As you probably know, most of the natural stone we sell at Marble & Granite, Inc. comes from abroad. Whether it’s marble from Italy or granite from Brazil, much of our inventory travels a long way before it gets to our showrooms. Ever wonder how that process works? 

Step 1: Review our Inventory
The first step is figuring out what we’re missing in our showrooms and our warehouses. We’ll look at current trends and see what our top sellers have been. 

Step 2: Meet with Our Vendors 
After we’ve identified our needs, we’ll meet with our vendors who will show us a variety of options. We’ll look over photos either electronically or in-person and we’ll negotiate with them for the best market price. 
 

Step 3: Inspect the Goods 
Once we’ve reached an agreement, our employees who live in Brazil and Italy will go to the quarry to inspect the stone. They’ll confirm the quality of the material that we want. For other stone-quarrying regions, such as India, China, and Spain where we do not have Marble & Granite, Inc. representatives living in the country, we rely on a core group of very trustworthy suppliers. We’ve been working with these same suppliers for many, many years, so we know we’ll be getting what’s been promised. 
 

Step 4: Load the Stone 
After the purchase is agreed upon, all of the stone slabs we’re purchasing are loaded into a container and transit is booked with the shipping line. Once it’s on the water, the travel time is typically about 30 days. Of course, some are faster and some are slower. Stone coming from South America will arrive in the Port of New York; everything else arrives at the port in Boston. 
   After containers are discharged from the vessel, each container must be delivered to its destination. 


Step 5: Clear from Customs and Unload the Stone 
Once the ship arrives in port, the stone must be cleared from customs. Our broker arrives to review the shipment and then the stone is discharged from the vessel. 

Step 6: Pick Up and Delivery to Warehouse 
Finally, now that the stone has reached the U.S., our trucking team picks up the container at the port. They’ll drive it to our headquarters in Westwood, MA, where our staff will unload the container, carefully bringing each slab into the warehouse. 
 

Step 7: Ready to Sell
Lastly, each stone slab will have its final review by our Quality Control team as it’s removed from the truck. As each slab is confirmed to be as promised, it’s photographed and loaded into our inventory software and uploaded to our website. It will then make its way to the warehouse floor where it’s now ready for customers to see and our sales team to sell. 

Would you like to know more about our inventory and the selection and shipping process? Schedule a consultation to visit one of our three Northeast showrooms. Give us a call at 877 39 STONE.