The Right Strategy Right Now

By HOWARD SHINGLE

With the uncertain economy and stagnant housing industry, what’s in store for window-coverings fabricators for the remainder of 2010? It’s anyone’s guess, but one thing is certain: success hangs in the balance. Yet, as ominous as that sounds, what lies ahead doesn’t have to be tighter margins and brutal competition—at least not for fabricators who adhere to solid, long-term business practices and concentrate on their customers. Viken Ohanesian, president of Montebello, Calif.-based ShutterSmart, believes fabricators who work to help their customers will find themselves in a stronger position by year’s end.

The Value Plan

“I think too many fabricators waste too much of their valuable time chasing customers by lowering prices,” Ohanesian says. “It’s a strategy that is a waste of time and in the end is short-lived. The marketplace is looking for innovation, better ways of doing things and value. Dealers are looking for the same. If businesses focus on these things, it will be a much better environment for everyone in which to deliver greater value and to grow.”

To its success, Ohanesian has built ShutterSmart on the ideas of innovation and value and, along with some planning foresight, has kept it strong despite other uncertainties. “It has been a challenging environment,” he admits, “but we’ve kept going because of our strong financial backing and support from our core customer base. We consolidated early on and that helped us. We’ve continued our focus on growing our business through innovations that have helped our customers in this economic environment.”

An extruder and fabricator of wood and vinyl-clad shutters, ShutterSmart supplies components, panels and finished shutters to window coverings dealers mainly across the southern tier of states. This market concentration also is part of the company’s success. “Fabrication is a regional business due to shipping and service costs,” Ohanesian says. “We fabricate in California and Florida and ship throughout the Southern Belt.”

In recent years, shutter fabrication has seen growth and retrenchment—trends that reflect other window coverings products and, to some degree, the industry itself.

“Shutters have had a good run in the last 10 years, but over the last two years the whole industry has become smaller,” says Ohanesian. Looking ahead, fabricators would do well to plan their products with new customer challenges in mind. “We see lower prices, short lead times and eco-friendly shutters being the major themes moving forward,” Ohanesian explains. “Our Polyclad wood shutters really fit that bill because we have a durable product that leaves the smallest environmental footprint of any alternatives.” He adds that these shutters are made in five days and offer pricing that is attractive to dealers.

Ohanesian’s customer-focused plans extend beyond 2010.

“In the near term we are looking to build closer relationships with our dealer network,” Ohanesian says. To do that, he believes fabricators need to understand dealers’ needs and “cut them some slack when they really need your support. In the long run, we hope to see these relationships flourish and grow with the changing economy.”

ShutterSmart had its start in 1993 as one of the first window coverings fabricators to offer a patented poly-clad wood shutter. “We designed the product as an intelligent solution to the most common problems in wood shutters,” Ohanesian explains. “With ShutterSmart, [dealers] never need to be concerned about durability, price, lead time or making a decision that leaves a large environmental footprint.”

As the company grew, it expanded into two facilities of about 100,000 square feet and today employs 150 people between its extrusion facilities and its fabrication and distribution headquarters. With all this in place, Ohanesian foresees continued growth through ShutterSmart’s leading shutter product.