Draft:M S International, Inc.

M S International, Inc. (MSI / msisurfaces.com.) is the largest nationwide distributor of flooring, countertop, wall tile, and hardscaping products in North America. MSI's Global Headquarters are located in Orange, CA. It has 60 distribution centers totaling 6.5 million square feet over 45 metro areas in the US and Canada, as well as global locations in Brazil, China, India, Italy, Mexico and Turkey. As of 2024 the company has over $2 billion in annual revenue, 2000 employees worldwide and supports over 400,000 jobs around the world. The company ranks 10 on the Orange County Business Journal’s annual list of the largest private companies.

History

MSI was founding in 1975 by Manu and Rika Shah. At that time it was rare to find stone surfaces in homes, beside the super wealthy. Their family in India acquired a granite quarry, which gave them the entrepreneurial idea to get in the business of selling stone. At the start MSI predominantly traded blocks of granite imported from India and sold them to US factories for the monuments industry. In 1981 they were selected to supply the iconic black granite for the Vietnam Memorial in Washington D.C. A few years later in 1984, they moved the company to Southern California where it is located today. In 2003, the Shah family decided to expand their product beyond stone from India and by 2008 they become one of the top manufactures of stone in the world sourcing from Brazil, China, India, Italy, Mexico and Turkey.

In 2008, the business made a pivotal move to add quartz to their product line. This was a departure from their 100% natural products, as quartz countertops combine natural quartz with synthetic resin binding. By 2012 demand for quartz was booming and MSI had a big head start over its competitors. Today, MSI is the largest distributor of quartz countertops in the U.S.