Most monument companies buy granite through regional wholesalers — paying a markup at every step, with no direct relationship to the source. We don't. Gifford Monument Works has sourced granite factory-direct for decades. Here's what that means for you.
The typical monument supply chain looks like this: granite is quarried and cut overseas, purchased by a regional wholesale distributor, resold to a monument dealer, and finally sold to a family. Each step adds cost. Each step adds distance between the family and the person who actually knows the stone.
Regional granite wholesalers are significant businesses in their own right. They supply dozens or sometimes hundreds of independent dealers across a territory. That wholesale relationship creates a dependency: the dealer's pricing, their color options, and their material quality are all determined by what the wholesaler decides to carry and at what margin.
It's a system that works adequately — but it is not factory-direct, and the family bears the cost of every margin in the chain.
Typical Monument Supply Chain
Gifford Monument Works has developed direct import relationships with granite factories — primarily in India and China, where the world's highest-quality monument granite is quarried and finished. We work directly with production facilities that have supplied the North American monument industry for decades.
This is not a shortcut. Building and maintaining a direct factory relationship takes volume, established trust, and the experience to specify exactly what you need. It took us years to build these relationships. But the result is better stone, a more transparent price, and complete accountability — because we have a direct relationship with the people who cut and polished the granite in your family member's monument.
The Gifford Supply Chain
When a wholesaler's margin is removed from the equation, the savings are real. We pass them on. Our pricing reflects what the stone actually costs — not what a middleman needs to make on the transaction.
We know where every stone comes from. If there's a question about grain, finish, or color consistency, we can go back to the source. A dealer working through a wholesaler often can't.
We're not limited to what a regional wholesaler keeps in stock. We can source colors and materials that aren't widely available in the U.S. market — including some of the finest black granites in the world.
Our direct relationships mean we specify exactly what we need — slab thickness, finish type, grade — and we receive what we ordered. There's no intermediary introducing variability.
Some families ask whether they should seek out "American granite." It's a fair question. The honest answer: the world's premier monument granite deposits are in India, Brazil, China, and Scandinavia. American quarries produce excellent stone for construction and countertops, but the deep black, uniform blues, and rich reds that make for the finest memorials come overwhelmingly from overseas sources.
This is true for virtually every monument company in the United States, regardless of how they describe their supply chain. The question isn't whether granite is imported — it almost certainly is. The question is whether there's a direct relationship with the factory or whether the stone has passed through the hands of domestic resellers before it reaches your family.
We've chosen the direct path. We know our factories. We've built relationships with them over decades. And we can tell you, with specificity, where the stone in your family member's monument was quarried.
Factory-direct sourcing lets us offer a Not-to-Exceed price guarantee. You know the ceiling before you commit to anything.
From $1,204
Flush-to-ground, fully personalized, any granite color
From $2,800
Custom design, portrait options, full installation included
From $4,258
Two names, matched design, cemetery coordination included
"I asked a lot of questions about where the stone came from before I committed. Gifford answered every one of them. That transparency was the reason I chose them."
Michael D.
Ada, OK
"The price was honest and the quality was exactly what they said it would be. No surprises."
Karen S.
Norman, OK
"We compared several companies. Gifford was the only one who could actually explain their supply chain."
James R.
Wylie, TX
No wholesaler margin, no hidden charges. Explore our packages and get a Not-to-Exceed quote.
Gifford Monument Works · Factory-direct granite · Ada, Oklahoma since 1936