As you might have heard already, Stone World is celebrating its 35th anniversary this year. And since so much has changed in the stone industry since then, we thought we'd have a feature highlighting pivotal moments throughout the decades.

With the advent of online reviews, HGTV and social media, consumers are saturated with options ranging from natural stone, engineered quartz (quartz surfacing), pre-cast concrete, porcelain, glass, stainless steel, sintered surfaces and so on.

While working for another company primarily doing tilework, Kurt Bartzsch was given the challenge to start the company’s fabrication shop. Bartzsch primarily learned on a trial-and-error basis before going out on his own.

This year, Stone World celebrates its 35th anniversary. And while the magazine itself has evolved through the decades, the stone industry at large has also experienced change and growth, as well as some hardships over time.

A vandal singled out a 100-year-old Italian bas-relief carving of the Last Supper, making the historic work of marble his personal piñata. After shaking my head, and wondering just what is wrong with people, I told my wife, “I should go down there and see if I can help fix the damage.”

A 1964 historic building in South Florida that currently houses a condominium complex was designed by Edward Durell Stone and restored by his son, Hicks Stone Son, in the late 1990s. But while the exterior of the building was revived, the Italian marble base of a sculpture that sits outdoors was in need of repair.

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.

The 30th edition of Coverings, the international stone and tile exhibition held annually in the U.S., will head back to the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, FL, from April 9 to 12, 2019. This year's show will feature interactive onsite experiences, and new activities to commemorate its 30th anniversary.

In this issue, you will see that we address the subject of shop safety, which I think everyone agrees is an important topic. In a matter of seconds, one wrong move or misjudgment can lead to an accident, or even more tragic to think about – a fatality.