Today we’d like to introduce you to Carrie and Tom Fischer.
Carrie and Tom, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
We began our business journey in 2006 with the desire to work for ourselves building things with our hands. At the time it was difficult to find contractors willing to design and build unique concrete counter-tops and furnishings, so it sparked the idea of filling the need in the Chicago area as makers of concrete counter tops and architectural furnishings. We were able to ride out the recession in 2007-2009 by starting the online webstore concretecountertopsupply.com and offering other contractors like our selves the supplies, raw materials and tooling to become successful in the niche industry. The online store has been extremely successful and the demand for our time in running that side of the business shifted us away from being makers of the craft. In turn we became trainers and consultants alongside building a Fishstone brand of decorative concrete products exclusive to the industry. Our current journey is now working with our international distributors selling products beyond our North America customer base in Europe Australia and Canada.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Our biggest struggle was deciding to begin the business right before the recession. Our business plan to a jog along a new direction but it turned out to be a good one. The internet shopping experience has really taken off since 2008 and more than 90% of our customers shop online with us.
Needing more space as we grew was another challenge. We became building owners when we couldn’t find the right kind of leasable space which ended up being a lot more work than we imagined but also worked out to our advantage in gaining much more space to expand our operation with manufacturing of product and a dedicated training center of 4000 sq. ft.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Fishstone Studio – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Fishstone has become a recognizable brand for the highest quality concrete admixtures and blended concrete mixes. We have simplified the need to understand complex chemicals used in high performance concrete mixes and made blended component products, something we call Ad-Pacs for the specialized casting of GFRC (Glass Fiber Reinforced Concrete) and SCC (Self Consolidating Concrete) Mixes for our customers. Makers and Artisans in the industry have long been coming to us for our reliable and consistent quality of products which is necessary when selling to B2B.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
We have begun this year bringing in specialized artists and crafts people to teach their expertise in our field. This fall we have a Mold Making master coming in to teach advanced skills in mold making, something our customers can benefit greatly from. Learning to make custom molds yourself for very detailed projects gives our customers a competitive edge and takes their skill level and confidence to another level. We are also working with more individual artists who create sculptures and fine art using concrete. This takes our product line into a very specialized and highly talented arena. It is making our products better by having more applications, and a broader customer base.
Contact Info:
- Address: Fishstone Studio
Crystal Lake IL - Website: concretecountertopsupply.com
- Phone: 8152760299
- Email: info@fishstonestudio.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FishstoneStudio/
- Other: https://www.pinterest.com/fishstone/boards/
Image Credit:
Images taken from Fishstone Studio Training events and projects produced in our Studio.
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