Latest Pod- On Location

Fun new podcast is now live! I went on location in Missouri and spent time at the amazing Quaker Windows facilities.  I had heard a bit about Quaker and then learned more once Josh Wignall got there, but seeing it in person was a jaw dropper for sure.  So I decided to do an onsite podcast with Josh, along with two excellent industry veterans Dusty Fick and Chris Dickneite.  All 3 were great interviews (and even better people too) as we talked trends (vinyl in commercial?  Seriously) markets, projects, sports, music and more.  Really enjoyable time with class acts and tremendous hospitality. And plus being a glass geek, seeing this operation was something special- a top 5 location for me all time. (and don’t worry Bill Daubmann, D3 is still in the top 5!) 

So please check this one out- great insights from folks who know their world well and was cool to take a deep dive.  

VIDEO

AUDIO- (or on Apple, Spotify, Google. etc.)

Also I am changing up my format some and cadence of podcasts, I will be putting out some shorter ones more often as its easier to get people lined up and get them done and out vs. combining.  Plus most of you listen in chunks anyway so that will help as well.  And I may drop the video aspect- the uploads take painfully long and as you’ll see below, right now I am technically in a bad place.

In any and all cases, THANK YOU for supporting this effort- I truly appreciate it!!

 

Elsewhere…

 

--  Last on Quaker I also need to recognize a few others who weren’t on the pod.  The great Joseph Holmes, who I have known a long time is there and just kicking tail like he always has.  I am huge fan of his.  Jason Pratt and I worked together in a past life and it was great to connect with him and awesome to see him doing so well, and it was nice to add to my network by meeting Tom Kuper.  Good guy and bright future ahead!

 

--  How about the news that GlassBuild will have new locations in 2024 and 2025 and great locations too! Dallas and Orlando.  Both will be fabulous areas and the show will benefit from these locations.  In the meantime the 2022 edition is coming together nicely.  Have you seen that trade show floor yet?  Incredibly impressive and loaded with awesome vendors. Get registered and also get those hotel rooms- they are starting to fill!!! GlassBuild.com

 

--  The MyGlassTruck promo with giving away a truck rack is pretty cool.  Love the idea and support of the education in our industry.  Kudos to the MGT team for coming up with it and of course Andrew Haring (him driving the truck in the promo video was very cool) and the NGA team for collaborating to make it really fly.  Want to learn more and get registered for a chance to win? GO HERE.

 

--  I teased above my tech woes… so here it is… my beloved desktop computer that I have had for years, an absolute workhorse, crashed and my data sadly was unrecoverable.  I am devastated.  While I have a lot backed up, I did not have it all (I am a moron) and just the hassle of starting over is daunting and depressing.  We depend so much on these things and when it goes south it is an absolute gut punch. But there are much worse things happening and I know that, so it is what it is….

 

--  Last this week… it is now August.  Football is back.  In many cities school is back in session.  Can the snow be that far behind?  (Expecting a note from Brian Savage of Viracon noting that they got some this weekend. LOL) Where in the world did this year go?  Unreal the way time flies!

 

LINKS of the WEEK

--  If this “giant nuclear-powered sky hotel airplane” happens I look forward to Adrian Lowenstein’s video review of the curtain wall and windows and him talking about space dust affecting the operation of the window etc....

 

--  I heard about this gig this past week… really fascinating on if its true and then what it would do to your health.  

 

--  Interesting read on the Michigan / Ohio war. 

 

PROJECT of the WEEK

I have always been a huge fan of Tom Nesbitt and the team at United Architectural Metals (though I can’t get Tom to do the podcast- will keep trying!) and this week spotlight falls on them!  This is the Hope Tower at the Jersey City Medical Center.  Great looking structure.  United manufactured the unitized curtainwall (tremendous 44,000 sq ft of it) and the glass was installed by the team at National Glass.  Designed by WHR Architects and the glass product was Vitro Solarban 70. Tom and the team at United do amazing work, and this one may look more pedestrian than others, but it is a beaut! Great work to all involved.  

Big Notes from the Road

I have been on the road now for 2 solid weeks and it’s been great to see people in their natural habitats again and really get out and learn.  The feedback was pretty interesting overall and I wanted to share some quick takeaways.  On the contract glazing side, there is some concern with how Q4 is playing out.  There is surely a softness in many books for that time period and it’s an uncomfortable feeling.  But as always, our industry is pretty resilient and will fight through.  I also heard a ton of reactions from the news out of the NGA Glass Conference.  The aftermath of the new ASTM standard led the way(I mentioned how big this was last week) but the other items covered like changes in SGCC and IGCC, and Katy Devlin’s market look had people buzzing big time.  There was some serious FOMO after this event as so much happened there that I think that people are realizing you can’t miss important industry events.  Last on the trend side, the world of laminated glass is obviously on fire.  There was more talk on that entire area from machinery to products (and usage of lami in previously unused places like showers) than I have heard in a long time. 

