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2|July 2019
Eurostone Marble Celebrates 30 Years
of my first customers were com- panies 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 deter- mined that he needed to be more specialized, focusing his efforts on his brand of pure white.
“During the mid-nineties, in- terior 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 mate- rials are cut to size and container- ized, 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 na- tionwide, 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 stan- dard. Other types and colors of stone can be discolored or blem- ished 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
Slippery rock Gazette
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.”
Customer Satisfaction
“I love to hear the compliments. Just this morning, a designer called and told me they had been looking everywhere for first qual- ity 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 contain- ers, 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 expect- ing 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 pay- ment for the material he needed. I then called him to ask the quan- tity 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 giv- ing 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 col- lege because of Thassos!
“I plan to spend a lot of time in Greece starting next year, and I invite all my friends and custom- ers 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.
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 im- porter/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.
A Company Built on Trust and Quality
“I came to America from Athens, Greece in 1987,” re- called 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
Above: Nick Politis selects Thassos blocks on one of his yearly buying trips to visit Thassos quarries and factories in Greece.
Thassos White slab from the Eurostone warehouse in Houston, TX.
Production of 24 x 24 Thassos White tiles, and 12 x 24 honed tiles (right). Most materials are cut to size at the factory and containerized.