What Sets You Apart From Home Depot (and other box stores)?

That was the question a customer asked us the other day. And a good one at that. Anyone that thinks they can comparison shop our price to Home Depot should at least think about that question. It is definitely not an "apples to apples" comparison. And the best way to answer that is to start out with a little bit about what Home Depot (and for the most part Lowes, Costco or any other big box store) is and is not (when it comes to granite countertops).

Home Depot is a corporate retail outlet, they sub-contract any fabrication or installation work out to other companies (whether it be granite countertops, flooring, siding or roofing installation). By using sub-contractors,  the home owner does not know who will actually be in their house performing the work, nor the type of shop that will be fabricating their countertops. Additionally even if Home Depot only sub-contracts your granite fabrication & installation to the same sub-contractor, there is no way of know if that fabricator themselves uses sub-contractors to do their installs.

Secondly, Home Depot both limits your options & up-charges for every detail. They advertise an amazingly low per square foot price, but you'll never make it out the door at that price. It's almost as if the base price of a car at a car dealership didn't include the cost of wheels & tires to go on the car. At least with a car you can potentially decline all the options (though they might not have such a base car on the lot at the  moment, but that's not the rabbit trail I want to follow) and actually drive off the lot for that price  (+tax, title, delivery charge, but car ads are pretty up-front about that "fine print", so it's not a surprise).

And while Home Depot has samples of the [limited] different granite colors they offer, all you'll ever see before the counters are brought to your house is the (relatively small) sample. You don't get to see the whole slab, much less pick the slab your tops are cut from. Even with in the same name/color there is a range. Ubatuba for instance can range from a dark almost black green, to a yellowish/gold green. Same material, same name, maybe even the same quarry, but a totally different shade/color from one bundle to the next. And there is no telling which direction it might be from the sample they have.

So what makes us different? First Percoco Marble & Tile is a small family owned business and we are the retail outlet, fabricator & installer all in one. When you come here you can see our shop (one of the cleanest in the industry), meet our staff & know the installers coming to your house are our employees, not a sub-contractor.

Next as we are a custom shop, your options are nearly limitless. I say nearly because some things simply are not practical or may defy the laws of physics. These limits on options though are not because of a corporate policy, but simply limits of nature. Our price is based completely on the options you select & the layout of your kitchen without some unreasonable low advertised price to suck you in. Obviously options add to the cost, but our quote is an all-inclusive price (based on the information you provide at the time of the quote).

As for picking your material, you can select either from what we have in our yard or from any of the other stone wholesalers in town (as listed on our website). Not only can you pick the exact slabs, after we template you can have as much or little input as you like on laying out the slabs in our yard before we cut (limited only by your kitchen or bathroom layout and the number of slabs you are willing to buy or that may be available).

Additionally because of our commitment to the consumer as well as the stone industry we are members of a number of industry associations including but not limited to The Rocky Mountain Stone Association, The Marble Institute of AmericaThe Natural Stone Institue & The National Kitchen And Bath Association. Each of these organizations have standards (code) of ethics for its members as well as resources for the consumer.

Finally, we have started a Affordable Slab Package program to offer a more even (though not exact) comparison to Home Depot (and other places that operate similarly). This program limits your options (similar to Home Depot), but includes the advantage of knowing who is fabricating & installing your counters. Also in these packages we have included a high quality stainless steel sink & faucet set (something that you will have to pay extra for at Home Depot).

So take a moment to see who we are and what we have to offer, how we operate, and the work we've done in the past.