Also from my travels, I’ll have a special podcast from one of my stops launching next week, it is a format I have never done before and may do it again someday.  I think the insights I gained will be very beneficial to the industry and loved getting to know some seriously cool people. 

 

Elsewhere…

 

--  I had a short layover at O’Hare in Chicago.  I usually will do anything to avoid that airport, but this time it couldn’t be helped.  And I will go on record here and say it is easily the worst airport in the US.  The signage is horrendous and the lack of bathrooms is pretty frightening.  Plus they have grown so much that they just will pop a gate in anywhere there’s extra space. It truly is a bizarre flying experience there.  So Newark, which used to hold the title for me of worst US airport- you are off the hook.

 

--  The latest Glass Magazine is out and time to review here… it is the annual MUST HAVE “Source Book” edition of the magazine so it’s a great resource to have as you work your way through various levels of the supply chain.  This issue is also obviously loaded with advertising and so picking the “ad of the month” was a challenge.  Maybe it is because green is my favorite color but the Lattuada North America ad really caught me.  Loved the look and layout and it was powerful.  That is your winner for the month- kudos to the team there for an excellent effort!  

 

--  Congrats to Sid Miller and the team at Miller Glass for celebrating their 28^th year in business!  Miller Glass is one of those companies that is well known and seriously respected in our space and I hope they keep on rolling for a long time ahead!  

 

--  Last this week…Here are the top 10 metropolitan areas for construction and multifamily starts

City	% change	Total value
New York City area	Up 20%	$15.3 billion
Dallas	Up 72%	$8.1 billion
Washington, D.C., area	Up 35%	$5.5 billion
Miami	Up 31%	$4.5 billion
Austin, Texas	Up 70%	$4.3 billion
Phoenix	Up 53%	$4.2 billion
Atlanta	Up 68%	$4.2 billion
Seattle	Down 10%	$3.5 billion
Los Angeles	Down 14%	$3.4 billion
Philadelphia	Down 3%	$3.2 billion

 

Did any of these surprise you?  Dallas being up so big is interesting because I know that there was some worry there that things were leveling off but I think we all know never to mess with Texas right?  Atlanta rolling was a surprise for me and I really thought Nashville and Orlando would be on this list.  In any case let’s use this as fuel to keep plugging along out there!

 

LINKS of the WEEK

Not something you see everyday- a cat stuck in a vending machine

 

Who does this first?  Andrew Haring or Keith Daubmann?  Both would be perfect for it too!

 

The scams out there keep getting better and better and worse and worse for our world. 

 

PROJECT of the WEEK

This one via Greg Buczko of Global Security Glazing and Isoclima Specialty Glass.  Obviously post NGA Glass Conference there was a renewed focus on the security space in schools and this was one project that utilized that sort of product.  And the school design and the way the picture lays out were fantastic.  Great work from Greg and team along with Arrow Glass Company out of Urbana, IL as the installer and Graham & Hyde Architects with the amazing design. The products used were from Vitro with Solarban 60 IGU’s featuring the CHILDGARD product from Global as well as 3/8” monolithic CHILDGARD.  Congrats to all involved!

Absorbing an Adventurous Week

I feel like this blog is like the old episodes of Sesame Street that were brought to you by a letter… so this week, it’s brought to you by the letter A.  (As a bunch of subjects I have started with that letter so may well be creative…)

 

--  A for Architectural Billings Index.  Well, it shocked the world again this month and stayed positive and barely a blip under last month.  Am I good with the positivity?  Absolutely.  Am I leery of the results?  No doubt.  Something feels off.  There were down numbers, specifically, the northeast went underwater for the first time in a few months, so I guess that feels like reality. Still I will wonder in a year+ what it will look like market-wise for us.  If things are going great then these guys were right…and as I always say, I’ll gladly eat crow. Note that construction starts in June did slow somewhat- so that may be affecting my feelings here. 

 

--  A for Active in the Active Shooter profile news that the NGA broke this week.  The ASTM standard in that space is HUGE!  For too many years the lack of a clear and logical standard really made things muddy. This is a great step in the right direction.  Huge kudos to the legendary Julie Schimmelpenningh of Eastman for doing her thing here to get this over the finish line!

 

--  A for the awesome Andrew Haring who was on the Glazing Guru podcast last week.  Check it out here- was a good interview and the guru John Spelman did a nice job drawing some answers out of the king of all Glass Nerds.  Good listen overall! 

 

--  A is for AIA and their awards for small projects are out. Some interesting designs, and kudos to those who used glass more prominently. (Like Jessie’s House in Austin)  A lot of this is not my taste but thought it was a cool one to check out.

-- And A is the beginning letter for a word I never heard of... see my last nugget for that one.

