Today, Grace and I continued our ongoing battle against huge binders and papercuts, but we also got to delve even deeper into the company workings. Charlene, the accountant and right-hand woman of Vandana, explained how the granite gets from the quarries in Brazil, Italy, India, and China all the way to the warehouses at each of CRS’s four locations (Virginia Beach, Raleigh, Charleston, and Austin). First, CRS contacts suppliers in these foreign countries, who then ship the materials in containers to Norfolk, Virginia. Then, the slabs are trucked either here, to Virginia Beach, or to Charleston. There, they’re placed on display in a warehouse, where customers who have been in contact with fabricators (companies who actually install the granite into houses) come look at the slabs and tag the ones they want to buy. After Charlene explained how the granite gets to the warehouses, we took a tour around back and even got to see a bundle being unloaded with a forklift and chains. Next, we got to shadow Brittany, who was helping a customer choose slabs of soapstone. She explained that there are price ranges for each type of granite, from A-E, where A is the least expensive, and E is the most! After that, we continued our filing and invoicing jobs and called it a day!

-Khushi 

A type of granite called “Fusion” which falls under the E price range and can cost as much as $80 per square foot!

The company mascot, Fedo, looking a little sleepy after a long walk around the building!