Keeping up the shade market momentum
April 1st, 2021
Incorporating Sattler, Sunbrella and Norbar fabrics, ShadeFLA recently shaded the pool deck at Goodtime Hotel in Miami, Fla., including 17 cabanas, awnings for two bars and coverage for a 1,200-square-foot restaurant. Photo: ShadeFLA. Shade is on everyone’s mind, according to Margueritte Ramos, owner and sales manager of ShadeFLA. The Miami, Fla.-based company designs and installs […]
Get stand-out awnings with digital printing
November 10th, 2020
With today’s digital printing options, there’s no reason for an awning client to be limited to colors and patterns in a book or traditional customization methods, according to Andrew Medley, regional sales manager for Trivantage. “Digital printing offers unlimited capabilities, and it is a solution to providing the customer exactly what they want—personalized messaging, the […]
Tips for making the right product decisions
November 5th, 2020
A Trivantage-sponsored education session at IFAI Virtual Expo 2020 called “Making the Right Product Decisions” was filled with detailed information about product choices and installation tips to help fabricators successfully create shade projects in commercial, vertical, shade sail, upholstery and marine applications. The session gave participants an in-depth survey of the company’s shade products and […]
Finders, keepers: long-term customer loyalty
November 1st, 2019
Attracting customers in the market for shade products is one thing; retaining them for future business is another. Managing both objectives requires establishing connections that are meaningful and lasting. by Pamela Mills-Senn A quick Google search on “connecting with customers” reveals all sorts of advice, usually in the form of the “seven best ways,” or the […]
Don’t overlook overhead
October 4th, 2019
Gary Westlund, of Awning Tracker, knows what he’s talking about when he says, “Overhead is a real cost. Unless you properly account for overhead on job bids, you are just guessing.” Westlund gave a straight-talk presentation on Oct. 3 at Expo 2019, telling attendees he owned and operated his own awning business for 25 years, […]
Making custom projects work
April 1st, 2019
When Eric Walton and Devlin McKee opened Custom Canvas Alaska LLC in Fairbanks 14 years ago, the partners knew they had to offer custom canvas work beyond the boat tops they started out providing. After all, a marine fabrication shop in Alaska faces some extreme seasonal ups and downs, making project diversification a survival […]
Paul Aumento relies on employees and customers to keep Creative Textile Solutions a responsive manufacturer
February 1st, 2019
Nova Scotia is a small market and Halifax is a smaller city compared to some others, so we’ve had to diversify to continue a successful year-round employment,” says Paul Aumento, co-owner and president of Creative Textile Solutions Ltd., Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. “So we expanded our markets right away to include whatever can be manufactured […]
Light-filtering awnings enhance a view
November 1st, 2018
It’s all about the view when your apartment is located in the town of Teramo on the slopes of Italy’s Gran Sasso, the highest mountain in the Apennines range. Panoramic ceiling-to-floor windows installed in each room take advantage of the landscape. There’s only one problem: All that spectacular scenery and light also comes with the […]
Thai Acrylic Fibre Co. and Bulliontex partnership announced
August 22nd, 2018
Thai Acrylic Fibre Co. (Aditya Birla Group) and Bulliontex Co. Ltd. have announced a partnership to offer quality outdoor fabrics to the Thailand market. These fabrics, made with Thai Acrylic Fibre Co.’s Durashine™ fibre are used for awnings, outdoor furniture and marine fabrics. Through this arrangement, these fabrics will be locally available throughout Thailand. The […]
Selling shade, comfort, health and weather protection-in style
June 1st, 2018
Who could have predicted, even 10 years ago, that Amazon would have driven shade and awning companies, let alone everyday retail stores, into changing their operations to meet the demand for overnight response rates? Yet today, more than we’d like to believe, sales behemoths like the online portal Amazon and similar services have taught consumers […]