Ask Carlo Vona Jr., president of Paramount Stone Co. in Stamford, if it was something of a given that he would one day take over the business that his father had started and the reply is quick and uncharacteristically terse: “No.”
Instead, he seemed set to pursue a career in business administration and management and found time to wander Europe, where he inevitably took in the historic architecture on view.
Even so, the son of Italian immigrants was no stranger to working with his hands, having joined his father, Carlo Sr., on job sites and eventually becoming what Paramount”™s website calls “primarily a self-taught machine operator and designer.”
Vona Sr. and partner Steve Riviere started Paramount in 1991 and slowly began to build a reputation for themselves. Offering design, fabrication and installation of marble, granite and building stone in the Stamford area, the company soon began to expand, with marble, granite, bluestone and Indiana limestone featured.
By 2009 and the recession, however, the picture had changed for the Vonas and Paramount alike.
“The economy was on pause,” Carlo Jr. downplayed to the Business Journal during a recent visit. “The decision was made to make a management change, and they eventually asked if I was available. I felt obligated to come back and do my part.”
Going unsaid is that he is a third-generation mason. Combined with his earlier interests and the experience gained from accompanying his father, the transition was relatively painless ”” although Riviere exited Paramount when Carlo Jr. joined.
“We started tightening things up” when he took on the presidency, Vona said. “We got lean and mean. We cut our staff way down to the point where there were just two of us. We really were only using a corner of our showroom and were doing everything ”” including turning the lights on in the morning and turning them off at night.”
As the economy brightened, so too did Paramount”™s outlook. It offers interior and exterior commercial and residential work, with a dizzying array of stone products, some of which can make the unsuspecting customer catch his breath: Best-selling slabs include Jet Mist granite ($3,495), Calacatta Borghini marble ($5,437.90), and Bianco Dolomite marble ($5,881.37).
But it isn”™t just the quality of the materials that makes Paramount stand out, Vona said. “Over the years we”™ve established a solid reputation, which in this industry can make a whole lot of difference,” he said. “We also do so much work here on-site, including custom fabrication (of pool coping, stair treads and radius cuts, among other services).
“We sell quality products, competitively priced,” he continued, “and we provide great customer service (see sidebar).”
The firm has also expanded well beyond Stamford and its environs into what Vona said was roughly a 50-mile radius, encompassing most of Fairfield and Westchester counties, as well as some projects in Long Island, Rhode Island and on Martha”™s Vineyard.
When talk inevitably turned to Covid-19 and its impact, Vona said he met those challenges head on by recalling 2009.
“We got lean and mean again,” he said. “But we were able to stay open as an ”˜essential”™ business, which certainly helped. We followed all the guidelines, but we also went beyond them when we could to keep the doors open and our customers safe.”
Vona posited that Paramount actually benefited during the pandemic. “We”™ve sold more than our usual share of exterior products, probably due to so many people having to stay at home and entertain themselves. Before winter set in, we saw a lot more backyard renovations as people spent more time working from home and looking out their windows.”
“We did a good amount of interior work as well,” added longtime Paramount sales associate Anthony Corelli. “I think a lot of customers were staying inside, staring at the walls and thinking, ”˜We need to redo the kitchen or the bedroom.”™”
In fact, Vona said, the company handled “an abundance of projects” before the December holidays, “primarily interior but exterior as well. Business really caught fire.”
He further noted that all of its products are now available online with zero-contact delivery, and that Paramount also offers “curbside” pickup at its 338 Courtland Ave. location.
While there have been some supply-chain delays during the Covid-mandated “new normal,” Vona said that the company is now only a few weeks behind on some jobs.
As for whether he sees his own children carrying on the family tradition of masonry, Vona gave a sly laugh.
“I have four young children and a beautiful wife,” he said. “They”™re more than welcome to do this if they like ”” but right now I just want them to stay in school.”
Customer Service ”“ The Great Differentiator
Just like Paramount Stone Co. President Carlo Vona Jr., sales associate Anthony Corelli says that nothing tops customer service when it comes to setting your company apart.
Case in point: A recent experience with a customer who was looking to locate the same tumbled marble flooring that she had purchased some 20 years ago to match what was in place as renovations were undertaken.
“Even though that transaction was completely over the phone, it was still hands-on customer service,” Corelli ”“ who”™s been in the industry “for 25, 30 years” and joined Paramount in 2014 ”“ told the Business Journal. “This is a very customer service-oriented company, and we want our customers to feel that they can get whatever they need here.”
That approach paid off with the renovating customer ”“ though it took some effort, Corelli admitted.
“She was looking for a cost-effective way to complete the work, so we needed to find something with the same tonality as what she had. We were fortunate because what she had has a lot of shading and variation, which made finding something that matched a little easier.”
Consulting Paramount”™s list of vendors, Corelli said it took “several days” to find the right flooring material ”“ in Missouri.
“I sent some pictures to her before shipping, just to make sure we agreed,” he said.
“The length to which he went in the search is unprecedented,” said the customer, who requested anonymity. “I”™m so impressed. I”™ve never come across this kind of service in more than 40 years.”
“In a lot of cases it”™s not possible,” Corelli admitted. “There”™s definitely some luck involved ”“ and fortunately that”™s what happened here.”
Although he also has family members in the stone industry, Corelli gave an answer similar to Vona”™s when asked if he could see his children joining the trade someday.
“They”™re still fairly young,” he said. “And one of my sons is like speaking with a lawyer, or a hostage negotiator. We”™ll see!”
