Shower Special

Back at it with a special new episode of the “From the Fabricator” podcast. This time out, a focused edition on the shower door side of the business with three of the best around. Leading off, I visited with one of the best minds on the shower-door side, Danny Donahue of FHC. Danny delivered a ton of straight-to-the-point insights on installs and solutions, and broke news on a very cool hydraulic hinge now available. Which maybe I’ll get if my shower is ever done- that story is told too! Good guy and an enjoyable talk.

Then I was fortunate to have the dynamic duo from the Shower Door Co-Op (and, of course, their own companies), Christina Elie and Shannon McKinney. If you are in the shower door world and not involved in the co-op, you are missing out on a major opportunity. This is an excellent organization that makes our space better in many ways. So, take a look/listen, and while you’ll hear it on the pod, you can check out the Co Op. Also, Shannon and Christina are top-shelf businesspeople who run impressive operations. Both sets of guests are great for our industry, and if you know me, I love that. 

Watch now on Youtube, or listen here. Thank you for checking it out!

Elsewhere…

Walker Glass expansion

Congrats to the gang at Walker Glass for their expansion to the great state of Texas with a new plant dedicated to their etched product. Huge move there. I’ll have Walker CEO Randy Brooks on the pod soon to talk about that and other great moves happening there.

Architectural Billings Index

The latest Architectural Billings Index hit this week, and it was actually pretty good. Just barely underwater, actually. The number was 49.4. Unfortunately, I believe most of this was tabulated before the conflict in Iran began, and oil prices skyrocketed. On that note, according to Dodge, the oil price shock will affect our space. If the price per barrel remains in the 100 to 125 range, we’re looking at a reduction in starts of 1.5 to 2%. That slowdown would hit in the 3rd and 4th quarters this year. So not good, especially when we were planning the upswing to come at that time. Once again, nothing is coming easy. I am glad I had a nice, relaxing, disconnected vacation… needed that to handle news like this.

Coffee roastery to try

One of the best guys in our space, James Esver of Golden State Lumber & Showroom, and one of the most creative LinkedIn posters ever, has an extremely cool non-industry family business going. It is a coffee roastery featuring some amazing coffee options. Check them out. My family, who are the true coffee drinkers, give it 5 stars- especially the House Blend, which features a flavor combo of floral, dark chocolate, and caramel. There are also six other options to try. So, if you are a coffee drinker and you want to support a guy who loves our space a ton, give it a shot!

GFAB 

At the recent BEC show, there was a lot of buzz about the new show in the NGA orbit. The NGA Glass Fabricator Conference, AKA, GFAB, is coming to Chicago in June. More info is out about it now. Registration will open soon. I am looking forward to a few of the sessions, including Richard Branch of the AIA and Elton Boocock on AI in glass fab. What’s listed is just the tip of the iceberg, too. More to come, and a must-attend!

Glass Magazine Awards

Nominations for the most prestigious award program in our industry, the Glass Magazine Awards, are being accepted right now. Deadline is coming quick, so check out the details and get your stuff in! New rules and categories are there, don’t delay, as you want that deserved recognition that winning can bring!

March Madness

Last this week… March Madness is here. Love this time of year as that leads into the start of baseball season, which is always great. Anyway, glass did play an interesting role in one of the conference tournaments leading up to the big tournament. It was the Big 12 Conference tournament, and they made news for using glass as their floor. This allowed them to have an LED underneath and the ability to project pretty much anything. It looked very cool. The powers that be noted that the glass floor had a non-slip coating, and it would be easier on the players' bodies. For me, I was overjoyed thinking this could be another area for us to sell glass.  Unfortunately, after a few days, the Big 12 gave up on the glass and went back to the old-fashioned wood.  Players were slipping a bit and just not comfortable out there.  Here’s why I am maddest, though. You have this great, truly groundbreaking idea. How about trying it out during the pre-season or in early games that aren’t as important? Making a debut during a high-pressure tournament was a recipe for disaster, and that’s indeed what happened. Will they get another bite at this apple? I hope so, but the first impressions may doom it.