Founded in 1991, Mario & Son opened a new state-of-the-art stoneworking facility in Liberty Lake, WA, in 2007.


In business for nearly two decades, Mario & Son of Liberty Lake, WA, has steadily grown and invested back in its operation. These investments have included a range of CNC equipment as well as automated state-of-the-art technology for slab transportation, bar-coding, inventory and tracking. Moreover, the company has developed a one-of-a-kind, interactive showroom to help customers understand the history and potential uses of natural stone.

In designing the showroom for the new facility, the company’s owners wanted to create a stone “art gallery” for its customers.

Company history

Mario & Son was founded by Mario Marcella, and his son, Joey Marcella, in 1991. “Prior to that, my father had been a tilesetter since 1953,” explained Joey Marcella. “I am the youngest of five. My older brother, Michael, joined the business in 1997 and became a partner in 2000. I had always been involved in the industry. I spent my summers setting tile, and got more involved in stone tile in the ‘80s - polishing edges, etc. We started doing small vanities, and it kept growing into a full-blown shop. My father had developed a reputation for craftsmanship over the years, and everyone in the area knew him simply as ‘Mario,’ so that’s how we named the company.

The showroom features stone quarry murals and an interactive “museum wall” that takes the view through the quarry and fabrication process from start to finish.

A stone “art gallery”

In 2007, Mario & Son took its showroom to an unprecedented level with the creation of an interactive space that highlights the history and future of the stone industry. “We believe our shop signals a new direction for fabricators as we compete in a subdued economy where customer service is paramount,” Marcella said, adding that when considering the cost of high-end stonework, it made sense to invest in the company’s showroom facilities. “When people are buying a granite kitchen or any stonework, they’re typically paying a lot of money,” he said. “There are a lot of shops nationally that have addressed this. In our area, shops are often in out-of-the-way dingy places. It didn’t seem right to the customer to have that experience. In our old shop, the slabs were all outside. It was a matter of timing and when we could afford to enhance the experience. So in 2007, after 18 years in the stone business, we envisioned and constructed a new shop to enhance the customer experience on all levels.”

A fireside seating area contributes to the comfortable environment for clients in the showroom.

This new space has a range of interactive elements for customers. “Included is an ‘art gallery’ style showroom which focuses on client education - with stone quarry murals and an interactive ‘museum wall’ that takes the view through the quarry and fabrication process from start to finish,” Marcella said. “We offer high-end coffee and espresso service while clients watch various stone-related programs on multiple plasma TVs. Clients can then stroll down carpeted aisles searching through hundreds of slabs in natural and color-correct lighting. Even the bathrooms feature a designer stone experience.”

A range of completed vignettes are also in place at the company’s facility.

Marcella said that the company principals relied on their experiences working with customers as inspiration for the new space. “We are all involved in the design process, and coming up with those concepts was more fun than anything,” he said. “We asked ‘What are we trying to sell?’ It’s a product, but we wanted to show things in a way that answers the customers’ questions along the way. It’s not like customers going into a Walmart. They are usually here for two or three hours. A lot of customers want to browse around, and if they’re here, we want to make sure that their experience is informative. We want them to know more when they leave than when they came in here.”

Mario & Son’s multi-media conference room features a 20-foot-long table and backlit onyx panels.

State-of-the-art stoneworking

In equipping the shop, the owners of Mario & Son have continually sought to invest in advanced stoneworking technology. “Our first CNC was a Z.Bavelloni 102-S, which we bought in 1997, and it was one of the first in the U.S.,” Joey Marcella said. “People questioned the idea of buying it for custom fabrication at the time, but we’ve always tried to be at the forefront when it comes to technology. We bought one of the first Park Pro-Edge machines as well.”

The facility is located adjacent to Interstate-90 in Washington State, providing Mario & Son with a large retail presence.

Mario & Son upgraded to the Egar 320 and Egar 250 4-axis CNC stoneworking centers from Z.Bavelloni in 2003, and it also has machinery from a range of U.S. and European manufacturers. This includes the Vario 6 and KSL 100MG edge processors from Löffler of Germany, Jaguar C400 and Cougar bridge saws as well as a Pro-Edge II and Wizard Radial Arm polishers from Park Industries of St. Cloud, MN; a dual-table 6- x 24-foot waterjet from Flow International of Kent, WA; a 711 M flat edge polisher from Marmo Meccanica of Italy; an EnviroSystem water recycling system from Water Treatment Technologies of Hampton, NH; and a Sullair high-capacity, variable-drive compressor.

In 2007, Mario & Son purchased a 207-unit automatic warehouse from Breton of Italy. This includes powered straight line and transversal conveyors, a material “flipper” and a bar-code system.

