Two very close collections Pietra Carrara and Venato Carrara but there is a difference in the Herringbone you can see the Pietra Carrara has more variation gray pieces. The Venato while still has gray veining, has less variation of the base color.
On the mosaic it is really difficult to spot the difference. But in bigger tiles the variation would be more noticeable.
On the outside Pietra is Black boxes and Venato is Brown with our Trade Marked exclusive Logo.
Pietra Carrara, let’s start there. This is probably going to be a collection but we are not 100% sure in it’s direction at the moment as we engage on a voyage of discovery the consumer benefits by the price savings. The Pietra Carrara Mosaics have to be blended more it has more veining, more life more action and variety going on. What we do is ensure that the darker and lighter pieces of the mosaic are spread out creating a balanced look. You can see from the image. It is an incredible mosaic.
The 2″ Hexagon in Pietra Carrara $9.75 a Sq.Ft. As long as we blend our end the look is incredible. As a mosaic this to me personally looks better than Venato I am attracted to the Variation and Price.
Quick Mosaic Summary (for those that have to get on with the order). Mosaics look incredible. Had you removed the Venato from this image. The blending is excellent. Looks great and the price is unbelievable.
Pietra Carrara base color has more variation (to Venato) within the Mosaics. Has more life and more activity for me I like it. I like the way it looks I like the price 🙂 but that is short term and a promotional price. It maybe that it is a collection that can only be made in mosaics. It is still in development and that takes years to build up to a million square feet, pick products, build molds and design. It is a good product for a bathroom floor. But if you need a full bathroom project, I would opt for Venato tiles and maybe save a little with Pietra Mosaics.
Pietra Carrara 6×12″The Venato collection has a white base but it is difficult to see over larger areas. Both offer a consistent base but in the field tiles the Venato is whiter slightly because the veining is softer.
No one can have perfection but we are chasing it, and we may just catch excellence (always liked that quote). To get the best looks do as DIY Network and HGTV we have worked with both. For a 100SF job they order 130SF, they order 30% more and pick exactly what they want and throw away the rest. With marble over ordering is the key so you can dispose of any rouge tiles but Venato has a whiter look. You can see it in the room scenes a lot better than one piece.
Why have two collections so close? Because we love marble is the short answer. No company in the world would class these as two collections except for ours. I know many that overlap the two, it is not easy to split something so close as stone has variation, but this is what we are doing.
Carrara Venato. Looking for a bathroom this collection offers a consistent base and that is what we and wanted it turned out that the consumer wanted it as well 🙂
This is just historical ramble if you wish to continue…. or click on something else and escape……
It was 2006 that I was the very first person (David Shearn typing now) that launched the first online collection of Carrara marble. You could buy three types of tile (3×6″, 6×6″ and 12×12″), one of 3 mosaics baseboard and a pencil (it was just 6 inches in size back then both base, board and pencil, the baseboard was around $27 a piece). We had 7 choices and it sold incredibly well. The prices were high as the economies of scale were not in place, machinery not yet perfected. The website looking back which I have screenshots (and do now and again) is embarrassing.
Square tiles sold well in 2006 and then it all went “Subway Tile mad” so I decided to write about it with “It is no longer hip to be square the explosion of subway tiles in the USA” or something along those lines.
By late 2008 we pushed further with collections keeping with Venato as our main line. Carrara Venato has now been sold for eight years and with its length of service granted a Trademark. I believe the only trademarked brand of marble.
Jumping forwards we are at this point. The plan is to offer four lines. Carrara Venato. Pietra Carrara. Bianco Carrara “C” Grade and Bianco Carrara “CD” Grade. Four collections of marble. All with 80 to 100 SKUs each with each having one million square feet of inventory in the USA to support them. We have this in place already with Bianco and Venato. Businesses are difficult, they cannot standstill you either go forwards or backwards. My goal is: a commitment to the success of others. So forwards we must go.
The world changes quickly so it is difficult to plan to far in advance. But sticking with the core principle of “do more with less and put the customer before profits”. Internally “Empower those within your team making their success your priority. Commit to the success of others and not yourself”. Is a solid company foundation.
I wanted a company where people could work for life. Like companies of our Grandparents or Parents (trying not to get too nostalgic) but that is why our new fulfillment center is built where it is. We could have easily moved somewhere else, but this is designed to be surrounded by the best schools and they are all 10 out of 10 on zillow.
I have yet to meet someone who enjoys a long commute, that is a huge negative. Long commutes impact corporate culture more than companies even understand.
The current website is being changed and will launch with a new fresh look in January 2016 which we have hinted at. Following behind that is our new fulfillment centre on 5 acres supported by a main Distribution Center in Atlanta. Next year will be interesting.
