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Virginia stone company revamps image for new high-end retail business
When you walk into the Charles Luck Studio in Sterling, three framed black and white photos greet you: one of Stonehenge, another of the Coliseum and the third of the Sphynx. All three structures stood at the center of ancient civilizations -- and still stand today, thousands of years later.
All three are made of stone.
A concierge greets you, takes your coat and asks if you would like a beverage. If, for example, you ask for a Dr. Pepper and they have none, the concierge makes a note and will be sure to have some the next time you visit.
As you wait for your appointment with your stone designer, you sit on a brown leather couch in an exquisitely designed waiting room, browsing through glossy hardback coffee-table books that depict the most beautiful stone structures in the world.
You know this is not going to be the usual trip to pick out kitchen tile.
The buying experience
The Charles Luck Studio, which opened Nov. 16 in Sterling, sells stone for bathrooms, kitchens, patios and fireplaces -- but the store has more in common with Prada than Home Depot.
It also doesn’t have much in common with the dusty Luck Stone trucks emblazoned with a cheerful cloverleaf seen driving on local roads, filled to the brim with crushed stone.
But it is the same company.
The 80-year-old Luck Stone Corporation, based in Richmond, began the company’s Architectural Stone Division in 1977. The division catered to homeowners, builders, landscapers, masons and architects who wanted top-of-the-line specialty stone, sourced from around the world.
Four years ago, Luck Stone decided to rebrand and restructure the Architectural Stone Division. The Charles Luck Stone Center is the result of that effort, which includes the Charles Luck Studio, a contractor yard and stone workshop. The studio is the most highly designed component of the center -- and it targets the most affluent and demanding consumers.
“We realized the buying experience is just as important as the product itself,” said President of Charles Luck Stone Center Mark Fernandes. His customers, he said, could go elsewhere to get great stone. So he had to offer them something extra.
Fernandes did his homework. For hospitality, he met with executives at Ritz-Carlton. For merchandising, he visited Prada and Versace in New York, among other high-end retailers.
The manager of the first studio, which opened in Richmond earlier this year, used to be a manager with clothing retailer Ann Taylor. Amanda Kaufman, the manager of the Sterling store, comes from Nordstrom.
For inspiration, Fernandes and his head designer traveled to France and Italy, visiting everything stone -- from museums and cathedrals to simple vineyard walls and stone roads.
And he brought a lot of it home. “This,” he said, pointing to shell-white bubbly stone at his feet, “is made of pebbles from the Aegean Sea. “That,” he said, gesturing toward a rust-colored wall, “is from China.”
In fact, in the main conference room in the studio, there is stone from China, South Africa, Italy, Mexico and Spain. The fireplace is the only American-made object, made of Indiana limestone, the same rock used to build the Washington Monument and many other great structures in Washington, D.C.
Other details: The bathrooms in the store have walls made of onyx. On a wall in the main show room is written a quote from sculptor Michelangelo: “I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.”
In the studio’s kitchen, six panels of the store’s highest-end decorative stone hang on the wall. Cut from various semi-precious stones, like amethyst, the tiles cost from $1,000 to $4,000 a square foot.
The Luck Stone tradition
The legacy of the Luck Stone Corporation is very much a part of its branding.
“The company has a great history, like its product,” Fernandes said.
Luck Stone is the 12th largest crushed-stone producer in the nation and is owned by Charles S. Luck IV, grandson of Charles S. Luck Jr., who opened a single quarry west of Richmond in 1923.
Luck Stone now has 17 crushed stone plants in Virginia and North Carolina, owns two sand and gravel plants, sells high-quality clay tennis courts, and operates a real estate company called Luck Properties. Three of the crushed stone plants are in Loudoun.
Fernandes himself is part of the Luck Stone tradition. He has been with the company for 18 years, most recently in the position of vice president of the Architectural Stone Division. After graduating from North Carolina State University, he started out as a stone mason, following in his grandfather’s footsteps.
In the main space in the studio, there are 300 sample stone panels that are changed monthly to make way for the latest designs. Customers and designers sit at large tables made of Virginia granite, and can view sample stone and room designs via flat-screen TV. After choices have been narrowed, the sample stones come out to view.
The night before the Sterling store’s opening, Fernandes hosted a dinner for 250 local architects, designers, custom home builders, masons and other professionals. The dinner was held in a tent outside the studio in the display area for stone for patios, decks and gardens.
“Loudoun County is a really important market for us. We are so happy to be here,” Fernandes said.
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