Luxury Marble and Granite: Building a Reputation for Quality and Service
by Peter J. Marcucci
Photos Courtesy Luxury Marble and Granite
Imagine, if you will, what it might feel like if you and your family were forced to abandon your beloved home and country, with only the clothes on your back and a few personal items, and flee for your life to avoid a horrific situation. The Cambodian Genocide between 1975 and 1979 was just this situation. It was the gruesome, shocking and systematic killing of millions of Cambodian citizens by a government known as the Khmer Rouge…Certainly not humanity’s finest hour.
There’s an old saying: What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Certainly the trials, tribulations, durability and strength of any person or family who survived that genocide, will stand as testament to that saying and, speaks volumes about the success of Vu Ly, Co-owner of Luxury Marble and Granite, as well as his parents Sen Thach and Sidel Ly, recalled Vu Ly. “Looking back, I really appreciate my parents taking that risk. I have nine brothers and sisters, and we escaped on foot. We were very fortunate.”
After fleeing Cambodia, the family first took refuge in Thailand, then the Philippines, and then immigrated to California. Vu was only three years old at the time, and briefly recalled what it was like growing up in San Bernardino. “We were living in a housing project like any other refuge family. In high school, I was in the ROTC, and was going to join the Navy when I graduated.”
By age fifteen, due to a fine mixture of luck, good parenting and destiny, Vu’s parents gave him a flight from California to Massachusetts to briefly work with his brother who worked for a stone fabrication company, Vu recalled. “My brother, David Lee, had told my parents that all the brothers could come, and he would get them a job fabricating. So I went, and my brother said the job was just for summer vacation, and I said, ‘No problem!’ However, I soon found out that I was given only a one-way ticket. I was young and naive, but I knew I would never be returning to California.”
A few years later, circa 1999, Vu’s parents moved to Massachusetts, leased some property, and opened up a fabrication company called American Marble and Granite, where the family could work collectively. His mom, being very wise and business-minded, knew this was the best thing for the family, said Vu. “She had told us to never stay and work for somebody. Learn the field, and open your own company.”
Unfortunately, due to the sale of the property where their business was located, the company closed its doors five years later, and the family business had to split up.
In 2001, Vu’s brother Tom Ly opened another company in Marshfield, Massachusetts, called Boston Galaxy Marble and Granite. The company flourished for 9 years. During this time, Vu’s brother, David Lee, had also opened a new company in Kingston, New Hampshire called Delta Stone, and it’s still in business, today.
As for Vu, in 2006, he met the young woman who is now his wife, Wendy Jiang. The couple fell in love, took a leap of faith and moved to New York City where they would finally settle down, and open the doors to Luxury Marble and Granite, in 2017.
“Wendy Jiang, and also her parents, supported my ambitions from the very beginning. She was the one who told me that now is the time to quit your full time job and focus on your ‘side job,’ and we eventually turned it into our business. She even gave up her CPA which she worked so hard for, and joined me into opening up another store called Luxury Kitchen and Bath; she learned how to design kitchens from scratch and became extremely good at it! She also appears with me on The Nate and Jeremiah Home Project, Season One. She’s my inspiration and the true backbone of our company!”
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Above and below: Kitchen remodel featured on The Nate and Jeremiah Home Project, Season 2. Luxury Marble and Granite fabricated and installed the marble tops and floating shelves. |
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Above and below: Mitered islands and full-height backsplashes are popular choices in the upscale New York kitchens produced for Luxury Marble and Granite’s customers. |
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Above: This elegant master bath features two onyx wall panels inset in the tiled walls.
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This rustic outdoor kitchen features granite tops set on fieldstone. |
Build it and They Will Come
The first location of Luxury Marble and Granite was in a 1,700 square foot building in Staten Island, N.Y. This location was soon outgrown, and the couple moved to a 10,000 square foot building in 2022, their current location, also in Staten Island.
In the beginning, Vu and Wendy Jiang built their clientele through Craigslist posts, giving commissions to the sales people who posted them. The business grew, and was now well on its way as a residential fabricator, serving walk-in owners, designers and builders. The company currently averages 120 kitchens per month with many sales coming through word-of-mouth referrals, Vu explained.
“Our quality and turnaround times are great, but it’s our service that makes us stand out. We treat our customers like family. We are very honest with them, and walk them through every step of the process. Most customers feel very comfortable working with us, and many don’t refer to us as a company. They say, ‘Call Vu! He’s a friend of mine!’ ”
According to Vu, 50% of yearly sales are walk-in, 25% are from builders, with the remainder being from privately-owned showrooms throughout the area. Many clients get their first exposure to the company’s work at these showrooms, he continued. “We give them our standard price list, and any job they sell they send it to us for fabrication and installation. We do everything, including templating.”
Unlike many fabrication shops these days, Vu prefers making corrugated plastic templates instead of using a laser, mostly so clients can physically see where their countertops are being cut from the slabs during layout. As for material ratios, Luxury Marble and Granite cuts approximately 85% quartz and 10% quartzite with the remaining 5% being marble, granite and porcelain, all the while maintaining the highest quality possible, continued Vu.
“When we started the company, I intended to bring great quality to all of my residential customers. Yes, you get what you pay for, but I wanted my customers to get more than what they paid for. At that time, we were only doing one or two kitchens per week, and we could put a lot of quality into the work. Now there’s times when we’re doing 25 to 30 kitchens per week. That’s fairly small volume for New York City, and even though we are busier than we used to be, overall, our quality is still better than many other shops. We also stand behind our work. In this business, everybody makes mistakes. I don’t care how good you are. But when we make a mistake, we jump right on it, with no excuses, and take care of it right away.”
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Above: Vu Ly: “This Calacatta Gold kitchen included walls and floor tiles chosen to match.” Below: River White granite island and countertops with ogee edge for a client’s kitchen remodel. |
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Networking Makes a Difference
Vu is also an active member of the International Surface Fabricators Association (ISFA). He joined specifically to attend their three-day porcelain training classes in Knoxville, TN, he explained. “My wife signed me up, and I went to learn how to fabricate porcelain. It was the best experience I’ve ever had as a fabricator! I had thought that when you go there, everybody’s going to be strict and business-like, but it was more like family. We learned so much about how porcelain is made, and how to fabricate it, and I now love it. The fabricators there were very open and willing to share trade secrets, which I found like WOW! If you’re in New York City, your neighbors will never tell you anything! I’m a very helpful person, and if you need something, and I can help you, I will! What goes around — comes around.”
Plans for the Future
“Over the next five years, my plan is to go international, open a company in every state, and have our countertops in every house in America! But right now we are targeting New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and trying to get more into the commercial world, especially using Dekton and porcelain. I also believe that every fabricator out there should join the ISFA. The organization and its members are like family, and we can definitely help each other grow, and depend on each other in the future.”
For more information, visit www.luxmarblegranite.com . Vu and Wendy Jiang’s work is also featured on HGTV’s TheNate and Jeremiah Home Project, Seasons One and Two.