 

Elsewhere…

 

--  This “sign battle” went viral but I first saw from my pal Kevin Grammens of Target Mentality (best mental health and business coach around) and I loved the marketing aspect but also the way these folks figured out how to playfully work with each other for the greater good.  Tremendous back and forth.

 

--  This may not be relevant to the folks in the commercial business but some big moves on the residential side with the latest update to Energy Star and the potential now that thin triples and VIG are big time in play.  I am happy for folks like Mike Rapp of PDS IG Equipment and Michael Spellman of VIG Technologies as those guys have worked hard to develop products to fit these needs and they had waddle through a ton of choppy waters to get to this point. 

 

--  This is intriguing.  Evidently, a Tesla exec is under fire for purchasing a special type of “hard-to-get” glass for Elon Musk for his personal use.  The story does not say the special type of glass- but did note it was purchased because of supply chain issues.  See the richest man in the world even struggles with glass too.  

 

--  Now that an awesome Glass Conference has been put to bed it’s full speed ahead to GlassBuild in October.  I am so pumped for it- lots of new things happening, some fresh education approaches and old favorites like Connor Lokar talking economy and given our world right now, just attending to see and hear what Connor says is worth it.  Registration is open now, and don’t dawdle on the hotel room either. Get it all done now at GlassBuild.com

 

--  Last this week… Wordle folks… the word on Thursday was APHID.  I swear I never have seen that word, used that word, nada.  I am sure ultra-brains like Dr. Kayla Natividad and Tom O’Malley got it in 2 tries but I have to say in the long time I have been playing this game this is the first word where I was like “this is a word?”  I did get lucky and get it- only because I had 4 letters and played every combo just seeing if it would accept it.  When it did on APHID I was stunned.

 

LINKS of the WEEK

The luck of having your boat sunk by a Walrus?

 

I have a few buddies who are UPS Drivers and they hustle big time, so seeing one collapse in the heat I can see… glad he’s ok!

 

Fun Squirrel story

 

PROJECT of the WEEK

Beautiful project this week from the Pacific Northwest! The fine folks from Herzog Glass glazed this building using product from Garibaldi Glass.  Stunner really.  Mithun Architects on the pretty much perfect design.  Big time kudos to everyone involved in this one and again as I always preach- it is amazing glass projects like this that make our industry look good!  

Congrats to everyone involved here! 

Questions Abound

While the big news has dominated our landscape over the last few weeks or so, there’s been a lot of other nuggets and news I wanted to get to… so here goes….

 

--  The latest Dodge Momentum Index was up again.  It is now at its highest point in 14 years. While that is exciting it is also a bit of a mirage.  There are still some dry pockets out there now and in various backlogs so it once again has me questioning these indexes.  I’ll take the positivity- you know me, I live for it, but the reality is surely singing a slightly different tune.

 

--  By the way, the next Architectural Billings Index is this coming Wednesday.  No way it’s above water.  No way.  But we will see….

 

--  The latest Gilbane supply report was released and I laughed out loud (Or LOL in text form) when I saw they noted pricing in the glass industry as “Stabilizing” – yeah I think we are all doing a great job of rolling with haymakers being thrown at us, but “stabilizing” is not the feel I have.  Obviously, the report probably covers the time before the latest round of increases hit.  In the other 2 tracked categories, we are noted as “contracting” on inventories and “delayed” on shipping which I think is accurate. The only building trade that doesn’t have those two classifications is “Plumbing” where on inventory – they are stable.  So obviously the whole chain continues to challenge. 

 

--  If you missed my most recent podcast, please check it out.  Two tremendous guys from leading companies in our world.  Ben Jayson from Bendheim and Will Pounds from TSI Corporations.  Really impressive folks who will be around our space for a long time to come and that gives me great hope for the future of our industry!

VIDEO 

AUDIO (Also on Apple, Spotify, Google etc..)

 

--  Congrats to Jeremy Hoy on his new position at Hartung Glass.  Jeremy is a fantastic talent and just a very good dude.  Great hire by the Hartung team and this match will be a nice one.  Hopefully Jeremy will still be attending the various shows and events, as his positive presence is always welcomed!

 

--  Also congrats to the fine folks at Country Glass in Texas.  They just marked their 38^th year in business!  Congrats to the great Brian Risinger, Joe Lambertson and the team there.  They do things the right way and I really appreciate how they are always there to support the greater good of our industry.  Also the best-looking swag in the business…

 

--  Sad news from my backyard in Michigan.  Ed Hickey, a major presence in this market, most recently with his sons at Peterson Glass has passed away.  Another market legend moves on and this one gets me as I was a huge fan of Ed, and his sons have always been great friends and supporters of mine.  He built a strong and respected company that will carry on his legacy for years to come.  My condolences to the Hickey family and all of Ed’s friends and industry mates.

