A fourth generation family stone business in Rye is looking for a buyer.
Rye Marble Inc. petitioned for Chapter 11 protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, White Plains, on May 11, declaring $11.2 million in assets and $2.4 million in liabilities.
Rye Marble, also known as RMI Surfaces, Â is winding down business, president and sole shareholder Alexander DiPietro states in an affidavit. Its goal “is to sell its assets either collectively as a going concern, or piecemeal.”
Sicilian immigrant Dominick DiPietro started the business in the 1920s. Initially, according to a 2017 story in Stone World, it was known as Rye Monument Work Inc. and built memorials for people buried at nearby Greenwood Union Cemetery.
In the mid-1980s, the focus shifted to fabricating and installing stone countertops and flooring for kitchens and bathrooms in the luxury residential market.
Rye Marble was successful for decades, DiPietro states in the affidavit, but the “current financial predicament is the result of Covid-19 lockdowns, debt incurred to sustain operations, increased prices and decrease in revenue.”
The petition also refers vaguely to a potential claim against a family member “for corporate misconduct.”
The business booked $4 million in gross revenue last year and $4.8 million in 2024.
The largest debt, $1.9 million, is to the U.S. Small Business Administration for three loans that were used to buy stone slabs, raw materials, and equipment.
The greatest group of assets, at nearly $10.1 million, is the machinery and equipment that cuts, drills, miters, edges, engraves, sculpts, polishes and moves slabs of marble, granite and quartz.
The inventory of raw materials and stone slabs is valued at $750,000.
Rye Marble is represented by White Plains attorney Anne J. Penachio.
