Hunger Games: With the Covid Years Behind Us, It’s Back to Competition
By Drew Vass
I left the International Builders’ Show (IBS) this year feeling like a shift has come over the industry. I think Joe Altieri, president of FlexScreen, put it best when he said:
“The fish are no longer jumping into the boat.”
IBS, and the door and window industry, went through a rough time amid COVID-19. There was no way we could just flip a switch and get back to normal once the pandemic was over. We knew it would be a process of many months, if not years. In recent times, though, you can feel it. We’re finally there. New home production has hit and stayed around the million-homes-per-year mark and remodeling isn’t what it was amid Covid but appears to still be going strong. Just a couple of years ago, we were wearing masks and IBS was subdued. Last year was better. This year the opening ceremony was jubilant, and the show floor was absolutely packed. Hall C was like a city of doors and windows, and I saw more innovation than I’ve seen in years.
Now that the fish (sales) aren’t jumping into the boat the way they did amid a pandemic-induced boom, companies must compete for attention and business—not only at IBS, but in the marketplace. We’re seeing new types of glass, new concepts for hardware and technologies such as dynamic glass and smart locks take center stage.
Companies are also differentiating themselves by promoting products that meet the new Energy Star criteria, though it did not seem to be a major focus at IBS. If you’re a door and window contractor or dealer, on page 40, you’ll find a roundup of Energy Star-rated products to help make things a little easier.
A Tell-Tale Sign
Perhaps the most promising data to arrive in recent weeks is our Annual Top Dealers list. Of all the things I report each year, this one makes me the happiest, because it’s the most direct indicator of how the industry is doing. So far, we’ve always seen positive movement. The industry just keeps growing. As salespeople, dealers are the engine that drives this growth. If they stop selling, everything comes to a halt. Based on last year’s numbers (which you’ll find on page 24), the industry is coming off of another positive year. This year, though remodeling and replacement is expected to slow somewhat, with new construction picking up, suffice it to say we’re in for more good days ahead.
Of course, as builders put more foundations in the ground, door and window manufacturers will need to keep up with demand. That’s one thing that makes our March-April issue so important. This year, we’ve broken new machinery down into categories to make it easier to peruse the latest offerings—much of which is designed to help companies do more with less. For the first time ever, we dedicated an entire section to machinery for screen-making. As you’ll see on page 30, these days there’s no shortage of options, as that’s just one of the categories in which competition is heating up. Personally, I love to see this because it keeps things interesting.
You have to love competition. It’s the mother of invention.
Drew Vass is the executive editor for [DWM] magazine.
dvass@glass.com
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