Stone sensation

  • By Sarah Jackson Herald Writer
  • Wednesday, October 17, 2007 11:42am
  • Life

Chuck Weinberg had worked for Les Schwab for 18 years when he decided he needed a career change.

He had taken a trip three years earlier to Italy, where he toured a marble factory. He was amazed at what could be done with natural stone and wondered how he could get into the business.

“I was totally intrigued,” he said. “The whole stone industry is really cool. It was fun.”

Weinberg, of Lake Stevens, eventually partnered with his friend, Chris Green, who was already in the memorial business, to fabricate stone memorials and maybe a few granite kitchen countertops on the side.

That was in 2001.

“Within a couple months, it wasn’t ‘on the side’ anymore,” Weinberg said. “We were doing a lot of kitchens.”

Today, Priceless Granite, first run out of Green’s home, is in a new building just outside of Granite Falls with a showroom, a large slab lot and a fancy fabrication warehouse.

It is a thriving business on its own with about 25 employees and high-tech machines that cut and polish granite using precise templates. Green, meanwhile, is doing well, too, having moved his portion of the business to Everett in the form of Pacific Coast Memorials.

This weekend, granite-curious homeowners can learn more about Priceless Granite and its slab countertops at the Everett Fall Home Show.

In an age when granite countertops have become ubiquitous, almost standard, in new kitchens, Weinberg, 44, hopes to offer something a little different.

Unlike many granite vendors who rely on wholesale warehouses in Seattle, Weinberg imports his own stone.

He recently returned from another trip to Italy, where he selected slabs that go beyond neutral earth tones and predictable grains.

“Look at that,” he said pointing to a slab streaked with jade and chartreuse hues in Priceless Granite’s 1.5-acre slab lot. “It’s green.

“I want to find material that no one else has,” Weinberg said, pointing again to the three large slabs of green. “If you buy (these) three slabs, no one else is going to have that kitchen.”

Much of the stone comes from factories in Brazil, Italy and Spain, where large granite blocks, mined from quarries around the world, are turned into slabs, said Dave Saddler, sales manager for Priceless Granite.

Over the years, Weinberg has acquired more than 200 varieties of stone, ranging from common and affordable to exclusive and expensive.

Priceless Granite is steadily building quite a pedigree, including granite in Seattle Street of Dreams homes in 2005 and 2006 and in the home of Seattle Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck.

Weinberg, who now employs about 10 former Les Schwab employees or “Schwabies,” said he loves his job, which now includes plenty of scouting for granite and keeping on top of design trends and color forecasting.

“I feel like that’s the cream of the crop for the tire business,” he said of Les Schwab. “And granite is the cream of the crop for what you can put on your countertops.”

Reporter Sarah Jackson: 425-339-3037 or sjackson@heraldnet.com.

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