![]() ’ So we hired a fellow who was familiar with a lot of kitchen and bath companies and he kept us alive,” Vaccaro remembers. “ In 2008 I looked at my general manager and said, ‘We are either going to roll over and die, or we need to get some work in here. Things like rodding all countertops at every cutout to reduce breakage in transit furnishing uniforms for the installers and requiring them to wear booties anytime they entered a customer’s home or completely changing his customer base from 95% new construction in 2008 to 95% kitchen and bath dealer in 2009. So, even though he was a total newbie when it came to stone fabrication, Vaccaro knew how to hire the right people – and he is good at solving problems. It was something else trying not to get kicked at feeding time.” We parted company and they are still dong one or two kitchens per week, and we are doing 3-4 kitchens per day.”Ī plumber by trade, Vaccaro has dipped his toe into all kinds of water, including home and commercial construction and owning his very own ostrich farm. They just wanted to build the tops quickly and get them out the door. “ They had come to me asking questions about starting a business, like where do you find a lawyer, and an accountant? So I said, ‘Do you guys want another partner in this thing? ’ And they said, ‘We thought you would never ask. “ I started this company with a couple of partners,” he explains. It’s that uncompromising commitment to quality that has helped Vaccaro grow his business from start-up to becoming a major player in Chicagoland over the last 10 years. ’ Then, later, I found out a couple of guys were sneaking wax into the shop and I said, ‘If I find any wax in the shop, someone’s going to get fired over it. There is no more wax allowed in the shop. ’ I said, ‘No! Our customers are paying for a polished job, so polish it. ‘Oh, ’ they said, ‘this is for little spots where it is hard to get to, where it’s hard to polish. “ I kept catching the guys with wax and I asked them what they were using it for. “ When I first started making stone countertops I didn’t really know that much about the business,” explains Jim Vaccaro, owner of Old World Stone. What kind of company would fire a fabricator just for having it on his person? Turns out, Old World Stone, in Huntley, IL will. Machinery:Bellani Comet edge polisher from O.M.G.M.Wax. Each piece is individually handled from raw slab to finished product, because each piece and each job is so different, every detail is important to us.” ![]() “We like to be extremely hands on with everything we do. “Because of our upbringing, we were raised to work hard, and the greatest gift somebody has is their work ethic, and we also believe in great customer service,” said Titone. But in the end, the goal is to continue to put out a really good product and make people satisfied with their quality. Looking toward the future, Old Stone Marble Works intends to work more with architects and do some commercial work. That’s why we depend on Stone Boss, they’ll say, ‘You can really just do it with this, or just use this tooling.’ But even the Comet, the edging machine, sits there for a long time.” And also some of the machines just sit there idol. If anyone would stand behind that and believe in it, it would be him. ![]() My husband is a graduate of RPI, and he is great with electronics and engineering, and we converted him into a stone man. “I know technology, and believe me, we are big fans of technology, but it is not always the most accurate in this business. “We believe in the Old World system it works the best ,” said Titone. ![]() When it comes to templating, Old Stone Marble Works uses coral plastics.
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