Miray Arslan is from a well-established family with a marble background. Thereby, marble has always been a part of her life. With the Marmitable brand, she creates aesthetic and functional products and meets her customers especially through the sales channels she has created in the digital field. Miray Arslan, who had a hard time keeping up with the demands from Turkey and abroad, said, “I did not anticipate that the business would reach this level. I find it difficult to keep up with the demands that are far beyond what I expected.”
How did you decide to establish Marmitable?
Miray Arslan: I grew up in marble since it was my father's profession. We used to go to fairs in Italy when I was small. I have marble in my childhood memories. I always remember my childhood when I go to fairs. I always feel very happy when I see marble and meet different interpretations of it. I always pay attention to where and how people use marble. Lately, the texture of marble has become so popular that it has even started to be used on notebook covers and phone cases. Thus, it was inevitable for me to establish Marmitable as I love marble this much and marbles from my family's quarries are always used in quality marble designs. I have always been interested in decoration. I know every aspect of marble from A to Z. I know its quality, weaknesses and spirit. While determining the brand name, we worked on the word Miray and the word Marmi, which means marble in Italian. So, we decided on Marmitable. I am very satisfied with the outcome.
What was your first design?
Miray Arslan: An anthracite coffee table. By using the gray anthracite from our own quarry that we just opened at that time; we designed a rectangular case with a flat bottom and a second coffee table on it. It ist he first design of Marmitable. We still have it It's so precious.
Would you describe yourself as a designer?
Miray Arslan: It would not be right to call myself a “designer”. I did not study design, but if to design is to create the objects with an aesthetic point of view, to see from a different angle, to know the material, and to have skills yes, I am able to do these things. There are very valuable designer in the world and in our country. Maybe I am a person who can see what is needed, knows marble well and imagines what can be done with it, rather than a designer.
What does marble mean to you?
Marble is an amazing material. It has the soul of a human being of the world. Yet, the best quality marble is not found on the surface of the quarry or the bottom; it is found in the middle part of the quarry, which had resisted the pressure and refined itself in time. It is found in the fossilized part. This gives marble a resilience and sensitive structure. Its use requires care. For this reason, we give a small 'Marble User's Guide' together with the product. It is a stone with thousands of different colors, types and patterns on earth, which contains completely different selections even in a single quarry. First of all, it is very, very beautiful. Royal. Fascinating.
For this reason, I choose the best and most useful marbles for my designs. The options are of course unlimited. It becomes even more unlimited when you import natural stone, but I attach great importance to using domestic marble. We can easily have access to our natural stones and we are able to find similar of many imported marble in our own country. The nature of our country is very precious to us. As people born and raised in the Aegean, our attachment to air, water, soil and stone is endless. Marmi Table has a story that embodies all this history and our ties in its heart. I think we are most proud of that.
How did the idea of transforming small marble pieces into high value-added products occur?
Undoubtedly, the impact of our family company Batı Ege Marble is undeniable in the establishment of Marmitable. Marble is a material that comes from the heart of nature. Even a tiny bit of it is miraculous, very, very valuable. While making large productions, I always thought about what could be made from the remaining pieces. Some pieces of the Marmitable collection also has a recycling story in this sense. It is possible to evaluate every piece of marble. For example if our customer chooses a marble coffee table, we give the drip mats made of its residues as a gift, together with the coffee table. This is our gift both to our customers and to nature the most… This year, we switched to fabric and natural materials in all our gift packages. The climate crisis is on our agenda right now. We are now aware that such natural steps are not a choice but a responsibility. In this sense, marble is a product that will never get old and even get better as it ages. It has never been a fast fashion product. All of us have small pieces of marble from our grandmas in our houses. Marble is a timeless and therefore sustainable material that has its own stories.
How do you work in the production process?
Miray Arslan: We choose the best part from the slab and ask our master to cut marble from that part for our production. The biggest chance for those who order from us is that they can see the stones choose and identify them by touching, and we give them the opportunity to come and choose the stone for themselves. We also make video phone calls for those who cannot come. We always choose the best quality part of the stone. We do a boutique business. We determine a price policy that consists of the most reasonable prices as possible. Our aim is to change the perception that 'marble is too expensive' in the market. Because marble is more accessible in the right places.
Where does production and sales take place?
Miray Arslan: We have six marble quarries mainly in Antalya and Isparta regions. We have six kinds of stones. One of them is very valuable, because it is mined only in our quarry in Turkey. Our factory is in Aydın. Aydın is the place where we do our production. Our customers can order our products from our website and social media account. If they want to choose the stones themselves, we are always happy to welcome them in our factory. We have formed wonderful friendships with this approach.
Like the other young entrepreneurs, your brand visibility is very active on social media. Do you think of opening a showroom in the future?
We were always thinking about it, and finally we achieved it. We are currently in the process of moving to our Istanbul Showroom. We use our @marmitable account on Instagram very actively, where we share address information and other details. We have a great bond with people who hear our story on social media. We are like family. We share innovations, we talk about designs and their needs. We are very excited to be able to see our Instagram family face to face very soon. As Batı Ege Marble, we are already participating in all Italian fairs. We follow everything about marble. We attend fairs, follow all printed and online media about design and marble, and share innovations with our customers at the order phase. Social media is today a very significant channel that brings you together with your target audience in the fastest and shortest way. ut of course we would love to chat with our customers face to face and share our marble with them.
