It's no surprise to anyone in the stone industry that we are in the middle of a shake-up, driven predominantly by a new construction and remodeling boom, the new import tariffs, the ever-growing number of new competitor fabricators and the merging and acquisition of low-performing and established fabrication businesses.
We are experiencing a natural realignment of businesses into their core essential function of surface fabrication, which is largely supported by good market conditions, fabricators becoming smarter about the way they operate, and manufacturers and distributors reclaiming their position in the market. Over the last few years, we have experienced some manufacturers getting stronger, while others lost momentum, fabricators attempting to become distributors and dealers trying to be fabricators. This left some with new ways of generating business and others out of the picture. In the middle of it all, the end-user was left suffering through the entrepreneurial crisis. For many businesses, the main focus was not the most important part, the customer, but instead on how to expand and grow into opportunities that came about.