JHE Granite Sells Exotic Materials
Jack and Kathleen Houpe of JHE Granite
in Noel have been selling exotic granite since December 2004. Jack was an electronic technician by trade and had a company that provided services to Wal-Mart. He sold the company in 1999 and was retired until 2004. The couple had a home
in the Florida Keys.
Jack and Kathleen Houpe of JHE Granite in Noel have been selling exotic granite since December 2004.
Jack was an electronic technician by trade and had a company that provided services to Walmart. He sold the company in 1999 and was retired until 2004. The couple had a home in the Florida Keys.
“Then I realized I needed to do something productive,” Jack said. Their children live in northwest Arkansas, so they moved back to northwest Arkansas in 2000. Jack rented a building he owns to some granite fabricators, who informed him there was a need for someone to import exotic materials for counter tops — not just ordinary granite, he said.
Jack flew to Brazil, where most colors of granite come from. There are more than 300 colors and more are being discovered all the time, he said. The coastal area of Brazil is known for its granite mountains, he said. He bought 10 containers of granite and JHE (Jack Houpe Enterprises) Granite opened for business and started selling to fabricators.
“The clientele we get are looking for something a little more high-end than what you can get at Lowes,” Jack said. “We try to make the … drive here worthwhile,” Kathleen said, with Jack quickly adding: “That’s what draws people in from northwest Arkansas.” Kathleen does all the sales. Jack, with his electronic background, started doing laser engraving on stone.
“I build these machines that do this,” he said.
With the laser engraving, Jack can make custom granite headstones in a variety of styles with features such as engraved photographs.
The business is open seven days a week by appointment. The majority of their sales are on the weekend or after hours. They do not advertise but rely on word of mouth and just recently started a Facebook page.
Kathleen does all the traveling and selecting colors.
“I have to keep up with the trends, what’s in style, what’s not,” she said. She retired from nursing after 30 years to join the business.
“I went right from the operating room to the stone yard,” she said. There are two types of stone, Jack said. Crystalline, which includes granite, is formed from heat and compaction, and sedimentary, which is formed by compacted mud. Marble is sediment based, he said. Granite is the second hardest thing known to man other than a diamond, he said.
Granite comes in different types — polished, which reflects objects in its surface, and honed, which feels a bit like suede, he said. In addition to granite from Brazil, JHE Granite also offers marble from Italy to provide more choices. One slab of granite comes from the Ukraine.
Jack said he knew nothing about stone when he started this business. Now he can explain what every color and shape means in terms of the stone’s formation in the earth.
“Not only are people getting granite counter tops, they’re getting a piece of Mother Earth and what God created,” he said. As for the future, the couple plans to keep everything just the way it is.
“We’re perfectly fine with our location and our size. We’re very happy with how blessed we’ve been to have this good business over the years,” Kathleen said.