Prefabricated sunrooms used to be
about 80% of R.W. Chew's business in
Barrington, R.I. But Robert Chew saw a
change coming—a lowered demand for
solar-style sunspaces. Unless he changed
the nature of his services, Chew's business
wasn't going to survive, let alone
thrive.
He decided to diversify. Today, Chew
and his partners, Ray Silva and Katie
Remington, install few sunroom kits,
but now they remodel kitchens and sitebuild
room additions. They also sell
design services. They still erect or build
about 24 sunrooms a year in homes in
Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
Chew and Silva talk about the changing
role—and the changing design—of
the sunspace in the 1990s, and about
the changes dealers must make to overcome
lower demand.
JLC: How