Recently, Stone World had the opportunity to ask Johannes Semmler, managing director, and Hubert Kuenzl, export manager, about recent investments and their approach to working with and promoting the company’s Jura limestone to architects.

World Wide Stone Corporation has changed its name to Durango Stone LLC, its brand recognition for the past 30 years. And along with its new name, the company is also experiencing other adjustments, including expansion, which will further strengthen its place in the global stone industry.

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.

Founded in 1998, Majestic Stone had a solid reputation – shipping products everywhere from southern California to New York – but on a small scale. But after struggling through the recession, the owners sought to sell it to someone that could invest in its potential and turn it around.

With exotic stones such as quartzite continuing to grow in popularity among the design community and homeowners alike, stone producers in countries such as Brazil and Peru exhaust efforts to find new varieties of material to satisfy customer demands.

This Stone of the Month is supplied by Vereinigte Marmorwerke Kaldorf GmbH of Germany. Technical details provide a frame of reference only. Because stone is a product of nature, testing to determine specific physical qualities should be repeated for each project.