Bülent Tatlıcan
ould you tell us about Delta Marble? When it started out its operations and which phases it has been through until now?
Delta is a company that started its operations at the Organized Industrial Site based in Afyonkarahisar in 1997. We are mainly operating in the marble mining industry. We function as an enterprise constantly endeavoring for renovating itself within a sustainable understanding for 19 years. Gathering and processing semi-finished products in the early years, now our company embodies natural stones obtained from its own quarries with various forms and colors in its portfolio. It has reached to a state that is capable of processing over 600 products ranging from plates to dimensional products which are able to perform all kinds of surfacing and endings of natural stone, including mosaics, blasting and special products. Today, we have become a firm exporting to 43 countries, operating in certain projects in the domestic market. Of course this process reached to this state step by step through overcoming various difficulties. While trying to deal with machines, equipments, trained personnels, generating a market share and fairs, fortunately, we got to this point.
Why the Istanbul market is important for you? What do you want to accomplish with a new showroom?
We are a company based in Afyonkarahisar however, along with the consequence of our province becoming a junction point parallel to the progressions of Turkey in recent years, it’s now possible to arrive at Istanbul within 3-4 hours unlike previous years with 7-8 hours of ground traveling. We see that highways and the local airport turned trading into a more dynamic and accesible condition. While following these developments, we couldn’t just avoid Istanbul. Because Istanbul is a world city and every country has irreplacable cities and Istanbul is one of those for Turkey. During 2007- 2008, we were aware of the fact that Istanbul will be hosting mega projects and the construction industry will be expecting major developments or evolvements, so to speak. Of course it’s natural for Istanbul to adapt to these developments happening in certain specific cities. Therefore we initiated a depot and store in Cekmekoy 8 years ago. At first, we struggled a lot because the understanding and sale-marketing were in a state of flux. But enduringly, we planned to proceed with our firm in Istanbul along with 3 different sections. First one is for ultimate consumers, second one is for construction firms and projects, and the third one is for private projects with special designs. Accordingly, we opened another store in Dudullu. I believe that this store will fill an important gap in the industry for we are displaying all that can be made with natural stone. We are able to address architects, designers, construction firms and ultimate consumers. Besides, this store became a general display unit for the dealers we work with. Many dealerships were implemented. We own an understanding that services even to the smallest amounts through unconditional customer satisfaction and franchising system. This makes us dynamic. In fact, this was the objective we were hoping to accomplish at our new stores, to address each project and business in need of natural stone.
What do you recommend to architects and contractors willing to use natural stones?
As you know, natural stone is a hygiene product. It adds value to construction and increases the quality to top level. After all, the ceramic industry receiving shares from the same market imitates natural stone. Accordingly, natural stones add value to both consumer and the space it’s being used. It’s a necessity to use the right product in the right space. Therefore it’s required to place emphasis on interior architecture and architecture techniques and use the technology efficiently. Our country is in great richness about the convenience and protection of the natural stone usage. Therefore our contractors, designers and ultimate consumers are able to enjoy the comfort of natural stone for many years, when acquired the right product through researching in detail. Turkey has majorly developped. It’s now a fact that along with architectural projects and designs, natural stone products add significant value to structures. I would like to emphasize once again that through making selections depending on design, planning, color and hardness alterations, qualities and spaces, high quality spaces can be created.
