Since our inception in 1975, Zimmer Marble has been on the cutting edge of Cultured Stone: creating appealing and practical countertops, bathtubs, shower walls and pans. When current business owner and President Joe Campau bought the company from founders Milt and Diane Zimmer in 1999, he decided it was time to modernize by expanding into the Natural Stone business, and expand he did! Now in its third and largest fabrication center, Zimmer Marble is still known for the cultured craftsmanship and personalized customer service that Milt built the brand on, but has also ballooned into the county’s foremost provider of custom Granite and Quartz projects, both in today’s most popular colors and in the timeless traditional veining of years gone by. Servicing not only Jackson county but a network of over 80 dealers in Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio, we at Zimmer Marble strive to set ourselves apart by staying committed to the basic principles of competitive pricing, excellence in craft, and individualized customer service.

 

A Culture of Choice in Stone

When Milt Zimmer donned his first rubber smock and reached his burly forearm into a bubbling vat of cultured marble in his dusty basement back in the Winter of 1974, he was shocked to realize just how quickly he had reached a crossroads in his life: stay with the cushy banking job he had built his pension through, or commit full time to a fulfilling, filthy life of cultured stone experimentation. Milt, 100% the adventurous and risk-taking man he appeared to be, of course chose the latter! It did not take long before he was spending hours a day plastered in marble dust, resin, and a veritable pallet of pigments. The Bob Ross of cultured stone, Milt delighted not only in the creation of the goods, but in the seemingly endless combinations they provided his customers. With sharpened skills, a burgeoning arsenal of molds, and a willingness to expand his product line into Granite and Onyx, Milt could offer any shape, size, finish, color, pattern, and style of cultured stone project imaginable. Armed with this versatility and a supreme confidence in his product, Milt became a regular at industry functions, creating dozens of business connections in the Mid-West and selflessly helping to educate those who wanted to break through in the business themselves.

 

A Destiny Carved in Stone

It’s the turn of a new year, and around the time that middle-aged Milt Zimmer is first going elbow-deep in cultured stone, a young man named Joe Campau is already up to his waist in fresh powder. At 15, Joe had a finely tuned sense of adventure that was rare for his age, and a typically youthful confidence and will to pull off anything. Perhaps under the influence of the counter-culture movement he had steeped in, a young Campau was called away from society’s long litany of expectations, and towards the silent majesty of the Rocky Mountains. Since then, while skis have taken Joe many places, it has been the chance to test his mettle on granite slopes, limestone buttes, and the crumbling red cliffs of the Southwest that have served as the cornerstones for the man he’s become today. Spend a few minutes with him now, and you are sure to hear a thoughtful remark about just how crazy it is that these colors are dug straight from the Earth. Joe’s life is indeed similar to that of stone: weathered by the elements around him, permanently marked by experience, yet fundamentally resilient and unchanged. It is therefore not surprising, and more than a little appropriate, that he has ended up where he is today: producing gorgeous, enduring pieces of stone that provide as much comfort, practicality and awe as those that continue to shape him to this day.

 

Zimmer Present and Future

Zimmer Marble today is at a critical juncture in its lifetime. Finally experiencing a period of growth after the hardships of 2008, we are now balancing the razor’s edge between staying true to the techniques and principles that have gotten us here, and modernizing in a field that’s evolving as fast as any in the home improvement industry. What we are relying on, and confident in, is that by honoring Milt’s original business model of providing competitive pricing, detailed craftsmanship, exceptional customer service, and a dynamic array of choices, we will continue to be the company that local homeowners and businesses feel compelled towards and confident in choosing for any of their stone needs. We try to appreciate the past and present as much as possible, but we really can’t wait to see what they dig up next!