I just had dinner with a customer who was eager to talk about the state of the economy. “What is happening to business?” he asked. “I have not seen it this slow in some time! What is going on? We need to discuss the state of the economy and what I need to do to […]

Forecasts are tough. Don’t you just love it when the weatherman calls for a 50% chance of rain? How can he be right? How can he be wrong? So, let’s talk about the forecast for the door and window industry. Overall, 2022 proved to be a very good year with most door and window fabricators […]

In talking to my customers, business in November is just like any other November. In other words, it has been very busy up until Thanksgiving, but since the turkey was cooked it’s been more like “Tanksgiving.” During the past two years, business was not seeing the normal holiday slowdown as door and window manufacturers were […]

Can you afford to take time away to go to upcoming trade shows? Well, most of my customers are still as busy as ever, despite the slowdown in new construction and thanks to backorders. But unfortunately, due to inflation and higher interest rates, a slowdown is just on the horizon. Holiday spending will be more […]

During customer visits in the last few weeks, the feedback I am getting is that a slowdown is indeed happening. Window fabricators may produce a steady number of units, but new orders do not match daily production levels. Backorders make up the difference. Lead times are coming back down and in some cases are returning […]

Imagine waking up to find out that one of your biggest suppliers is going belly up and with a stack of backorders there’s no product on the way. Now imagine getting that call amid the logistical nightmares associated with a global pandemic. “I remember getting that phone call,” says Ed Kalaher, president of Window Depot. […]