 

--  Last this week… two items on the lighter side… if you were a music fan in the 90’s – you know Nirvana and the story of Kurt Cobain their lead singer.  I was turned on to a documentary on his death and it opened my eyes on if he died the way we were all told.  The doc was a bit uneven but still worth the watch if you were a fan- it’s called “Soaked in Bleach” and it’s on Amazon.

 

Also on Amazon a new series called “The Terminal List” and that is a VERY intense watch.  Only a few episodes in but there was a classic mention of a new building having “eco friendly windows” and I laughed because of how generic.  Evidently Tom Donovan of Thompson IG (who I believe wrote “Ozark”) did not write this…. But hey glass/window mentions?  I am all for it.  Also bird-friendly windows were needed in this one but that would screw up a storyline I guess….

 

LINKS of the WEEK

I knew about the “treehouse” trend- but this offshoot of that I had not seen.  Wild!

 

This would scar me for life.  An iguana found in the same toilet.  Not once or twice, but three times!

 

How to prepare for a Nuclear Attack was a public service announcement put out by NYC.  No words for this one. 

 

PROJECT of the WEEK

I am fascinated by the Carvana “Car Vending Machine” structures that you see more and more of. Recently I saw a post on LinkedIn from Bob Lentz of Above All Storefronts showing the install of an IG going into one of those setups.  Thought it was very cool.  Love the look so I wanted to share… Bob if this one is done or you have more info on who else was involved share away- in the meantime congrats to all involved in it.  These designs really do show the value of great glass and glazing!

 

 

 

 

Power Players

New podcast is now posted with 2 tremendous guys from fantastic companies.  First up is Ben Jayson of Bendheim.  That is a legendary brand and Ben is one very sharp individual.  Good dive into his past, his thoughts on the space, and some of the very smart things Bendheim does.  Then I chop it up with Will Pounds of TSI Corporations.  Will was impressive and I loved hearing about the lessons from the past that Will and the team learned and how they put it to work going forward.  Plus neat look at some hot new products he likes and he stuns me with his favorite food. All of that and more.  Check it out, the insight shared by these two was something to savor. I appreciate the listens and watches!

VIDEO 

AUDIO (and on Apple, Spotify etc.)

 

This month’s podcast was brought to you by GlassBuild America, which just opened registration.  The show this year returns to Vegas in October and it’s looking like a masterpiece.  A few new wrinkles have been added and the show floor is really coming together nicely.  Plus more than ever an event like the Glazing Executives Forum is crucial given the challenges in our space.  Get registered today and get that hotel room too!  GlassBuild.com 

 

Elsewhere…

 

--  Congrats to Tim Thomas on his recent promotion to President at Erie Architectural Products.  Tremendous news for a truly great person.  I have always been a huge fan of Tim’s and also his brother Brian. (I think Brian is easily one of the 5 best company leaders in our industry right now atop of Super Sky) So this brotherly love thing got me thinking… are the Thomas siblings the best sibling group in our industry?  Some serious competition there with the awesome Aragon brothers of Aragon Construction, the superstar Stathopoulos brothers at Ajay Glass, the brilliant brother/sister team at Goldray in Mike Saroka and Laura Little, and I always get confused on the Habers at W&W if there are brothers there or are they all cousins, but that is an immensely talented crew too.  Who am I missing???  And shame my brother Steve can’t count on my sister (because she left the industry) or me to live up to his visionary skillset!  

 

--  Also congrats to K-Space Associates and Darryl Barlett on their 30^th anniversary in business.  I met Darryl at GPAD and it was cool to get to know him and learn about their product line and approach.  Good guy, good stuff and congrats on the anniversary!

 

--  We are a week away from the NGA Glass Conference: Chicago and I was impressed with the companies attending. Was a serious “who’s who” of the fabricating/manufacturing side of our world and good to see so many companies focused on the technical side of our world.  Urmilla Sowell and team do an awesome job in representing us and also making sure we are doing things the right way. There are always holes out there (a big one is some unsavory approaches to school protective glass with lots of create-it-yourself testing standards) but the NGA team surely does the best it can to make sure things get done the right way.

 

--  Those of you who know me know I do not care for the AIA Expo.  They don’t care for their exhibitors and it’s a shame when so many other shows do but can’t get some of the same buy in.  Anyway I had to laugh when I saw AIA chose San Francisco for its event in 2023.  That may be one of the worst possible locations in our world right now.  Good luck to them on that one and good luck to anyone who is going to exhibit there.

 

--  Last this week… the final 6 episodes of Better Call Saul start this week… unreal show and cannot wait to see how this one ends.  If they pull it off as perfectly as they did Breaking Bad (same writers etc.) then that will be awesome. 

 

LINKS of the WEEK

--  This is an issue out there and also one of more and more people who won’t learn how to swim.

