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Located 50 miles north of the high-tech industrial area known as Silicon Valley, V. Fontana & Co. also cuts and laps 5,000-pound blocks of synthetic silicon that is used in the manufacture of computer chips. The company also works frequently on public projects and recently produced a large mahogany base with gold-leaf lettering for a century-old bronze statue in Golden Gate Park.Despite California's reputaton for a preponderance of flat markers, upright memorials are in constant demand at Fontana's company. "We specialize in custom-made uprights," says Fontana. "Flat markers make up only 10 percent of our monument sales. This area has about 15 cemeteries, including a number of ethnic cemeteries--for example, Chinese, Greek and Japanese. And uprights are what people want."Another benefit a shop provides, notes memorialist Mark Fontana, is the opportunity to show visitors how a monument is made. "We bring people to the shop and show them the manufacturing process. They see the polishers, the big saws, and they can touch the stone."People are so impressed, they almost always buy. And having seen the process, they understand the cost
of a monument. Our competitive edge isn't slick brochures or pricing but the shop itself. We try to involve clients in the manufacturing process as much as possible. They might stop by two or three times to check on the monument's progress."Often, adds Fontana, clients visit enough to develop a bond with the men crafting the monuments. "We have employees in the shop who have been here for 10 years, and one who has been here for 40 years. This isn't the type of business that attracts a lot of people. But those who are attracted to the stone industry tend to stay here a long time. This is the kind of business that becomes part of you, the kind of business you can take pride in."The manufacturing plant of V. Fontana & Co. may seem large for retailer shops, but size is relative. "We might be the largest self-contained fabrication plant in California, but we're a small business," says Fontana whose shop has four full-time and two part-time staff members.Notes Fontana, "We don't have the capability to do everything that comes our way and do it well. So, we probably buy 15 or 20 percent of our small,Go to Page 3