In 2007, Mario & Son moved into a new facility, and it took technology to the next level with the purchase of a 207-unit automatic warehouse from Breton of Italy. This includes powered straight line and transversal conveyors, a material “flipper” and a bar-code system. Other Breton equipment includes a Contourbreton NC 260K37 stoneworking center, which is suited for large-scale production, and a Speedycut FK/NC 800 saw, which has numeric control and operates with AutoCAD software.

Breton refers to the automatic warehousing system as the Automatic Resource Management System (A.R.M.S.). These systems are customized material warehousing solutions designed to automate the order-fulfillment process.

Breton refers to the automatic warehousing system as the Automatic Resource Management System (A.R.M.S.). Breton A.R.M. Systems are customized material warehousing solutions designed to automate the order-fulfillment process - starting with the receipt of inbound material and continuing to where it exits the facility as a finished product. Incoming slabs are robotically picked from stock A-frames, and then they are photographed, marked for defects, applied with protective film and bar-coded for storage before being transferred to the warehousing unit.

In addition to the A.R.M.S. system, other Breton equipment includes a Contourbreton NC 260K37 stoneworking center, pictured on the left in the background.

The control automatically records the location of the piece prior to storage, and the operator only recalls the pieces required. At each stage, the workpieces can be automatically placed onto A-frames or conveyors for movement into workstations or positioning onto the worktables of the machines. The cut-to-size and finished pieces are conveyed back into the warehousing unit for storage prior to installation, where they can be called and their status updated.

Additionally, the company operates a Speedycut FK/NC 800 saw, which has numeric control and operates with AutoCAD software.

“Breton turned us onto the system,” explained Marcella. “We looked at it in Chicago, and we decided that it is a good fit for us. We are currently using half the system, and are ready for expansion. There was no point in doing it halfway, so we built for future expansion.”

Marcella said that extensive research went into the Breton material-handling system, which he called “the heart” of the company’s operations. “A couple of years prior to getting this built, my brother and I traveled the country and visited various shops,” he explained. “We were concerned with the continuous production concept. We looked around, and we liked what we saw. We knew that we needed a system for material storage, so we wouldn’t have to stop every few hours.”

Mario & Son also operates multiple CNC stoneworking centers from Z. Bavelloni of Italy, including the Egar 250.

Material also is transported around the facility using seven overhead cranes, which have a 5-ton capacity, along with five Manzelli vacuum lifters and various forklifts.

For templating, the company relies on two LT-55 laser templating systems from Laser Products of Romeoville, IL, along with a Faro arm. Various projects are tracked using the JobTracker system from Moraware of Reno, NV.

Complicated cutting is done using a dual-table Flow waterjet.

While the majority of the equipment in the company’s current facility was purchased at the time of the move, some of the older equipment - such as the Cougar bridge saw, Z. Bavelloni Egar 320 and Marmo Meccanica 711 M - are in place at a second location, which operates under the name of Discount Stone & Supply. “Everything is still there running and making money, with the exception of the Z. Bavelloni Egar 250 and Jaguar saw, which moved to the new building,” Marcella said. “This shop now specializes in smaller remnant projects and is doing well. As with most shops of our size, we have plenty of remnants for the customers to choose from.”

Slabs are also cut to size using a Jaguar bridge saw from Park Industries of St. Cloud, MN.

Mario & Son currently has a staff of 30 employees, down from a high of about 40. “That’s been a positive thing for us,” Marcella explained. “We were a little overstaffed before. We moved into this facility in 2007, and as we really started to embrace new technology and got past learning curves, the automation took off for us. We downsized because of the economy, but it really needed to be done anyway.”

Material is transported around the facility as needed using seven overhead cranes, which have a 5-ton capacity, along with five Manzelli vacuum lifters and various forklifts.

For the most part, the company’s workers have been on board for the long term. “Most of our guys have been with us from 5 to 10 years, but we do have some who have been around for one to two years,” he said. “Our employee emphasis is away from the ‘down and dirty’ style of fabrication. We nurture long-term careers through competitive compensation, clean and comfortable employee facilities, weekly barbecues and company events. All of this translates into a company culture meant to enhance both the customers’ experience and the employee’s craft.

An EnviroSystem water recycling system from Water Treatment Technologies of Hampton, NH, is in place to help care for the environment.

“In addition, Mario & Son aggressively promotes educational tours with the area’s college design classes as well as numerous community groups and organizations,” Marcella continued. “We educate our employees in-house with monthly classes on fabrication and install techniques, such as new seaming methods and surface polishing, as well as group ‘field trips’ to trade shows and suppliers’ facilities.”

For templating, the company relies on two LT-55 laser templating systems from Laser Products of Romeoville, IL (an example of which is pictured).

