When Window World, the largest home improvement company in the U.S., turned into a franchise in 2011, it was in an effort to attach “a unified, consistent message” to the company’s vaunted brand.

Starting as a single-unit location, developing into a branded dealer network, then becoming a franchise, Window World has evolved into not only the dominant seller/installer of vinyl windows in the U.S., with sales approaching $500 million, but the country’s largest dedicated home improvement contractor. While industrywide sales of window units plunged after the recession by almost one-third, this company continued to post consistent sales gains.

Now their president, Dana Deem, says that Window World wants the other world to know it’s “more than a window company.” The North Carolina giant is in the midst of a transition from being a window replacement company to a full-fledged exterior remodeler, offering siding and doors through its 150-plus franchise units.

Door sales at the company have taken off, increasing 42% last year, as the corporate division of Window World negotiated supplier agreements and franchisees grew comfortable building door add-on sales into their window calls.

Takeaways

  • Founded by the late Todd Whitworth and his wife (and current CEO) Tammy, Window World is a philanthropic organization that has expanded to become a major supporter for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, the children’s research hospital in Memphis, Tenn. Window World was St. Jude’s No.1 corporate partner last year.
  • Window World’s chief pilot Johnny Johnston persuaded the company to volunteer the use of its plane to Veterans Airlift Command, a nonprofit providing free air transportation to post-9/11 combat wounded veterans and their families for medical and other purposes. Last year Window World flew 19 such missions, a total of 58 so far.
  • Deem says that the company seeks to “fill out the map” by adding West Coast franchises. Meanwhile, Window World identified 13 markets in Canada to expand into, with necessary trademarks already applied for and in the works.