In a time when most economic prognosticators are declaring "gloom and doom," the U.S. stone industry seems to be a long-term exception. While other trades - in the construction sector and elsewhere - are recording significant decreases in business, the stone industry keeps rolling along. And while there are always exceptions to any trend, the overall reports are positive, according to a market research survey conducted by Business News Publishing (Stone World's parent company).
Each year, Stone World presents the results of this survey in its January issue (page 98). And while the surveys of several years ago were little more than confirmation that the American stone industry was booming, the polls of the last two years have taken on a bit more meaning. With an economic recession and the continuing threat of war and terrorism, every industry has reason for concern. But according to the surveys of the last two years, the per capita stone consumption in the U.S. marketplace has been so strong that it has more than compensated for outside factors.