New hires at Mario & Son are a mix of experienced stoneworkers and those new to the trade. “We had previously shied away from guys from other shops,” Marcella said. “But in this last year, it seems that a lot of shops are interested in what we are doing, so we are seeing better employees coming in and filling out applications. New workers learn the job as they go along. They are shadowed by experienced personnel until they are ready to go on their own. When we are hiring new people, if we have a guy with polishing experience, we may start them there, but we are always looking for what their strong points are. The person in charge of our CAD room was hired as saw operator, but we found out that he had extensive CAD knowledge, and that was the best fit for him.”

Various projects are tracked using the JobTracker system from Moraware of Reno, NV (an example of which is pictured).

Mario & Son has also begun cross-training its employees. “We’ve always had specialists until recently,” he said. “With the Breton system, we’ve been pushing the cross-training, and we’ve had good results. Being a little slower now, it’s helped people have a chance to learn. Even with the office staff, they have to meet with various machine operators and get a 10-minute tutorial, and they’re loving it. It’s beneficial to them, and it benefits their careers. It helps them with customers to know what is going on behind the scenes and what each machine does. I’m really pleased with the enthusiasm. Everyone seems to be on board.”

“We educate our employees in-house with monthly classes on fabrication and install techniques, such as new seaming methods and surface polishing, as well as group ‘field trips’ to trade shows and suppliers’ facilities,” explained Joey Marcella of Mario & Son.

Sales and marketing

The company currently processes an average of five to six kitchens per day, down from an average high of 10 per day in 2008. “We had a good 2008, but things went down in 2009,” Marcella said, adding that the economic downturn has provided the company an opportunity to improve efficiency. “It’s given us a chance to slow down and fix internal issues that we’ve always been too busy to fix. We’ve embraced that we’ve been slower than normal and used it to our advantage.”

While the majority of the equipment in the company’s current facility was purchased at the time of the move, some of the older equipment - such as the Cougar bridge saw, Z. Bavelloni Egar 320 and Marmo Meccanica 711 M - are in place at a second location, which operates under the name of Discount Stone & Supply.

The company does a range of residential and commercial work, such as hotels and condominium spaces. “We do a little bit of everything,” Marcella said. “We are working with 14 Home Depots, and we are located right on the freeway, so we have a big retail and walk-in presence. The facility is really built to entice people. We also work with designers and kitchen/bath professionals.”

Most of Mario & Son’s residential fabrication is in the high-end remodeling sector. “They are almost all remodels, and they’re very high-end custom work,” he said. “We don’t really have galley-style kitchens like there are on the East Coast. There are a lot of bump-outs and radius work combined with the straight work, so it is good to have a mix of machines.”

In addition to residential work, Mario & Son has done commercial projects such as the Terrace Condominiums in Coeur d’Alene, ID.

In terms of challenges, Marcella said fighting lower margins is a constant concern. “I see a lot of shops that are giving their services away, and they don’t understand the costs,” he said. “If enough of them do this, you can be forced to follow suit to book work. In our neck of the woods, we have a lot of two- and three-man shops who got into the business on an opportunity, and they will just as soon go out. So if they have slabs, they will work to make a buck today without regard for the future. This can affect the legitimate shops.”

For this showroom space at Huntwood Cabinets, the company fabricated CaesarStone quartz surfacing with a 6-cm edge detail.

In the end, however, Marcella believes that providing a premium customer experience allows the company to stand out for its customers. “In addition to great craftsmanship, customers are also demanding that the facility and shopping experience matches their investment,” he said. “After all, you wouldn’t want to buy a new Mercedes at a run-down dealership.”

Sidebar: Mario & Son

Liberty Lake, WA

Type of work: residential and commercial work in natural stone and quartz surfacing

Machinery: Egar 320 and Egar 250 4-axis CNC stoneworking centers from Z.Bavelloni of Italy; Vario 6 and KSL 100MG edge processors from Löffler of Germany, Jaguar C400 and Cougar bridge saws as well as a Pro-Edge II and Wizard Radial Arm polishers from Park Industries of St. Cloud, MN; dual-table 6- x 24-foot waterjet from Flow International of Kent, WA; 711 M flat edge polisher from Marmo Meccanica of Italy; EnviroSystem water recycling system from Water Treatment Technologies of Hampton, NH; Sullair high-capacity, variable-drive compressor; 207-unit automatic warehouse (Automatic Resource Management System) from Breton of Italy, including powered straight line and transversal conveyors, a material “flipper” and a bar-code system; Breton Contourbreton NC 260K37 stoneworking center, Breton Speedycut FK/NC 800 optima saw seven overhead cranes, which have a 5-ton capacity; five Manzelli vacuum lifters; two LT-55 laser templating systems from Laser Products of Romeoville, IL; Faro arm; JobTracker project tracking system from Moraware of Reno, NV

Number of Employees: 30

Production Rate: Five to six kitchens per day, plus commercial work