A new 80m2 retail outlet trading as the Original Stone Co has opened in Wilmslow, Cheshire, to start an expansion that is intended to develop into a national chain.

Negotiations for a further two retail sites in the West Midlands and South East started this month (September) and Tim Rudd, who runs the operation, says he has identified 22 other locations for shops.

He emphasises: "That doesn\'t mean to say we are going to do 22, though I would like to. We are going to tread cautiously."

The Original Stone Company is owned by ST1 Ltd (spell out the one and you get STone) formed in January 2000 as an acquisition vehicle that bought in April that year the assets of Hardstuff Ltd, a slate flooring importer and distributor in Derby employing four people.

In July 2000 ST1 created a new division, Original Stone Co, to market and sell stone to the general public via a catalogue and telesales operation. The following year they bought a 6,500m2 warehouse, offices and showroom in Burton upon Trent to accommodate their expansion plans.

Tim Rudd says the aim of the Original Stone Co is "to create a strong national brand to sell stone flooring to the previously untapped urban middle market at competitive prices".

He says he intends to "revolutionise the concept of stone retailing (even tile retailing) by having a very strong and customer friendly store concept" which is designed to "make shopping with us an enlightening experience rather than simply asking the customer to view stone tiles in a rather complicated, ad hoc way".

The showroom in Burton is a warehouse style of operation, but the new shop now opened in Wilmslow, which is intended to be the model for the national chain, is much more of a designer concept.

The concept was developed by interior designer Ron Atkinson, who says: " The Original Stone Company gave me a fairly open brief but stressed that they wanted a clean, modern, minimal style. I chose to use a very natural colour palette - oyster, beige and sandstone - combined with the industrial feel of stainless steel.

"I\'ve used highly contemporary lighting, including cool diffused suspended ceiling lights with accent halogen lighting directed at the products. The look may be familiar in modern restaurants or clothes shops but it\'s well beyond anything seen in this sector before."

The new shop was given what the company describe as a \'soft launch\' - ie no grand opening - although they are now advertising on local radio and on a poster site at the railway station in Wilmslow. As we went to press they were preparing a campaign in the local newspaper.

Managing the shop is Rachel Salt, who was working with the Original Stone Co previously. She says there are more than 100 different products on display in the shop, all imported.

There is limestone from Spain, Portugal and the Middle East, Travertine from Turkey, marble from China, India and Spain, slate from Brazil, India and China and granite from China. There is a small outdoor range on show, but mostly it is for interiors.

The Original Stone Co is not the only shop selling stone in Wilmslow, which is a particularly affluent area. On the other side of town there is Fired Earth. And Rossi sell stone tiles as well as ceramics.

Nevertheless, Tim Rudd is extremely pleased with the initial response to the shop, which has encouraged him to continue with his expansion plans. He says ST1, which now employs 27 people, is on target to hit sales of £4.7million in the current financial year.

He says: "Prior to ST1 Ltd I have had no experience in the stone industry." He is 32 and previously worked with Wade Furniture, Vi Spring Beds and Swish Curtain Track after gaining a marketing & advertising diploma with the Central London Business School. "I do, however, believe this has enabled me to layout the corporate strategy with no preconceived ideas.

"The reason for my decision to come into the stone flooring business was that it was an under-performing niche market with a great deal of opportunity for growth, both through organic growth and forced growth through product and branding awareness."