 

--  What a cool mistake- getting a few moments with the Stanley Cup

 

--  An absolutely bizarre hobby

 

PROJECT of the WEEK

This week from the LinkedIn feed of Alex Gonzalez… this fabulous job in Lake Nona, FL fabricated by South East Glass and installed by Pro Glass Installers.  Tavistock Town Center is the project name listed.  Good looking project in a very hot and upcoming area in central Florida.  Nice work to all that took part in it!

Moving Forward

Here we are two weeks into our latest adventure, so I checked in with glaziers and fabricators from all over North America and gained their perspectives to add to mine.  I thought for this week it was time to talk about what is happening now and how people are handling it.  Overall it was pretty uniform that people sat down and worked through it. Battled. Yes, jobs were lost to overseas players. As was predicted. Yes, jobs were put on hold until things could be determined more. As was predicted.  But we did see intelligent and creative work from so many to work through this the best way they could.  The point being made to me in several ways is that we can’t just hide under the covers. We have to figure it out and deal with this hand. Kudos to every sales manager or estimating head who had to make those phone calls, re-work quotes, and deal with the confusion and turmoil. There was a ton and you dealt/are dealing with it.  Good on all of you.  

Now, one more piece on the actual increase. I was constantly reminded about the costly nature of making glass. That’s not in dispute. The issue will always be timing and approach. It could’ve and should’ve been better.  Especially when I see how smartly some are handling (more on that below), we had a chance here to do things better.   

One person reminded me of something I would point to a lot here in my travels. A lot of our pricing was the same in 2019 as it was in 1958. Obviously, advancements in machinery and technology allowed us to keep pricing “stable,” but eventually, when the world finally hits a breaking point, that bill would come due. And I’d say from a business sense with inflation rampant and no one at the higher levels of at least the US government seemingly interested in effectively addressing it, that time is now. 

So here we are.  

By the way, lost in some of this is how the big Cardinal purchase of AGC played into this. It changed the landscape, unintentionally at first, and that play helped push this rock down the hill. No doubt when that deal happened no one saw a crazy landscape as we have now.

OK, so on the next steps - it’s been handled in many ways. Viracon had a classy approach which is to be expected. Oldcastle took the bull by the horns. That was important to see and experience, and kudos to them.  Independents took various angles, but for the most part, all are doing their best for the industry and their customers. (Though I’ll note some cowboys out there aren’t. And that thinking is frightening and will not be good in the end) anyway, the march here goes on. We will lose work. We will probably have to re-fight a window-to-wall ratio (thankfully, the NGA and the great industry volunteers will be on guard there) But kudos to the fabs and glaziers who are doing all they can to protect our way of life.

 

Elsewhere…

 

--  I need to note that while I have been commenting on the Guardian and Vitro approaches, their support for the industry in other ways- like education, sponsorship, advocacy and technical- are huge components of what they do and the value there is immense.  I’ve noted several times that the education centers (and I think Vitro’s is incredible) and support of events like GlassBuild matter and I don’t want that lost in the shuffles here.

 

--  So I keep getting stunned.  Yep.  This time it was the latest Architectural Billings Index being in the positive again with its latest report.  I am starting to doubt its accuracy or approach because it’s not jiving with everything else.  Again I would love to be wrong, but something doesn’t feel right.  They’re the experts and no way would they put out details that aren’t accurate, so I’ll take the win… cautiously.

 

--  I’ll be recording for my next podcast this coming week and I am excited for the guests I have lined up. 2 highly successful companies will be represented and I’m excited to get insight into how they’ve done it.  Speaking of podcasts, a new one to recommend is one from John Spelman of YKK.  He has the “Glazing Guru” podcast and it’s an outstanding effort.  I love the range of guests he’s had, including the awesome Frank D’Aprile of Kenpat (whom I could never get on my pod- too big time for me these days!) and one of the talented younger stars in our world- the Arch Insider Russell Williams.  Check it out where you get pods online but here’s the Apple link or search for “The Glazing Guru” 

 

--  I’m so far behind on the embodied and operational carbon issue within our industry so I am thrilled that the great Dr. Kayla Natividad of NSG Pilkington is doing a Thirsty Thursday this week on it. Excellent way to get up to speed from one of the best in our space. Here’s the LINK to sign up.  

 

--  Congrats to Ron Crowl on his new position!  Ron was named as managing director of Compusoft + 2020 Doors, Windows and Glass Vertical Group. Ron is a huge industry supporter and it’s great he’ll continue to be so active in our space!

 

--  Last this week… NO BLOG next week because of Independence Day in the US.  If something wild happens I’ll post and note on LinkedIn.  But hopefully, it’ll be quiet… to all of you celebrating the 4^th of July- be safe, enjoy, and take it easy around the fireworks- both for your health and the dogs in the homes (like me who has too many of them) who go crazy during this time of year!

