Following is a selection of my published work.

Tuesday, April 13, 2004

Glass firm has clear view to successful future



As seen in Pacific Coast Business Times


By BetsyCrowfoot

One year after their acquisition of Bob’s Glass in Santa Barbara, two Ventura couples have demonstrated the path to success is crystal clear. 

Robert and Deanna Quintanilla Jr. and Enrique and Michele Padron acquired Bob’s Glass – a producer of high end custom glass doors, windows, skylights and mirrors – one year ago. By March 2004 the firm had cracked $300,000 in sales, “the biggest month ever in the history of the company,” said Mrs. Quintanilla, who attributed impeccable quality, customer service, and a sharp eye on the bottom line.

Bob’s Glass was founded 35 years ago and operated by John Rowbottam for the last quarter century. Quintanilla and Padron were the lead glaziers for the successful Gutierrez Street facility when Rowbottam sold the business to out-of-town management. “They didn’t have a handle on the level of quality and kind of custom work that was done in Santa Barbara,” explained Mrs. Quintanilla, and shortly the business was back on the block.

The Quintanillas and Padrons soon found themselves in the drivers seat. With the purchase of the company the men were suddenly employers, supervising people who had only recently been friends and co-workers. Their homes were leveraged. They spent nights cramming CAL/OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) laws and contractor licensing board requirements. 

 “Robert and Enrique were always perfectionists, but now they were financially motivated to be master craftsmen and master estimators,” said Mrs. Quintanilla. It was an obvious shift in dynamics, she added, but they both stepped up to the plate.

And in stepped Mrs. Quintanilla and Mrs. Padron, too. Mrs. Quintanilla had experience as a senior financial analyst and owned a Carpinteria-based eatery for four years. She joined Bob’s Glass as full-time chief financial officer.

Mrs. Padron had enjoyed a longstanding career in law and administration until 1997 when she became a bilingual educator. She was enlisted as corporate secretary.

 “We weren’t apprehensive about taking on the role as business owners because we were already in that mindset,” said Mrs. Quintanilla. Messrs. Padron and Quintanilla had been in the process of forming their own glassworks during the interim owner phase.

“This just jump-started us ten years.”

The quartet purchased Bob’s Glass though a buy-out of shares of the existing business, Mrs. Quintanilla noted, against the counsel of their legal and financial advisers. “It was risky, but strategic. We acquired all the assets of the corporation: a $60,000 Italian polishing machine; a fleet of trucks; all the inventory; a facility that was already set up for glass.”

They computerized operations, reducing estimating and production times. “Production is running at a higher level and a lot more efficiently,” said Quintanilla.

But it did take nearly one year for the company to recover from the “hiccup” which occurred when the previous short-term owner was in place; and get old contractors back on board and line up bigger volume and commercial projects.

Said Mrs. Quintanilla, “The contractors who knew Robert and Enrique as craftsmen already had respect for them and their reputation,” – a reputation built on nothing less than 100 percent perfection.  

Their typical installation is the Montecito home designed by a world-class architect, with glass windbreaks, sand-blasted artwork, all the bells and whistles. “It’s all custom, high end work. There’s nothing standard about it,” said Mrs. Quintanilla. “They’re not replacing a shower with a $300 door from Home Depot.”

But with that big ticket comes an expectation of impeccable quality and service.

“Glass has to be installed just right, or else you eat it,” Quintanilla added. “There’s no forgiveness in the material.” Once glass is tempered (a heat process) it cannot be cut or modified.

While Bob’s Glass established a quality reputation in the estates of Montecito, Mrs. Quintanilla said they don’t want to be thought of as “so high end we can’t service our friends next door.“

“We’ve added variety and branched out in numerous different fields,” Quintanilla said, eyeing a goal of $2-million in sales in 2004.

One thing you won’t see at Bob’s Glass though is automobile or stained glass. “We think it’s wise to stay focused, be good at what you’re doing,” said Mrs. Quintanilla, while her husband added the company may endeavor to expand geographically in to Ventura and northern Santa Barbara counties.

Additionally, the company hopes to gain further inroads with contractors: currently 70 percent of their business is to end users. But the large inventory of glass, custom capability, and possession of the only sand-blasting booth on premise at a glass company locally, make Bob’s Glass a unique and viable supplier for the building trade.

Bob’s Glass is a unique employer too. After the acquisition the entire staff chose to stay on board. Since then the company has more than doubled in size to embrace 11 full time employees, plus the four principals. “We are very concerned with our business atmosphere,” Mrs. Quintanilla said. “We treat our employees as very important assets of the business too.”



Bob’s Glass

Brief Desc:                   High end and custom glass and mirror designs and installation, including tempered, and annealed glass; plate glass, obscure glass, mirror and plexiglass; glass block and custom sandblasted designs, for windows, commercial storefronts, shower, tabletop, skylight, patio and other installations.
Headquarters:               717 East Gutierrez St., Santa Barbara, CA 93105
                                    (805) 966-4134 www.bobsglass.net
Annual Revenue:           $1.5-million sales in 2003
Employees:                  15 full time employees located at the company’s 4,500 sq ft facility
President:                     Robert Quintanilla Jr.
Vice President:              Enrique Padron
CFO:                            Deanna Quintanilla
Secretary:                     Michele Padron

No comments:

Post a Comment