Member Spotlight Hard Rock Stone Works
Member Since 2019

Hard Rock Stone Works was founded in 2005 by three people who had a shared vision to develop a successful business during a time when the countertop/surfacing industry was booming.

They worked nonstop, took a few chances and, with the support of family and friends, their business grew. Today they’re proudly a leading fabricator with a talented team and highly advanced machinery and equipment to expertly handle virtually any stone or hard surface material. Along the way they’ve added fine cabinetry, professional plumbing, a commercial division and "Rock Shop," an online store.

“We started with a few guys doing everything from selling to installing,” explained Hard Rock Stone Works President Steve Amodeo. “Now, after 16 years of planning and hard work, we are a leader in the industry with roughly 150 employees and two showrooms.”

Hard Rock Stone Works offers granite marble, quartz, quartzite, soapstone, porcelain and ultracompact surfaces (i.e., Dekton by Cosentino). This allows the company to be able to proudly advertise itself as a virtually one-stop shop for nearly all high-end surfaces, which in turn increases its visibility in the market. “Offering all of these materials really holds our staff to a higher standard,” explained Amodeo. “We are constantly learning and adapting to the characteristics of each product, through material handling, fabrication, installation, and continued care and maintenance.”

However, he said it is not without at least some drawbacks, with the primary one being that it’s more challenging to reduce remnants because of the wide variety of materials being fabricated on any given day. As such, the company works diligently to get the most out of the materials everyday.

Into the Commercial World
After many years focusing on residential work, more than half a decade ago Hard Rock Stone Works decided to test the waters in the commercial arena, and it has certainly paid off for the company. In the beginning, the company started with a single employee being a one-man commercial team. He estimated and sold jobs, and was also a project manager. This quickly became too much for one person with such a large demand in the commercial world. Now six employees are part of the commercial division of Hard Rock Stone Works. “With the six team members, we have more than 60 years of experience in the stone industry,” explained Amodeo. “We have three estimators, two project managers and one sales rep. All of them are well diversified in the other fields of their day-to-day tasks. Many have come from different departments within the company, from fabrication and installation to purchase management and engineering, allowing us to be fully faceted in all aspects of the commercial building process. We utilize the latest software for takeoff and for submitting our quotes. If you can dream it, we can make it happen.”

Amodeo also talked about the valued engineering that Hard Rock Stone Works offers to its commercial clients. “In the construction industry, it is common for projects to tend to go over budget. This is where value-engineered alternatives can come into play,” he offered up. “Typically, when a stone is specified, whether it be a quartz, marble, granite or other materials, there are other stones that are similar and can be a fraction of the cost. So, we always give a base bid proposal for the specified materials. Then we supply our clients with an alternate bid for the other very similar surfacing options. This gives our clients a side-by-side comparison on where they can save on costs.”

Now, commercial work makes up 25 to 35 percent of the company’s business!

The Steps to Growth
So how does a company with just a few employees push growth so much that they are now cutting 3,800 sq. ft. of natural stone and another 6,200 sq. ft. of engineered materials a week? One big way is to invest in the latest technologies. “Investing in and embracing technology has greatly impacted our success. BACA robotics has been a great partner to us,” said Amodeo. “Plus, the ability to use SlabSmith to photograph our inventory and provide slab layouts to our customers sets us apart from a lot of the competition. And our 3-D laser templators allow us to precisely measure not only in everyday-type projects, but in particular custom areas such as fireplaces and shower surrounds.”

In addition to technology, Hard Rock Stone Works has grown by offering cabinetry, having carpenters on staff and working with professional plumbers to offer one-stop shopping convenience. “We are a customer-driven company with our No. 1 goal being to provide the best experience possible. We have unique services and warranties that our competition isn’t equipped to back up or stand behind" Amodeo explained. "We proudly display a large range of standard to exotic slabs at our Sterling Heights location and offer a range of reliable cabinetry out of our Troy location. Our showrooms are also astounding, once we get a potential customer through the door it is almost impossible for them to say no to HRSW.”

“We handle all facets of sales through any source possible. We divvy the sales up into four segments: Commercial, National Accounts [big box stores], Premium Accounts [kitchen & bath outlets, builders, designers and contractors], and Retail [direct sales],” he continued. “Each segment is roughly equal, although as mentioned before, retail is a bit heavier than the other sales categories.”

As far as the materials of choice in Hard Rock Stone Works’ market, Amodeo said without a doubt that quartz surfacing has seen exponential growth and dominated the industry year over year for quite a while. “We carry a wide variety of quartz manufacturers samples,” said Amodeo when asked about the popularity of quartz surfacing, “However, I do not believe that one brand necessarily matters too much to the end user. Their decisions are driven based on availability, price and color palette.”

The Current Climate and Looking Onward
With the strange past year everyone has faced, which included the pandemic alongside of socio-economic and political unrest, Hard Rock Stone Works has fared well. “I am fortunate to say that as a team we have put forth an extensive effort to get creative and thrive during these times,” explained Amodeo. "We have invested a lot of time to adapt digitally, including providing estimates via our website or live chat, virtual slab views and our online inventory, or our 3-D room visualizer. We have aggressively sought and created solutions.”

He also highly credited his staff for being very disciplined when it comes to safety in the time of COVID-19. They not only regularly sanitize and wear their masks to avoid the spread of the virus, but also provide personal protective equipment to their clients to help ensure that everyone stays safe and healthy.

But they didn’t get where they are alone. “Being involved in the industry is extremely important,” Amodeo expounded on the worth of learning from others: “We really value the strength of our partnerships in the industry. We proudly host tours, events, and meetings to our main connections, and have an extensive network of people both inside and out of the industry.”

When asked for advice to others in the surfacing/countertops industry, Amodeo had this to say, “Be positive. Be professional. Lead by example. Don’t be afraid of change. It’s easy to become stagnant and set in our ways. If you are not staying on your toes, educating yourself and adapting to the world and technology that is forever changing, then you are doing yourself a disservice. However, make sure to choose your partners wisely because they can make or break your business.”

“We are extremely optimistic about the future and are thankful to move forward in a positive direction,” added Amodeo. And in all reality, right now who can hope for better than that? Certainly, this is a sign of bigger things to come.

For more information on Hard Rock Stone Works visit www.hardrockstoneworks.com or call (586) 532-7763.