One of the first things a visitor notices in the Oviedo Showroom of Stone Giant is the array of colors displayed by the samples on the wall. Blocks of marble and granite hang there, ranging from the expected white, black and gray to unusual hues of green, blue and pink, plus several shades of brown.

"Granite is the hardest of all rock, and it lasts forever," says Bob McHugh, who co-owns Stone Giant with Ernie Markey. "You can get it in virtually any color desired."

Stone Giant is a custom countertop manufacturer in Oviedo. McHugh and Markey spun off their company from a Massachusetts firm and came to Oviedo to set up shop in 2000.

"We wanted to be in this area because housing construction was growing rapidly here," McHugh says. "This (stone countertop manufacturing) is the fastest growing segment of the housing industry."

Stone Giant buys its materials from all over the world, depending on what color a customer wants.

Black granite usually is found in Africa, while white and gray granite is quarried in the United States and Canada. Pink stone is found in India and Saudi Arabia, blue in Brazil and Russia, and green granite in Brazil, Guatemala and Italy.

"The technology for harvesting granite has improved so that it now is competitively priced with other materials," McHugh says. The stone is quarried in room sized blocks, then "sliced" like a loaf of bread to produce inch and a quarter thick slabs that are 4 to 6 feet wide and 8 to 12 feet long. The surfaces are polished, but the edges are left rough-hewn until the granite is cut and shaped for a customer. He says granite is less expensive than rock-like artificial materials that are fully impregnated with color; however, the stone is more expensive than standard laminated surfaces, such as Formica.

"This is not a stamped out product," according to Markey. Granite - and to a lesser extent, marble - countertops are very durable. There's no need to use a cutting board in the kitchen. You can work right on the countertop. Marble has a "softer" appearance and is slightly less durable than granite, Markey says. It's not often used in kitchens, but it is popular as a vanity countertop in bathrooms. Marble and granite also can be used as flooring or fireplace hearths. 

Stone Giant uses thicker slabs for competitive reasons, McHugh and Markey said, and they claim to be able to beat the prices of other granite vendors. "They've had free rein in this marketplace," McHugh says. "We're not as bullish on prices as they've been." The company sells to contractors and to homeowners who are upgrading their kitchens and bathrooms. Most of its sales are granite rather then marble, McHugh said. "There's stronger demand for granite, and kitchens are bigger than bathrooms," he said, adding, "There are a lot of upgrades and restorations of older homes in this area."

Stone Giant recently expanded and moved to their new location at 750 E. International Speedway Blvd. in Oviedo. A showroom across the front displays the various types of stone and the ways the countertop's overhang can be shaped. Display cabinets also show how a sink can be mounted to drop into an opening or be attached underneath it.

Although Stone Giant is still a young company, it already has 20 employees, hired locally. Two employees are outside salespeople, while the rest are polishers, cutters and stoneworkers or delivery-installation crews. McHugh said the workers who actually cut and shape the marble and granite were schooled by trainers from the Massachusetts company that spawned Stone Giant. Either those trainers or the current employees will train new workers as they are hired.