As one of the world's most traded commodities, coffee represents a $50 billion industry, second only to oil. The increasing popularity of coffee has spurred the success for CC's Coffee Houses, a chain that began in the New Orleans area and has recently branched into all parts of Louisiana, Texas and Alabama. In 1995, CC's approached Bill Lasseter of Diniz Design in Baton Rouge, LA, to provide the slate and granite for the company's coffeehouses. Lasseter said he went with the first thing that came to his mind. "Since a great deal of the finest coffee originated in Brazil, the use of natural stone, chiefly Brazilian granite and Brazilian Multicolor Ferrous slate, made a marriage unlike any other," he said.

Keeping in mind that CC's boasts that it is the "premiere coffeehouse of the South," Lasseter said the overall design goal was to "elicit an atmosphere reminiscent of Old World New Orleans with elegance, and a sense of relaxed Southern charm." Before deciding on the Brazilian material, Lasseter did consider some solid slate due to its versatility to evoke both a "tropical and Old World feel." However, "the Brazilian stone just worked perfectly, it was synchronistic and tied in with all of the interior elements," he said.

An average of 2,000 square feet of Brazilian Multicolor Ferrous slate in 16- x16-inch tiles was used per store. The slate was intended to visually mimic the various types of coffee beans in a variety of roasting stages. The slate's variegation of color promoted what Lasseter called a "bursting of energy and flavor. The floor was articulated on a grid for ease of patron orientation and for a sense of southern relaxed formality." There was a logical placement of visual texture and color. The tiles were not randomly laid, as each one was selected to produce "a pleasing aesthetic mix to delight the senses," Lasseter said.