Universal Windows Direct, Twin Cities: Our Year in Review 2013
/We love the opportunity to be reflective, celebrate our success and growth over the past year, and then turn the page to a new and exciting year to come.
Wow. It is hard to believe another year has raced by us! We love the opportunity to be reflective, celebrate our success and growth over the past year, and then turn the page to a new and exciting year to come.
We are a family business, so blurred lines are a way of life for us. If you call the office you might hear the baby making noise. If you come inside there will be toys everywhere. If there is something fun happening for the family, the office takes a back seat and if there is a home show or event in the area, Tessie and I will definitely be there to check it out and visit Steve.
At the same time, when we have big home shows or long weeks working the county fairs, we rely on our fantastic family community to take Tessie into their homes to care for her, play with her, and love her. She is a total jellyfish just going with the flow and adapting to every different house or situation she is thrown in to. Those county fair days were crazy with a different house every day but she was a rock star. I think it was easier for her than for me!
Just as we rely on each customer for their loyal support and business, we rely on our installers for their dependability and eye for quality work, and we rely on our family and friends to be our backbone and ultimate support system. We cannot thank all of you enough.
2013 was a busy year for us! Our Tessie morphed before our eyes from an adorable lump of a baby just learning to crawl to a full on toddler with all of the activity (times one thousand) that comes with that. Our fantastic installer of 4 years left us to get married, build a house and move to a union job – forcing us to do our best to replace him. If you met Matt you know those were big shoes to fill.. And we are thrilled to have Brad and his crew doing just that. We also added a part time employee to the office to help with all of the daily work that piles up! She makes life easier for us every single day.
From a product perspective, we saw great changes to our exclusive UniShield Windows and Doors, like enhanced glass packages, heat stopper technology, Innergy fiberglass reinforcements, and brand new glass designs in our entry doors. We stepped up our siding business and continued to sell the awesome insulated backed Craneboard that customers just love. We even moved into roofing and were able to achieve the status of Owens Corning Preferred Roofing Contractor. Business was booming, we enjoyed a busier than average summer and fall, and our storage was overflowing on more than one occasion. We had our biggest year ever and feel this is definitely a good sign for the economy, don’t you?
Not only were we busy, but we managed to win a few awards! At the 2013 Minneapolis Home and Garden Show we won the award for Friendliest Exhibitor one day! We were named the Favorite Window Company by readers of the Sun Newspapers, and we achieved the Angie’s List Super Service Award for 2013. We continue to be one of the top Universal Windows Direct Dealers in the Nation and we have maintained our A+ BBB rating for 5 years.
Of course, we took time out of work for family events, meeting our new niece and nephew, swimming lessons, visiting the beach, going to the zoo, and celebrating Tessie’s First Birthday. We continued our tradition of a family themed Halloween Costumes, we hosted Thanksgiving dinner and we went completely wild for Christmas! Somehow we managed to give Tessie 90% hand me down toys and I was able to surprise Steve with a new snow blower under the tree. Whoop whoop!
As we look in to 2014 we know we will continue to see changes. Our window and door lines will continue to be tweaked to provide even better energy saving benefits to homeowners. We will take full advantage of our Owens Corning Preferred Roofing Contractor Status, and will step up our attic insulation business as well. We are hiring for in home sales, and additional siding and roofing installers, we are planning some cool new displays for the Home and Garden show at the end of February and are already planning Tessie’s Golden 2nd Birthday Party Extravaganza for this May.
Our biggest news is summed up in this poem:
“Twas the Day before Christmas (Eve) and all through our house we were brimming with excitement…. Even the mouse!
A building we noticed quite a long time ago was available and perfect! We couldn’t say no!
Room for a warehouse and our offices and trailers Even a room to assemble our mailers!
Space for storage and plenty of room to grow... With a playroom for Tessie... we were a GO!
We scooped up the baby and scraped the snow off our cars Then dashed to the building, signed the lease and it’s OURS!”
That’s right! In the coming month we will be moving into a new office space and we are thrilled!
Follow us on Twitter for a behind the scenes look at the move. #UWDMoves
Like us on Facebook for current activity, product info and lots of pictures
Call us any time for free quotes on any of our fabulous home improvement products. We sell direct to the consumer or remodeler, we sell fully installed solutions, and we can meet the requirements of most every townhome or housing association. We work with realtors, landlords and investors who buy and sell homes. We would love the opportunity to work with you and your contacts. Please keep us in mind for the coming year. 612-866-2888
Cheers! Be Safe and Enjoy a Wonderful 2014!
Author: Melissa Brager
