Resident opens international natural granite wholesale operation

by John Benson

Like a jeweler with an eye for diamonds, Daniel Link loves marble and granite.

While growing up in Brazil, that’s all Link knew about. His mother, Selma, was one of Brazil’s first purchasing agents for wholesalers around the world in the natural stone industry. Today, the Twinsburg resident, who has spent decades in the industry, is opening up his own wholesaling operation, D Old Granite, at 1953 Case Parkway South.

“I’m second generation buying and selling marble and granite slabs to the entire world,” Link said. “Three years ago, I moved to the U.S. working for a big wholesaler. Then earlier this year when I got my green card, they [the company] asked me to return to Brazil, but we just had our son and my wife prefers the U.S.

“She told me ‘You have so many friends and quarry owners in Brazil that would give you support, why don’t you open your own business?’ I said, ‘OK, that’s what I’m going to do.’”

As a natural stone wholesaler, D Old Granite will focus on marble and granite from Brazil, which he said supplies 70 percent of the U.S. market. Granite is mostly used for kitchen countertops.

“I host granite slabs,” Link said. “I don’t do the fabrication, I don’t cut to size, I don’t install. I’m the warehouse, but I have 200 varieties. Homeowners come to my warehouse. Also, I’m building a showroom right now.

“The stones are very pretty because I have friends and many connections in Brazil. My signature is to find unseen stones. I don’t follow the market. Also, I ship to any fabricator up to five hours away.”

When it comes to his industry, Link is a purist. He’s an old school disciple of natural stone who has plenty to say about synthetic engineered quartz.

“Some people just call it quartz, which is wrong,” Link said. “Quartz is a mineral. Where I come from, natural stone comes from underneath the soil. It’s not like one man making a mixture of sand with plastic and making money.

“Because this trend of engineered quartz mostly comes from China, the new tariffs have made it more expensive, so that’s helped me out.”

Link said D Old Granite is a throwback to a Brazilian expression regarding quarries. It just made sense as a perfect nod to his South American past and stateside future.

Regarding calling Twinsburg home, Link said it was initially his wife’s decision, and today he has no regrets.

“When I was searching for buildings, I found a very good location in Twinsburg,” Link said. “It’s 10 minutes from my home and it’s perfect.”

Featured image photo caption: Twinsburg resident Daniel Link plans to add a showroom to his newly opened granite wholesale company, D Old Granite. Photo by K. Garred