 

LINKS of the WEEK

--  Bear came through an “open” window and destroys a house.  I wonder if the window was closed if the bear doesn’t come in?

 

--  I don’t do Air BnB’s but these bizarre stories of people getting into the wrong places are something.  This one took on a life of its own

--  I’m a space geek and this story goes way beyond me.  Moon dust and cockroaches.

 

PROJECT of the WEEK

Podcaster extraordinaire and sales rep star Mitch Hawkins posted this one on LinkedIn and given a few industry folks were in Chicago this past week this seemed timely.  

This is The U of Chicago Rubenstein Forum and Viracon is the glass on it and my oh my how nice does that glass look?!?!!  Tremendous work gang!  Also according to Mitch’s post congrats should go to Glass Solutions Inc. and Diller Scofodio + Renfro as well for their efforts.  Love it! 

The Other Shoe Dropped

If last week was the earthquake, then this week was the aftershock.  And a heck of an aftershock indeed.  Just four business days after Guardian Glass dropped a massive 40% price increase on the industry, Vitro followed suit with their version of an increase featuring 40% as the main number.  I was stunned.  I honestly did not think this was coming at this point.  I knew other shoes would fall but I expected a longer time between increases and a lower number.  If you re-read what I wrote last week, there’s been no doubt that the corrections were needed and coming, it was just more to the point of how much and how fast.  So after the fallout of the increase, I could not see how anyone would follow Guardian quickly into the fire.  But Vitro not only followed them in, but pretty much took the heat away from them and positioned it on to themselves.  Pretty wild in a competitive world eh?  The cheering in Auburn Hills when Vitro’s letter came out could be heard for miles.  While the Guardian increase took your breath away, the Vitro one, that fast after, and for pretty much the same amount, smacked of opportunism and not need.  It amazingly made people madder over this issue if that was possible.  A chance to pile on an industry that was and is wounded, confused, scared etc.  Just crazy to see.  And I’m also probably more shocked because I love the folks at Vitro- I worked there a long time ago and have lots of friends there and people I respect immensely.  I just don’t get why they did what they did when and how they did it.  But then again I am on the outside looking in- all I can comment on is what I feel and also how it looks- which to me is not good.  Am I saying Vitro should not have increased?  No. I’m sure their costs have gone up like all of ours, but it sure looks pretty funky that 4 business days after a competitor raises that they have the same exact pressures and the numbers basically are the same.

Also it bears noting that with both increases besides the lack of a clear justification for that big of a number, there is still a fuel/energy surcharge in place and that is no shrinking violet either.  

The psyche of our industry right now is fragile. The back-to-back blows, combined with all else has people from companies of all sizes freaked out.  These increases and the way they are being implemented are extremely hard on all makes and models.  The bigger companies have the most exposure, tons of long-term commitments to work through. The smaller have issues getting materials as is and don’t have the deep pockets to ride things out.  

So time to fight through it all.  We will.  We as an industry always have.  My worries that I noted last week remain.  I don’t want to see bad products imported into our markets. (And again I note, not all imports are bad) I don’t want to see corners cut (like less innovation or specialty) because of this and I don’t want to see less glass on a project because we somehow went crazy on the bottom lines.  Already in the marketplace, we are seeing immediate concerns of project cancellations- as noted in this piece.  Overall just a frustrating run we have going on right now.

 

Elsewhere…

 

--  Interestingly enough the metrics we follow are strong but the concerns that are out there are really giving people pause.  So while I am thrilled when I see the latest DMI in the positive again, I am getting opposite reports from those in the field that they see things slowing. The next Architectural Billings Index is due out this week and I will be floored if it’s in the positive.  But given my track record of late, I guess I’ll be happy to be wrong. We shall see!

 

--  Interesting take here… The US economy issues are crushing things like crypto and the layoffs in that sector are huge. Maybe it’s time to get people trained from these other sectors that are losing people and bring them into ours. Project managers are still a massive need. Plus no matter how nuts our world is, we are still more stable than most.  The question is how do we attract people from these other areas into ours. 

 

--  Saw the sad news of Bill Briese of GED passing away.  Bill was a class act and a true gentleman.  I interacted with him many times at GlassBuild and learned a ton as he would demonstrate what the latest and greatest GED had to offer. Huge loss in so many ways for our industry and world and my condolences to Bill’s family and the team at GED.

 

--  I am big fan of Quaker Windows and they did yet another cool thing recently with the awarding of 28 college scholarships from their TMK Memorial Fund.  Good on Quaker for investing in the youth and their education and hopefully some of those folks will end up in our industry too!  

