Fifth Annual Top Door and Window Dealers

The nation’s top door and window dealers are a diverse group. Some posted huge sales increases, while others remained flat, and a few were purchased or exited the market. Overall, the results are proof that a variety of factors go into a “top dealer.” Some may drop a few slots due to employee challenges, while others continue to add new locations and thrive. But wherever they fall, the industry proves its resiliency, as it sustains itself through those challenges, while still finding success.

About the List

DWM editors undertook extensive research, scoured various sources and conducted field surveys for the latest annual sales and other information. Once this was completed, a profile was then sent to a representative at each company for review. Some provided feedback; others did not. This is a compilation of top dealers/installers, including those who both manufacture and provide installation. It is important to note that individual locations of franchises are not broken out; instead, the information is provided for the franchisor as a whole encompassing all locations. The number of employees includes full- and part-time, and all sales are listed in U.S. dollars, even if they hail from Canada, as do a few newcomers. If a company did not provide their information, we estimated their revenue based on our research, and those companies are noted with an asterisk by their name.

Companies are ranked by their projected door and window revenue, based on the percentage of their business devoted to fenestration. For the ranking of companies that are 100 percent in the door and window industry, see page 39.

Change, Change, Change

A variety of movement did occur with this year’s list makers. American Exteriors, ranked number 11 in 2018, was bought out by Hansons, the number 17 dealer this year. Officials for WinDor in Brea, Calif., which ranked number 21 on last year’s list, told us the company is no longer in the retail market as they are “strictly manufacturing and selling our products through dealers now.”

Another Canadian company was added this year, at number 127, and hope to add more in future lists. So if you are a Canadian door or window dealer who wants to be included, email ttaffera@glass.com.

One company saw its revenue skyrocket, so we dug into the reason. West Shore Home (number 30) went from $4 2 million to $85 million in revenue. The company acquired Brytons Home Improvement with offices in North and South Carolina and Georgia, which accounted for the large increase.

“They are a very large bath remodeling company (only do baths),” says BJ Werzyn, CEO. “At some point in 2019, we will introduce windows and doors to those markets, which is not built into our current 2019 projected revenue.”

In addition, West Shore opened an office in Tampa, Fla., in 2018, so it will be interesting to see where the company falls on the 2020 list of top dealers.

Every year in these pages, we talk about a new location added by NewSouth Window Solutions, LLC, and 2019 is no different. In June 2018, the company entered the Jacksonville, Fla., market and will expand to Fort Myers/Naples, Fla., in May. In 2020, the company has plans to expand outside of the Sunshine State.

“We will be planning Charleston, S.C., as well as New Orleans,” says Earl Rahn, president. “As I sit and type the list increases, however, those are the first planned markets, outside the State of Florida, for the very near future.” The revenue for many companies did remain flat but their leadership remains optimistic.

“Contractor sales were extra competitive this year so that division was a little slow,” says Phillip Isaacs, president, California Energy Consultant Service. “In spite of this, our numbers overall were looking like we would still have a similar revenue to 2017. However, in September I had two salespeople resign … We have three new competent sales people, so we are expecting a nice recovery, and superior numbers over 2018.”

All in the Family: Newpro Transitions Leadership to Third Generation

Number 56, Newpro, is the third oldest company on our list of top door and window dealers. It is run by the Coglianis, a  name that is well-suited for carrying a multi-generational business. The sound rolls off of your tongue like something that could be hand-stenciled to the side of an antique work truck. And while—so far as he knows—no such truck exists, Anthony (Nick) Cogliani proudly identifies as the third-generation leader for Newpro Home Improvement Solutions. As the incoming president and chief operating officer for the Woburn, Mass.-based door and window dealer, he follows in the footsteps of his father, Nicholas, who followed in the footsteps of his parents, who founded the business in 1945 out of their residence. And there may be no multi-generational work truck, but there’s plenty of evidence to suggest that—with the name Cogliani—comes a gene for grit and entrepreneurialism.

The company originally began as Northeast Window Products, a window treatment business that was based out of Nick’s grandparents’ basement in Medford, Mass. In 1978, Nicholas’ dad, took the business in a different direction from his parents, pursuing replacement windows. Amid a national energy crisis, that move proved to be a lucrative choice. And so the name was abbreviated to Newpro, as the company became a window dealer. “He’d still have it that way today,” Nick says of his father. “If he could [just] sell a white, vinyl window, he’d be the happiest guy on Earth.” Instead, Newpro now offers roofing, siding and even bath products. But those changes didn’t come easy, Nick says, explaining that with any multi-generational, family-owned business—passion runs deep and new ideas tend to get contested.

“That’s kind of the route I wanted to take initially,” he says. But when he presented some of those ideas to his father, “We actually had some business coaches come in to help us communicate better, because things that I wanted to do, he didn’t, and things he wanted to do, I didn’t,” he explains, now chuckling about the experience.

“Once we did your windows and doors, we really had nothing left to sell you,” he says. “Now, each customer’s value is well over $100,000. If we do a great job for you on your windows, or your doors, you’re hopefully going to call us back for your siding, your roofing and your bathrooms.” The company is completely different these days, he adds. “We’re paperless and we have all the latest and greatest technology and tools surrounding us. It’s totally making us a better company—more productive, more profitable.”

And that’s a far cry from his grandparent’s basement, where, “There were no computers for calculating payroll. She did it by hand,” he says of his  grandmother, Mary. She passed away recently at the age of 101, but worked until she was 93 years old. Her mother, Nick’s great grandmother, lived to be 105.

Nick’s father now lives in Arizona. “I told him he’s not allowed to come back here anymore, because all he does is complain about the cold weather,” Nick says. “And I refused to move into his office until he was ready to commit to not coming back to work.”

While it might go against his nature, for all intents and purposes it appears that he will not. As of January 1, Nicholas passed the torch to his son, making the change of leadership official.

At the same time, “We talk eight times a day,” Nick says. “He’s my father and my best friend.”

To view the laid-in version of this article in our digital edition, CLICK HERE.