Orange, Calif.—MSI, a leading supplier of flooring, countertops, wall tile and hardscaping products in North America, is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2025.
Fifty years ago, in the basement of their home in Ft. Wayne, Ind., Manu and Rika Shah founded MSI, a business sprouted from the dream of creating jobs, building partnerships and investing in people. While the natural stone industry was still in its infancy, the Shahs found an opportunity in supplying blocks of granite, which was the success they needed to jumpstart the company to where it is today. In 1984, the Shah’s moved the company to Southern California to grow MSI full time. Born from a single location, the company grew into a national powerhouse, opening its 50th branch in its 50th year with a large company-owned truck fleet, servicing most of North America in 48 business hours or less.
Finding its start in natural stone, MSI quickly expanded its portfolio to include flooring, quartz, wall tile, hardscaping, turf and more. Technology has been a major pillar of MSI’s success, from the early adoption of PCs and fax machines to today’s use of AI, augmented reality, drones and its industry leading website MSISurfaces.com. Today, the company continues to consistently introduce new and exciting products for its customers, embracing the shift from selling natural stone commodities to proprietary on-trend designs. MSI grew from producing non-branded products to developing in-house brands across almost all categories, such as W Luxury Genuine Hardwood, Q Premium Quartz, Rockmount stacked stone panels, Arterra porcelain pavers, Evergrass artificial turf, Everlife waterproof flooring and more.
In the process of following their passion and fulfilling their promise of making dream surfaces attainable, the Shahs built a company with over 3,000 US employees. MSI remains family-owned to this day, and family continues to be one of the most important pillars of the company.
“This milestone is a testament to the resilience, hard work and shared vision of every individual who has been part of this incredible journey,” said Manu Shah, CEO-Emeritus. “We extend our heartfelt gratitude to everyone at MSI for their contributions and commitment to our dream.”