Real Estate VP Buys Countertop Company

Andy Wiegman is making the jump from real estate development to countertops.

The former Mandel Group vice president has acquired Keystone Marble & Granite and will serve as company president. The Riverwest-based firm specializes in the fabrication and installation of both natural stone and engineered surfaces.

Wiegman spent 20 years in real estate development and construction, the last five with the Mandel Group.

Wiegman will join Keystone’s five-person staff and is bullish on the company’s prospects. “I think there are tremendous opportunities to provide a higher level of customer service to the end customer,” Wiegman told Urban Milwaukee. The company has annual sales in excess of $500,000. Wiegman believes the company will continue to benefit from new home construction and a steady stream of remodeling projects.

“A lot of the opportunity lies in letting people know that we’re out there,” said the new company president. He noted that when the potential to purchase the company came to his attention, he wasn’t familiar with Keystone.

The former real estate and construction executive found himself in the market for a small business following the death of his father nearly a year and a half ago. He says his father’s passing made him introspective about where he wanted to be in life. “While being an entrepreneur doesn’t give you all kinds of free time, it does give you an opportunity to control your time,” Wiegman said.

Keystone ended up being the perfect fit. “This is one opportunity where I intuitively understood the product.”

The firm’s website boasts of having the largest stone showroom in Wisconsin at 3,500 square feet. Builders, designers, homeowners and marble aficionados can check it out at 3225 N. Pierce St. by appointment.

Wiegman noted that the marketplace for countertops can be quite confusing and the firm has a real role to play in helping customers. Using the example of the increasingly popular Carrara marble, Wiegman revealed that their showroom has 50 to 100  variations of just that product, and Keystone needs to be able to educate its customers on what to pick. “We help them make good decisions not only about design, but their own lifestyle,” he explained.

Lloyd Pickart founded and operated Keystone for the past 20 years. In a statement, Pickart said: “It was important to me to find an owner who truly understands the high standards of our customers. I knew that Wiegman, backed by the existing team of highly capable managers and skilled fabricators, would quickly gain the trust of our customer base.” Pickart will continue to operate Keystone Exterior Finishes.

Wiegman declined to disclose a purchase price for the business, but city records indicate he paid $290,300 for the building at 3225 N. Pierce St. in December.

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