Family in business for more than 40 years

More than 40 years ago, Austin Marble Co. co-owner Max Stone Jr. was working for his father while still in high school.

At the time, the business was based in Austin, but after 10 years, co-owner Dora Mae and her late husband Max Stone Sr.'s search for affordable property to expand their business brought them to Georgetown, where they purchased the 2 acres off Leander Road on which Austin Marble Co. still operates.

"We moved here in 1979," Max Stone Jr. said. "The city limits sign was on the corner near where the railroad tracks used to be, and the population was a little over 3,000 people in Georgetown."

Stone's father opened Western Tile Co. in 1954. The company started selling marble, and as the demand grew, he eventually opened Austin Marble Co. in 1969. Western Tile Co. remained open until the early '90s.

"When I was out of school, I had more time to fool with," Stone said. "And we expanded to different products."

Austin Marble Co. manufactures and sells marble products, including bathtubs, showers, walls and vanities. The company also offers tear-outs and installs bathroom remodels and sells to builders, contractors and individuals.

"We can offer them pretty much anything. We have the grab bars; we can do the seats. We have custom [pieces], stock [items] and whatever you need," Stone said, adding that bathroom remodels had been a large part of the company's business recently. "It's probably getting back to new construction. It's getting back to half and half. We have a lot of builders who are coming back online right now."

Stone said the company was recently contracted to install 46 showers at Southwestern University, and the company often does work for Jimmy Jacobs Custom Homes.

The company sells products across Central Texas and throughout parts of the Hill Country, including Mason, Llano, Rockdale, Bastrop, Cedar Park, Killeen, Lampasas and everywhere in between, Stone said.

"We are getting quite a few of the Bastrop houses," he said. "We cover a lot of area, a lot of houses."

Although Austin Marble Co. has been able to weather the downturn in the economy, others in Georgetown have not been as lucky.

"We've fared well because of the location. This location offers us arteries," Stone said, referring to the company's close proximity to FM 1460, Austin Avenue and I-35.

Stone said the company's long history in Georgetown has also helped keep the business going.

"We work hard, try to do a good job and sometimes it pays," Stone said.

Austin Marble Co., 608 Leander Road, 930-2116