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Latest Articles in Close-Ups

Dealers of the Year 2008

Window & Door Honors Excellence in the Middle
Two companies honored for Overall Excellence winners, with six additional standouts named in arenas of marketing, installation, customer service, retail/showroom program, community service and innovative thinking. more »

MI Going Green and More Upscale

Manufacturer launching new cellular product line targeting wood window buyers.
With the MIyota way, boards around the plant allow workers to track performance and look for improvement. Chris Rothermel, assistant manager at MI's Gratz plant, says employees now embrace the concept. What does it take to be green? Like many other manufacturers, MI Windows & Doors has been working to answer ... more »
August 15, 2008
FEATURE ARTICLE | Close-Ups

Big Investments Position Window City for Growth

Canadian manufacturer looks to woo new customers with good talk, and a good walk
Window City is out on the dealer dating scene and ready to commit. Having served the greater Toronto area for more than 15 years, the Vaughan, Ontario-based window and door manufacturer has invested millions of dollars to automate its production facility, vertically-integrate its business strategy and take its image to the next level with an aggressive marketing initiative.With nearly a ... more »
August 15, 2008
FEATURE ARTICLE | Close-Ups

Learning Customers from the Inside Out

In an online exclusive, a vinyl extrusion salesman shares how he learned his customer’s needs, first-hand.
Being in field sales your entire career, you sometimes lose sight of what is required by operations to provide the very products you’re out there peddling. I guess you could say that most salesmen think, “If I sell it, they will build it.” But from time to time, salesmen need a refresher course in operations to keep them sharp. In April, it was my time for that refresher. But ... more »
August 15, 2008
FEATURE ARTICLE | Close-Ups

Sunroom Maker Planning Its Own Addition

Four Seasons expanding into window business
When thinking of window and door industry leading brands, Four Seasons Sunrooms may not come to mind immediately. The company’s name is well recognized, however, and it’s now getting ready to leverage that brand more—moving beyond the room addition and sunroom market to windows and more. Recently, it began a “soft launch” of a new replacement window line it has ... more »
June 1, 2008
FEATURE ARTICLE | Close-Ups

Dealer Trains Installers for the Greater Good

Industry reputation and quality installs priority for Oregon retailer
Keith Strand is working to hand over qualified installers to his competition. This is not exactly typical behavior for a replacement window dealer, but he figures that helping his competitors means helping the window and door industry. "We should all be talking to each other," says the owner of Strand's Window & Door based in the Portland, Ore. area. "We don't have to give away ... more »
March 15, 2008
COLUMN : Talking to Dealers | Close-Ups

Window Dealer Puts Safety First

Maybe it’s the writer in me, but I love a dealer with an angle. It’s tough to develop a focus, a niche, a personality for a business—so when I run across a really good angle, I’m definitely doing a little happy-column-dance. This month I’d like to introduce Windows Plus, a replacement retailer based in Northern Virginia. The dealer’s is a story like many ... more »
April 1, 2007
FEATURE ARTICLE | Close-Ups

A History of Success for Steves & Sons

With new manufacturing plant in Tennessee, 140-year-old door maker continues family tradition of continued, steady growth
The landscape of the interior door business has changed dramatically over the last 20 years or so. With its 140-year history, Steves & Sons has clearly learned to adapt and thrive with change. Dating back to the pioneer days of Texas, the San Antonio-based company has evolved from a frontier lumberyard to one of the largest interior door manufacturers in the United States. And while ... more »
February 15, 2007
FEATURE ARTICLE | Close-Ups

For Kolbe & Kolbe, Software Eases Growing Pains

Manufacturer takes dealer-centric approach to ease ordering of an increasingly complex product line
 Window and door manufacturers are facing some growing pains. The list of products and options offered by most companies is expanding, and customers are becoming more demanding. One manufacturer facing these challenges is Kolbe & Kolbe Millwork Co., now nearing the end of a multi-year rollout of a new ordering and quoting software package.The 60-year-old company’s made-to-order ... more »
February 15, 2007
FEATURE ARTICLE | Close-Ups

MGM Follows Its Own Path to Success

Focusing on new construction products, Tennessee manufacturer sees itself as small fish in a big pond with plenty of opportunities as a result
MGM Industries does its own thing—in more ways than one. It’s most obvious “thing” is its product line. Unlike most vinyl window manufacturers, the company makes a mechanically assembled window to better mimic the look of wood windows.A tour through the company’s plant in Hendersonville, TN, reveals many other differences too. Unlike most manufacturers its size, it ... more »

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