Granite Countertops Slabs Louisville (cont) (back to page 1 of 2 ) The time was right for the business. The cost of granite, once seen mostly in relatively expensive houses, was falling, and it was finding a market for use in more moderately priced homes. The trend has been boosted by displays of granite in home-design magazines and television shows. "A lot of people are going toward the granite because of the beauty and the quality of a natural stone product in the home, as opposed to a manmade product," Hardin said. Faye Thurman, who is building a home in eastern Jefferson County, was at Axis last week with Moira Cox, her kitchen designer from Mike's Woodworking, to select a slab of granite for her kitchen. Thurman said she loves the look of natural stone, and granite "doesn't stain like marble can." Natural stone is "unique. It's real," Cox said. And Axis "brings in much more unique and exotic pieces than other shops." Axis quickly outgrew its original 5,000-square-foot warehouse and moved to a former tobacco warehouse in Shelbyville. The new location offered 14,000 square feet, Hardin said, but it was dirty, the lighting was poor, and the metal building "was blazing hot in the summertime and freezing cold in the winter." "But those humble beginnings allowed us to prove to customers that our customer service was good, the quality of our stone was good and that we would basically do whatever we needed to do" to keep them happy. The business attracted customers from Lexington and as far south as Somerset, but "we quickly learned that the population of Jefferson County weren't too willing to drive to Shelbyville to view slabs of granite in an old tobacco barn," Hardin said. Last March, Axis moved to its current 24,000-square-foot showroom and warehouse in Jeffersontown. "Our customer walk-in traffic has just exploded," Hardin said, and the Lexington customers are still willing to travel to buy from Axis. New customers include Mees Tile and Marble of Louisville, which appreciates the value of the hand-selected stone at Axis, showroom manager Becky Reed said. "It makes a big difference when you've got a customer who is actually going down there and picking out the blocks of stone," Reed said. "I think you definitely getter a better quality material." Louisville Flooring and Granite, owned by Troy and Shawn Powell and John and Katina Allgeier, has used Axis since it was in Shelbyville, Shawn Powell said. "They're just an amazing couple of brothers. And they take good care of me," she said. "They truly care about my success as much as theirs. You're not going to find that a whole lot." Reporter Bill Wolfe can be reached at (502) 582-4248.