After Jean and Tom Eaton had been retired for a few years, their son asked them to go through training to learn how to resurface his kitchen countertops with the Granicrete product — a technique he saw on a home remodeling show.

Dutiful parents that they are, Jean and Tom went through the three-day training to learn how to make their son’s countertops resemble granite, concrete, marble, stone or wood. But after the lessons were over, the couple was hooked.

They decided to come out of retirement to become the only distributors, trainers and installers of the Granicrete product in the state and form their own business: Granicrete Minnesota.

Granicrete is a way to recover surfaces to look like stone, marble, granite, flagstone, travertine, slate and wood for half the cost of the natural product.

“It’s called affordable elegance,” said Jean, the local company’s vice president and marketing director.

The process adds a concrete overlay to an existing surface then layers paint to give any natural pattern, color and look a customer wants.

The Eatons took the initial training in March, filed the company name in April and already have been to Arizona and back to learn how to teach others the process.

“It was something that was so exciting because we believe in the process, the product and the look that we were sold,” Jean said.

Granicrete Minnesota, located in an Albert Lea Business Development Center incubator, is the only one of it’s kind in Minnesota.

Jean said the Granicrete company is known in other parts of the country but not in the Midwest. The nearest Granicrete businesses are in Fargo, N.D. and in Sioux City and Dubuque, Iowa.

Tom, the company’s president, has always wanted to own a business with his wife, Jean said, but she always asked him what that business should be. Tom had a workshop and was going to build furniture during his retirement, but then the couple found Granicrete.

“It was a perfect match for us,” Jean said. “And it’s something we can do together.”

The Eatons have always done home remodeling, Jean said. Tom is good with his hands and is creative, and Jean is very excited about marketing.

The couple will celebrate their 35th wedding anniversary in August.

Granicrete offers people endless colors and designs, Jean said, allowing for a customized and unique product. It’s lightweight — the concrete-based overlay is only one-eighth of an inch thick — and goes on in two to four days. The application is durable, seamless, bacteria resistant and eco-friendly, according to Jean.

“That’s one reason we know it’s going to fill a niche,” she said.

Plus, many people in northern Iowa who have recently experienced tornadoes and flooding will have to rebuild homes, so the Granicrete product is a cheap way to do that, Jean said.

The process can be applied to nearly every surface. Popular options are countertops, flooring, showers, patios and garage floors. It can create 3-D products such as landscape rocks and built-in waterfalls, according to Jean.

She said it is a good addition to companies that offer some type of home remodeling service. Freeborn Lumber has already sent one of its employees to learn the process.

The local company has barely been in existence for two months and already has orders coming in. The only project the couple has installed so far is their son’s kitchen counters, but they are eager to open their showroom and let people see what the product can do, Jean said.

Training will be offered every month for people interested in becoming installers.

Eventually, Jean said, the company would like to move out of the business development center, but right now they’re focused on opening their doors. The show room will have a kitchen display, different flooring options and various samples.

The first training days will be July 10, 11 and 12.

Granicrete Minnesota

Jean and Tom Eaton

2610 YH Hanson Ave. Suite 101

Albert Lea, MN 56007

373-3547

Coming soon: e-mail at info@granicreteminnesota.com and Web site at www.granicreteminnesota.com