Maggie Tanchuck and her husband Hugh are no strangers to Glen Head, as well as to the North Shore area. She became familiar with the community over the course of her entire life, as her grandfather served as the chief of the Glen Cove Police for 42 years and the Caggiano family had owned and operated J&J Jewels for 50 years.
“I have deep roots in the community, here on the North Shore,” Tanchuck said. “I have always loved being a small business in this community.”
At North Shore Monuments, Tanchuck is focused on continuing to grow the company that originated in Odessa, Ukraine, moved to the Bronx and then, Huntington and finally to Glen Head, where it has been serving the community since 1987.
Initially, the Tanchucks rented a small space in Greenvale, but moved to Glen Head in 1990.
“We always wanted to be the local monument deal, serving the community so people did not have to leave town to purchase a monument for their loved one,” Tanchuck said.
The Tanchucks’ business has always been diversified, having always produced monuments; however, they also help the not-for-profit business community with a donor recognition engraved brick program, beginning in 1995.
“We have helped raise millions of dollars in communities across Long Island,” Tanchuck said. “The engraved brick business brought us into the masonry business, where our company could offer our clients full service on the building patios and walkways. The masonry business brought us further into the world of construction when we started to connect with more architects who saw our unique skill sets engraving monuments, masonry and soon thereafter, stone facades and stone restoration.”
After Sept. 11, 2001, the business grew as a community monument company, creating many large community monuments honoring those lost. Sept. 11 changed the monument industry, as very large monuments were designed into the fabric of communities around the Tri-State area.
“We started meeting many architects and design teams which brought us closer into the construction world,” Tanchuck said.
The first major construction job for the Tanchucks came in the form of the front stone façade at the Polo Ralph Lauren Flagship store on Greenwich Ave in Connecticut. They received a lot of recognition on this job for their unique stone installation skills and craftsmanship.
In 2009, the Tanchucks opened their sister company, North Shore Architectural Stone, as their construction division. They expanded their space to 66 Glen Head Rd, where they held many “lunch and learn” programs for architects to earn continuing education credits. This initiative created an opportunity to expand their network of architects and bid on New York City stone construction jobs.
The expansion, Tanchuck said, “…was a very big leap from our little monument company, but we rose to the occasion, expanded our team and honed their skills. For the past 12 years we have built a lot of very cool projects around Manhattan and restored a lot of historic bronze and stone.”
To date, the biggest project completed by North Shore Architectural Stone is a six-floor limestone townhouse on 72nd and Madison, where the team completed a restoration of the entire front façade and made new to match the existing.
“They [the building owners] loved our work so much on the exterior they took us on the interior as well where we built 14 fireplaces, three pools and an interior stone baseball court for this family of three.” Tanchuck said.
The pandemic has brought the Tanchucks and their team back to their roots at North Shore Monuments, where they continue to serve the community as the local monument company. New York City construction has slowed a little, but monuments have understandably picked up. The focus at North Shore Monuments has always been on community and on providing compassionate advice to grieving families. The construction jobs are more glamorous and exciting but monuments are the company’s strong foundation.
In the community, the Tanchucks have always been active in many organizations over the course of many years. Currently, the Tanchucks hold a business membership to North Shore Biz Network and other trade organizations.
Previously, Hugh served as president of Kiwanis, and Maggie and her assistant, Lisa, met as co-presidents at the Center for Parents and Children. Maggie also campaigned successfully in front of the North Shore Schools board to establish their after-school program. Additionally, Hugh initially organized and took charge of the Kiwanis Nassau-Suffolk bike tour, before turning over leadership — the event continues to raise funds for the North Shore pediatric trauma center. Fundraising and being a part of the community has always been part of doing business for the Tanchucks.
Outside of work, Maggie enjoys Bikram yoga, hot Pilates and tennis. She also enjoys cooking and visiting local restaurants.
The Tanchucks love living and working in the community in which they grew up.
“Seeing familiar faces and helping friends and neighbors build monuments and unique projects in stone keep us busy and give us purpose,” Tanchuck said. “We all really love the work we do and look forward to being a part of your next project in stone.”
