There is an experience that most natural stone trade professionals in Southern California have had at a conventional slab yard: the outdoor walk through rows of material in full California sun, sliding heavy slabs in and out of A-frames in conditions that make it genuinely difficult to evaluate what you are looking at, with a forklift nearby and no particular sense of the material’s beauty.
And then there is the experience that Southern California’s trade community did not know was available in their own region until they found The Slab Studio in Santa Ana.
“I had visited Antolini in Italy — one of the most celebrated natural stone showrooms in the world,” says Josiah Lilly, founder of The Slab Studio. “The experience was completely different. You are in a beautiful indoor environment, drinking a glass of wine, walking around slabs that are lit to show their true color and veining. And I thought: why does this not exist in Southern California? Why are we asking trade professionals to make $15,000 decisions in a parking lot?”
The Slab Studio was built to answer that question. It has been open in Santa Ana for eight years.
What The Slab Studio Is — and What It Deliberately Is Not
The Slab Studio is an indoor, boutique slab showroom in Santa Ana. That is the short description. The longer one begins with what it is not.
It is not a slab yard. The materials are not stored in outdoor racks exposed to sun, dust, and the elements that bleach and contaminate stone surfaces over months of outdoor storage. Every slab in the collection is housed indoors and displayed under carefully designed lighting for accurate color evaluation.
It is not a wholesale distributor. The Slab Studio is not competing to move the highest volume of the most popular materials. The selection is intentionally curated — premium materials sourced primarily from Italy, Brazil, and Portugal, selected against the quality criteria that Josiah has developed over 35 years in the stone and tile industry.
It is not a consumer showroom. The Slab Studio is trade-only in a specific and meaningful sense: while any homeowner is welcome to walk through the showroom, purchases are structured through a trade professional — a designer, fabricator, general contractor, architect, or tile store. The homeowner gets the material they want. The trade professional protects their margin and maintains the client relationship. Price integrity is maintained.
“I never want your client,” Josiah says. “Why would I want one of your clients when I could have a hundred of your projects? The Slab Studio exists to make you — the trade professional — more successful. That is the entire model.”
The Trade Protection Model: How It Actually Works
The trade protection promise at The Slab Studio is not a policy statement. It is an operational commitment that is maintained on every transaction.
Trade pricing and retail pricing are separate and maintained with integrity. A designer’s pricing is never disclosed to their client. The margin a fabricator builds into a project is protected. When a homeowner asks what price a trade professional is paying, The Slab Studio does not answer that question.
The sourcing model extends beyond price protection. When a trade client identifies the material they need, The Slab Studio will hold it — for a reasonable period aligned with the project’s fabrication timeline — while the project proceeds. When slabs have been damaged on a job through no fault of the trade partner, The Slab Studio has replaced them at cost. When a trade client needs a material not currently in inventory, the team will source it.
“I asked for the opportunity to earn your business and prove that I am as good as my word,” Josiah says. “The tile stores and fabricators who gave us that shot in our first year — some of them have become our best clients. Because we proved it. Every time.”
The Team: Jill, Marlon, and 27 Years of Stone Expertise
The Slab Studio’s day-to-day is led by Jill Kummer, Sales Director and one of the most knowledgeable stone professionals in Southern California.
Jill brings 27 years of industry experience to every client visit — a depth of knowledge that translates into better recommendations, fewer specification mistakes, and a consultation experience that feels collaborative rather than transactional. She has been with The Slab Studio for five years and has built some of the deepest and most trusted relationships in the showroom’s history.
“I want every trade professional who comes through this door to leave knowing more than when they arrived,” Jill says. “Not about our product — about stone. Because when designers and fabricators understand the material at a deeper level, they make better decisions, their clients are happier, and they come back.”
Alongside Jill, Marlon leads outside sales and trade outreach—building new relationships with architects, designers, fabricators, tile stores, and general contractors throughout Southern California. His energy and industry knowledge are extending The Slab Studio’s trade community in new directions.
The Showroom and Warehouse Experience
Walking into The Slab Studio, trade clients encounter a curated showroom display — one slab from each material, lit and displayed to show accurate color and veining. The warehouse behind it contains the full collection: sequential block runs organized by material, readily accessible for side-by-side comparison and book-match evaluation.
When a designer or fabricator arrives with a specific project, Jill or Marlon starts with a conversation: the application, the design direction, the vein preference, the finish requirement, the timeline. Then they pull the relevant slabs — the specific sequential pieces that will actually be used — so the trade professional can evaluate exactly what their client is buying.
Espresso is always on. Bottled still water is always available. The environment is designed to make this evaluation — which is one of the most significant material decisions in any project — as calm, careful, and informative as possible.
What Is in the Collection
The Slab Studio’s inventory prioritizes depth over breadth. The current collection spans marble (including Calacatta, Statuario, Arabescato, Carrara, and Crema Marfil families), quartzite (Brazilian Super White, Taj Mahal, Patagonia, Van Gogh, and seasonal arrivals), limestone, dolomite, onyx, and a selection of semi-precious slabs. New materials arrive on an ongoing basis, with sourcing focused on emerging production regions and high-quality runs from established quarries.
All materials are purchased in sequential block runs to support book-matching. Material documentation is maintained so every slab’s position in its block sequence is known at the time of sale.
How to Plan Your First Visit
The Slab Studio is open to trade professionals and welcomes walk-in visits. For projects that require multiple slab comparisons, book-matching evaluation, or material that needs to be pulled from the warehouse for side-by-side review, scheduling a dedicated appointment ensures that the team has the time to serve the project correctly.
To schedule, reach the team through theslabstudio.com. To follow new arrivals and see the current inventory, follow @the_slabstudio.
| The Slab Studio is Southern California’s premier indoor, trade-only natural stone slab showroom, located in Santa Ana. Visit theslabstudio.com or follow @the_slabstudio. |
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