Mount Pleasant Magazine Jan/Feb 2015

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Subtle or Dramatic
AGM Imports
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For John Antunes, nAturAl
stone isn’t just a passion – it’s the
family business.
It began with Antunes’ father,
who founded a stone company in
their native Portugal and then passed
the time-honed skills of the trade to
his son. When Antunes moved to the United States and
started a family, he followed in his father’s footsteps by
passing his own knowledge of the family trade to his son,
John Joseph.
In 1994, the family opened AGM Imports to help
homeowners in the Southeast meet
their natural stone needs. By 2003,
the company also included warehouses in Atlanta and
Charlotte to meet growing demand.
Today, AGM boasts 12,000
natural stone slabs company-wide,
with 2,500 here in Charleston. To
source the beautiful array of stones,
Antunes puts his international
connections and multilingual skills
to work with buying trips all over
the world.
“A majority of our granite comes
from Brazil,” explained Office
Manager Melanie Richardson.
“India is our second largest
supplier, and Africa is a close third. Our marbles hail from
Italy and Spain, and our limestone and travertine are from
Turkey and Portugal.”
The slabs are available at AGM to anyone in the
market for natural stone. Open to the public, they serve
homeowners, builders, designers and more.
The process upon visiting the showroom is pretty
straightforward, said Richardson, noting, “Everyone is
welcome to take a tour through our vast assortment of
stone. Once you’ve made your selections, we will send that
information along to your fabricator so they can work up a
price for you.”
This year, Richardson explained, the biggest trend
in natural stone is “white, white and more white,” as
homeowners continue to lean toward clean and bright
kitchen spaces.
In addition to white marbles, homeowners drawn to
neutral stone will likely appreciate the quartzites, which
Richardson said “tend to look more like marble with their
softer patterns and lighter colors, yet they are just as hard
as granite.”
Personally, Richardson can’t help but gravitate to bolder
stones. In fact, she chose just such a stone for her own home.
“I have Crema Bordeaux in my kitchen,” she revealed.
“It is full of color, which is exactly what I wanted. Reds,
purples, grays ... you name it, it’s in there somewhere.”
Buyers like Richardson who prefer the more unusual
stones will be pleased to find a selection of bold slabs
immediately upon entering the warehouse. Right now, the
most popular species among the distinctive stones are the
Patagonia, Superior White and the Labradorite Extra Blue.
But whether subtle or dramatic,
stone chosen at AGM can be used
for a variety of applications –
although some are better suited in
certain areas than others.
For the kitchen, Richardson
always suggests granite (“It’s the
hardest and most durable natural
stone”), which she said also works
well for outdoor kitchens and
fireplaces.
“Bathrooms are where I would
suggest marble,” she elaborated. “They are lighter, softer
colors that tend to look better in smaller areas that don’t
always get the most light.”
For those wary of trying granite outdoors, AGM
suggested Vetrazzo – a recycled glass product that comes in
several colors and serves as a great conversation starter, too.
When asked why natural stone will remain a mainstay
in home design, Richardson mused, “Its natural beauty
is what attracts us to it, and I don’t believe that will ever
change.”
To find out more about AGM Imports, visit
or call 843-747-0088. The store, located at 4520 Scott St.
in North Charleston, is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday
through Friday and from 8 a.m. to noon on Saturday.
By Julie SPraNkleS
Dwelling
Photo courtesy of AGM Imports.aGM boasts 12,000 natural stone slabs company-
wide, 2,500 of them in Charleston.
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