 

--  Last this week- gotta go lighter… and had to have fun again with another list!   This time it’s the top baby names of the year.  The “classics” are back according to the piece and one classic is “Oliver” which comes in at #3.  That is going to be tough for any kid with that name to get into this industry and be as good as the legendary Oliver Stepe from YKK…. That’ll be an impossible one to live up to!  Some interesting choices here also in the rising names and ones that are losing popularity. Check it out!

 

LINKS of the WEEK

--  This is amazing.  I am all about building culture but walking over hot coals?  Nope.  And this one went wrong!

 

Every week that I post a wild animal story I think it’s the worst I have seen yet.  This week topped it!  Snake bite!

 

And on the flip side- a pet story that I like and glad all is well!

 

PROJECT of the WEEK

From the feed of Rich Harenberg of Erie Architectural, this beauty is in Kansas City and looks fantastic!  Kudos to Erie Architectural for their work and the post also noted the Flynn Companies and YKK AP as well.  Great work everyone!!

The Friday Stunner

Wow. Well on a day that it was announced US Inflation was at its highest rate in 40 years, another bombshell was dropped.  The news in case you missed it was a 40% price increase on glass from Guardian Glass… and that is not a typo. 40%.  While many other industries are used to big numbers like this our industry is not, so just the number alone had people thrown.  Obviously, there’s the initial emotional response in that this is a very tough pill to swallow in a domestic glass availability market that grows tighter by the day.  Not to mention everything else going on in everyone’s operations.  Then there’s the reality of what happens next and how do you deal with it all.  The week ahead is where all of this will come to play. So what is my take on all of this?  I think the timing was odd and the number way too high.  I could justify past price increases and quite frankly with inflation could say one fits here, but 40%?  No way. Maybe there’s a plant issue but if that was the case the letter would've/should've spelled that out.  Without something like that, this number is just hard to fathom.   

Now obviously there’s been a feeling for years that our products needed corrections on the pricing side but to attempt to get them in this manner, at this time, just doesn’t sit well with me.  Aside from the obvious tumult this will cause, It also has the potential to damage the supply chain with GC’s and Developers pushing to go in alternate directions for material, and quite frankly some of those directions won’t be good for our industry or reputation (meaning product quality will not be as good) 

But that’s me, there are probably people who have no issues with timing or total at all, though so far I have yet to talk to one, I assume as this blog gets posted I’ll hear more on it.  As for the next steps...  The OEM side of the business has a different runway to be able to implement this (still challenging) and they’ll be quicker to work through it. But interestingly enough the OEM side has slowed which makes the timing of this quirky.   On the other side, I feel for the project folks, both fabricators and glaziers with committed jobs will have serious issues here.  This increase goes into effect next week, which will surely be an issue.   Even those fabricators and glaziers who may have intelligently built in escalators to protect against volatility, still won’t be covered after a number like this one. 

Companies that are well run will work through this but even the best of the best will have to still reset their plans and raise their game even more.   For the less sophisticated companies or those that have not taken previous increases seriously some bumpy adventures lie ahead.  

The bottom line is once the emotion wipes away (which is going to take a bit), the industry will deal with it.  Companies have to examine what they have going and do what they have to do to survive. I fear for the quality that now may come into our space and the ramifications of that.  (Not every potential new supplier to the industry is poor, but the bad actors will make their way in)  Whether or not this move, in the long run, was a good one for Guardian will be seen- I am sure the market will ultimately decide. The bottom line is we are living in some turmoil-ridden times right now and there are going to be some very tough conversations this week up and down the chain. 

 

Elsewhere…

 

--  After that news above, it was hard to focus on other items- but that is what you want from me right?  So this link was possibly good news on the talk of a recession in the United States.  Moody’s Analytics is telling people like me to slow our roll with the predictions there.  Check out what they have to say and I’d love to be wrong here but I just can’t see how we avoid it.

 

--  More good?  The folks from my podcast last week.  In case you missed it, you can catch up with the amazing Aragon brothers from Aragon Construction and the incredible Kelly Whittingham of Halio Inc. We covered a ton of ground from growing pains to best-in-class technology and more. Thank you for listening/watching

VIDEO

AUDIO

 

--  Good news on the GlassBuild front.  The show hits in October and in the last month 25 new exhibitors signed up.  That is a positive sign of people wanting to get out there and show off their goods and services.  I think as we all know despite the miserable items I have talked about above and previously; we are all busy AND more importantly the need to get BETTER at what we do and how we do it is paramount.

 

--  Interesting blog post on the growth of modular building.  I have been seeing more and more of the “it’s taking off and going crazy” posts vs. this one that pumps the brakes a little.  Good read and thanks to the great Melanie Dettmer of NGA for the find!

 

--  Last this week… Another good read comes from Intelligent Glass Solutions magazine.  This piece covers the incredible benefits of glass and there are just multiple talking points here we should all commit to memory.  The article was attributed to the NSG Group so my assumption is either one of the tremendous duo of Dr. Kayla Natividad and Kyle Sword wrote it.  Or maybe they collaborated but it is fabulous!

