them down, and talk to them truthfully from the very beginning. We’ll tell them how many weeks out our installs are. It could be one week or five weeks, and then they can decide if they want to be with us or not. Fortunately, we have a lot of clients who do want us.”
Plans for the Future
When asked about his plans for the future, Mendez said with confidence, “Well, I want to keep my current customers happy. I also want to update our machinery and expand into other areas without making this facility bigger. Ten years ago, it was volume, volume, volume, and running a second shift week after week. I was doing more and trying to get out more square footage, but sometimes it’s just not worth it!
“I was here six days a week for 60 to 70 hours. But I also wanted to get more quality work, so we could become more firmly established in the high-end market, and we’ve done that”
It’s no secret that change can be difficult, but for those willing to take a chance and sometimes make a bold move on a well thought-out plan, the rewards can sometimes be great. For Mendez, first it was quartz, then granite, then Dekton, then porcelain… makes us wonder what’s next for this successful entrepreneur?
|
Below: Silestone Bianco Calacatta mitered cubic island and full height splash grace this spacious, open-plan working kitchen. |
 |
 |
AMC is a member of The Rockheads, The National Stone Institute, The Builders Association of Fond du Lac, The Builders Association of Oshkosh, and The Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, the largest business association in Wisconsin. AMC is also a decade-old customer of BB Industries.
For more information visit www.amccountertops.com .