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People generally have one of two reactions when they walk into the Venetian Stone Works showroom. They either say, “Wow!” or conversation comes to a complete halt as they stare in awe.

Row after row of polished granite, marble, quartzite and other large slabs of fine stone glisten under studio lights from above. It’s more art gallery than building materials warehouse, with Mother Nature as artist, applying her brushstrokes over millions of years.

Owner Prem Gnanarajah started the company in October 2008, just at the start of the Great Recession. Despite the housing market crash, he put his head down and went to work, building a company that has grown an average of 10% every year.

His Denali Slab Studio and Venetian Woodcraft, a recently added custom cabinet-making facility, are both branches of Venetian Stone Works, and are part of a company that has gained a reputation for quality and value that professionals and their clients alike appreciate.

Although the main operation is located in Woodinville, Prem said they’re opening a showroom at the corner of 3rd and James in Edmonds at the end of July that will be more convenient for west side builders and other customers.

The Venetian Stone Works story starts with Prem, who like most people had experienced his share of failures and challenges. But unlike many who simply gave up when times turned hard, he took those life lessons to heart and turned failure into success. He lives by the motto “the harder you work, the more successful you become.”

An amateur pilot, he shares the story of the day he was flying his Cessna 152 near Mt. St. Helens when the engine suddenly quit. Initially struck with panic, he calmed down and told himself to put his flying knowledge to work. He considered his options, then picked the one that led to his ability to get the engine restarted and fly the airplane to a safe landing.

“It taught me not to panic,” Prem said. “Keep moving forward. That’s how we dealt with the recession. We didn’t panic.”

As the recession eased and business picked up, Prem focused on improving the quality and value of his products to ensure Venetian Stone Works would stand out from the crowd.

The stone slabs, for example, are all handpicked by Prem and his team. They travel to Italy, Brazil and other quarries around the world to buy “the best of the best,” he said. Since shipping, marketing and other costs are going to be the same no matter what quality of stone you buy, Prem thought, “Why not get the best?”

After the slabs are shipped to Venetian Stone Works, they are treated and finely polished to bring out the grains and crystals under a mirror-like shine.

Every slab is then photographed. Customers can bring in their architectural drawings, which are input into a CAD (computer-aided design) program, then photos of different stone choices are overlaid on the drawings to give buyers an exact visual of what those choices will look like on their project. Customers can choose from over 2,000 exotic slabs.

“We can maneuver the drawings and stone slabs, we can line up the seams – it’s a very precise and disciplined process,” Prem said. “What you see is exactly what’s installed.” Remnants can then be used for other projects, if desired.

Venetian Stone Works also can add texture to stone, like leather, suede or other textured faces that customers might prefer on shower floors or other surfaces. No other local company does that.

Prem added custom cabinet-making to his operation when he saw that customers were buying beautiful slabs of stone, then having them installed on cheap, particle board cabinets from China that would start falling apart in a few years. It made no sense.

At Venetian Woodcraft, seasoned craftsmen build custom cabinets out of solid woods and plywood from America. Venetian Woodcraft also uses state of the art CNC precision to ensure each part is perfect. Prem has plans for other additions that builders and customers will appreciate, ensuring that Venetian Stone Works will continue to outshine the competition.

Whether you visit their showroom in Edmonds or their Denali Slab Studio in Woodinville, he guarantees you’ll find some of the most beautiful and exotic stone available in the world. Because they’re busy consolidating operations and don’t want to move all of those 2,000 slabs of stone, they’re currently offering great savings on limited quantities.

At the same time, Venetian Woodcraft’s craftsmen can address every cabinetry need from commercial casework to custom cabinets.

Whatever your need, they promise to do it right, quickly, and on time.

To learn more, visit venetianstoneworks.com or call 425-486-1234. The Venetian Stone Works headquarters is at 16110 Woodinville Redmond Road NE, Woodinville, WA. Venetian Woodcraft is located at 14124 NE 186th St., Suite A, Woodinville, WA 98072.