It’s extremely satisfying – and often rewarding – when you’re able to carve out a distinctive product in the reality of highly saturated markets. Like Untuckit – a brand built solely on leaving your shirt out. Or, back in the day, pet rocks anyone?
Glass fabrication is no different than any other market. There are a lot of companies competing to provide the same deliverables. There can be a tendency to win the job solely on price, but that’s a death spiral. While being competitive is important, you have to win on quality and service. While, of course, providing something very specific that’s worth seeking you out.
Looking back over the past couple of years, we’ve carved a niche in glass vestibules and entrance systems. We’ve posted here about a string of glass entrance systems completed in Chicago and Detroit. And we’ll soon post stories on even more projects recently completed in Washington D.C. and the surrounding area.
Many of these projects are either off-the-shelf or hybrid versions of our three types of pre-engineered glass vestibules and entrance systems. We market these systems under our OSTIUM™ brand. They are striking in design, highly engineered, and ready for installation. Or, if you choose, they can be further customized. Either way they save time and cost over starting with a clean sheet of paper.
Our posts include our delivery of a Type I OSTIUM system on 125 South Wacker, and a Type II across the street at 200 South Wacker, in Downtown Chicago. About a mile away we posted on a Type III for 800 West Fulton. In Detroit, our posts include a Type I at the posh Federal Building. Then there’s the Type II for the Detroit News Building, both in the rejuvenated Downtown.
All of this is going on as we delivered 30 custom entrance systems to a refresh of the first four floors of the Willis Tower. Towards Lake Michigan, we designed and delivered the main and several other entrances for the ground floor of the new 101-story St. Regis Chicago. And so on.
So, glass entrances are a niche for G+MC, and we are extremely pleased to be the recognized leader. We’ll continue to grow this as a differentiating strength, and to tell our story here in the months and years ahead. BUT … that doesn’t mean we are taking our foot off the gas on our other deliverables. We are still a leader in IG facades, point-supported structural walls, and so on. Or even on establishing other niches – like glass and metal windscreens.
As we round into next year, a popular quote comes to mind. “The only time you should ever look back is to see how far you’ve come.” Well, we’ve come a long way, and we’re just getting started.