 

LINKS of the WEEK

The Starbucks cup controversy explained and figured out.

 

Falling into a tank of chocolate sounds like a dream, but not really- lucky these two are ok!  

 

Next week I’ll a blurb on baby names but this trend of needing help is craziness.  Now Ikea is offering to help… come on!

 

PROJECT of the WEEK

We go to Illinois this week and Nathan Seaman and Architectural Grilles and Sunshades.   This is the Will County Courthouse and it is a stunner!!  This design from Wight & Company and HOK rocks and obviously the kudos go to AGS for their aluminum fins to the curtainwall that just made this building so much better.  According to the LinkedIn post “Threaded rods ensured perfect alignment, and custom clips concealed hardware all while overall lengths reached 46' tall on these bad boys” CONGRATS to Nathan and the gang at AGS for making the building better and our industry standing out once again!

Great People, Resources, Cities and More

The latest “From the Fabricator” podcast is now live and a fun and interesting one yet again!  This month kicks off with Joey and Matt Aragon of Aragon Construction.  Great company and these two are absolutely tremendous.  Their care for the industry and their approach to business are brilliant.  Plus being on the younger side, their influence will carry for a very long time- I love it.  Then I chat with the delightful Kelly Whittingham of Halio.  Kelly took an interesting path to our world and now is a part of some fabulous disruption with a company that is absolutely making moves in their space. Fun talk and she even flips the tables on me too.  Once again, I feel like the luckiest person around with getting to know new and ultra-cool people in our industry and then sharing their knowledge with all of you.  Thank you for checking it out! 

Video version is HERE 

Audio can be found wherever you listen to podcasts or HERE. 

 

Elsewhere…

 

--  I have pointed out here often other blogs or resources that l love to follow including ones from great folks like Rick Alexander, Matt Verderamo, Adrian Lowenstein, John Wheaton, and more.  Now add this one to the list- Michael E Brown and Associates have had some excellent posts including their latest on avoiding unnecessary costs for labor and material.  It was a quick take but valuable and in this day and age that is something we all need.  Nice work MEB team!

 

--  Heads up, some training available on Dow Corning Sealant including product reviews, best practices and more.  This looks to be super helpful for those newer folks and not a bad refresh for the veterans on the team.  More info and a handy QR code for signing up is HERE.

 

--  CONGRATS to David Nelson of CR Laurence who is celebrating his 39^th year in our crazy business!  David is one of the good guys in our universe and here’s hoping he keeps trucking along and spreading the good word for years to come!

 

--  Last week’s post on Fleetwood Mac garnered a lot of feedback and thankfully and correctly all agreed with me that the published list was pure bunk.  Love that many in our space have good taste in music!  Thanks again to all who conversed back and forth with me on that. 

 

--  Have you seen Top Gun- Maverick yet?  If not please do yourself a favor and check it out.  The movie checks all the boxes with great action (well done and not CGI’d) and sound, solid plot, and the pace of it was perfect.  It to me is the perfect diversion from all of the turmoil we deal with daily and a great chance to focus on something else for a couple of hours.

 

--  Last this week… another list… the annual “Best Places to Live” by US News and World Reports is out and of course, I need to comment.  This was the line on the approach they took:

U.S. News analyzed the 150 most populous metro areas to find the best places to live. To make the top of the list, a place had to have good value, be a desirable place to live, have a strong job market and a high quality of life. 

 

Now when you see the list, it makes me wonder if they live in the same world we do… because coming in at #5 is San Jose, CA.  I mean is anywhere right now in California “good value”- please correct me if I am wrong.

The others in the top 5 were 

#4 Boulder, CO

#3 Green Bay, WI

#2 Colorado Springs, CO

#1 Huntsville, AL

 

2 Colorado cities in the top 4 is wild to me.  Meanwhile at the bottom of the list were 5 California cities and Memphis, TN.  The list itself is a rabbit hole that you end up in and surely a headscratcher all the way.  By the way my birth city of Pittsburgh, PA, once rated #1 on this list a few years back came in at #26 this year, right behind Nashville, TN and Jacksonville, FL. 

The entire list is HERE

 

LINKS of the WEEK

--  Odd one- when going “green” isn’t good

 

--  You probably saw this… a popcorn shortage at the Movies is next

 

A rare “Cougar” attack and brave little girl survives

 

PROJECT of the WEEK

Back to the great state of Texas again for one of my favorite guys in this industry- Rick Newnom of Hou-Tex Glass. Rick is a class guy and my gosh this in-process job is a showstopper.  The glass looks fantastic and can’t wait to see it when it is done.  Congrats to Rick and his team at HouTex on a project well done and keep up the great work!  And kudos to whomever the suppliers were on this too!!