Representatives with Pacific Shore Stones recently announced that it is expanding to open its 13th location, in Charleston, SC.

"We're very excited about the opportunity this acquisition presents," said Pacific Shore Stones Operating Partner Vinny Tavares. "It fits perfectly with our strategy of opening in second-tier cities; the population of greater Charleston is around 800,000. On top of that, it's a port city which allows us to use it as a hub for the south east, servicing our existing location in Birmingham, AL, but also opening up our distribution capabilities to North and South Carolina, Georgia, northern Florida and southern Alabama."

The 43,000-square-foot warehouse is the largest stone distribution facility in South Carolina, and will house a full selection of inventory from Pacific Shore Stones. The spacious facility allows for a large selection of exotics, such as onyx and quartzite, in addition to granite, marble, soapstone, travertine and limestone. Pacific Shore Stones will be quadrupling the amount of inventory that World Stone Distributors currently offers, meaning a much wider selection of slabs for customers to choose from.

In addition to buying all the assets, Pacific Shore Stones plans to keep all the existing staff, as well as adding one extra staff member -- location manager Allen Morris, who has been with Pacific Shore Stones for over six years and has extensive experience in the granite industry.

In relation to expansion and plans for the local area, "The Company we acquired already has a strong presence in Myrtle Beach and Hilton Head," said Tavares. "We plan to build on this and grow into the northern part of South Carolina. Looking to the future, we would like to add another east coast location next year."

The acquisition comes following an impressive period of growth for Pacific Shore Stones, which was recently ranked on the 2013 Inc. 5000 list of the fastest growing private companies in North America, with a three-year sales growth rate of 132%.