Carolina Shutter Company & Carolina Window Fashions: Meticulous Attention to Every Detail
Story by Sam Calhoun
Meticulous attention to detail—that’s the watchword at Carolina Window Fashions, a Division of Carolina Shutter Company.
Carolina Shutter Company manufactures custom shutters directly for consumers, as well as a select group of area retailers in an exclusive arrangement, offering customization in any stain or color to match any décor. In addition, the company carries a full line of Hunter Douglas and Prestige window fashions and other select brands that give consumers more options than the standard big box store or single product dealer.
“We’ve yet to find a window that we could not cover,” said owner and general manager Greg Seiz, 44, who along with his wife Shannon, 43, moved to the High Country in 1997 for “a lifestyle change.”
Natives of Delray Beach, Fla., the Seizs fell in love with the High Country during vacations in Banner Elk. But it was a chance encounter in Mexico in 1997 that convinced the Seizs to move. In Mexico, Greg and Shannon met a Banner Elk couple who invited them back for another visit. The Seizs took them up on the offer and before the visit was over, they had purchased a plot of land. Shannon sold her bookstore in Florida and Greg left the window and blind company where he had worked since 1978.
“We sold two houses and a business and moved up here in six weeks,” said Greg. “It just all fell into place and we’ve never looked back.” Now, in addition to running a successful business, the Seizs are the proud parents of three children: Ryder, 5; Austin, 13; and Jadi, 22, who is currently a senior at ASU.
And as of May 2006, the Seizs have a new player in the mix.
Overseeing the retail division of the operation—Carolina Window Fashions—is Larry Zalewski. A transplant from Pennsylvania, Zalewski met Greg through the Banner Elk Chamber and began to do freelance work for the company. Now Zalewski and his family—his wife Susan and daughters Brittney, 22, and Whitney, 20—live in the High Country. Zalewski is excited to be working in a job where he doesn’t question the ethics of the sale of his product.
“I want to come in and be proud of what I do,” explained Zalewski. “And every day, we come in here and have something to be proud about.”
The company began in 1997 in a small garage as G & S Installation Services, providing blinds and window fashions for trade only. During the next two years, Greg discovered a need for a shutter manufacturer in the area. He researched mills and discovered O’Hair Millwork of Lubbock, Texas. With this alliance in 1999, Carolina Shutter Company was born.
From 1999 to 2005, Carolina Shutter Company produced high-quality plantation shutters—what Greg describes as an interior piece of furniture that mounts on windows and grants consumers maximum light control and versatility—for the wholesale trade only. In 2005, with product distribution system in full swing, Greg decided to begin retail marketing to the region’s growing consumer market.
“With what we offer and what we have the capacity to do, we just felt it was the right time and the right mix for us to embark on the retail side of this and Larry seemed like the right fit to come in here and assist with the developing of that retail market and the sales of it,” said Greg.
Forty percent of the company’s business comes from the three-county area—primarily in Boone, Blowing Rock, Banner Elk and the large developments—but the company also gets many jobs in Florida through word of mouth, as well as in Winston-Salem, Asheville and Johnson City.
Because Carolina Shutter Company is unique to the region, the team of ten employees prides themselves on handling all types of jobs—from big to small.
“In the morning, I might be in an 800 square foot cabin and that afternoon in a 12,000 square foot mansion,” Greg said. “But we do cater to sophisticated homes. We have such an extensive amount of experience in what we do. I’ve been doing this for 26 years.”
Part of what sets the company apart is its No Flaw Components initiative.
“Doing as best as humanly possible, our employees make a commitment to turn out No Flaw Component workmanship,” Greg explained. “The level of quality and detail that each person in the shop puts into this is unsurpassed. They really make a very strong effort. You can walk through this shop at any time—this place stays spotless. For a wood shop, you’d be hard pressed to believe we build most of the stuff in here because of how clean it is.”
Every month, Greg, Larry and production manager Mike Ripper give the Golden Dust Pan Award to the employee who keeps his/her workstation the cleanest. Employees vote on the award and the winner receives a cash bonus and bragging rights.
In addition, all of the company’s shutters feature a transferable lifetime warranty, meaning that the protection carries over to new owners.
“These are things that we do that we feel like separate us by far from some overseas plant where they’re blowing these things out by the numbers and no one has any accountability to the quality control or the sophistication of the design or the custom application that we put into someone’s personal residence,” said Greg. “These people never have any connection like we do. I go out to their house, I meet them, I see their lifestyle, I find out how they’re going to use their windows, what their UV requirements are, do you got kids, do you got pets—we consider all of these things into a recommendation and then we build it to that window.”
“It’s a painstaking attention to detail,” added Zalewski. “It’s amazing what we put into these things.”
“When we put a shutter in a window, it looks like it grew out of the window,” Greg added. “It matches perfect—it’s the same tone, texture and, in a lot of cases, the same material.”
All stains and dyes are mixed at the Carolina Shutter Company’s 7,500 square foot facility in Newland so the team can tweak between coats and match any color that painters can throw out.
Ripper oversees this work. He is a graduate of the East Carolina University School of Art with degrees in ceramics and wood design and has been with the company for more than three years.
While Ripper handles the shop, Larry and Greg are out in the field offering customer service and customization.
“Any question, anything a customer doesn’t like, we want to take care of that. We will go beyond reasonable to make sure our customers love what we do. We don’t want them to like it; we want them to love it. That attitude toward our clients and that attitude in our shop and the way we work permeates. You can tell when our employees walk into the job. They’re professional, they’re neat, they’ve got nice tools, nice vehicles and they do professional work,” said Greg.
In the future, the company is planning to grow the operation and become the premier window manufacturer in the High Country. Greg believes the company can accomplish this goal through competitive pricing, customer service, extensive knowledge and exceeding customers’ expectations.
“We will definitely exceed your expectations,” said Greg.
Carolina Window Fashions, a division of Carolina Shutter Company, is located at 66 Pershing Lane, just past the Ingles Supermarket in Newland. It is open from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, by appointment. For more information, call 828-733-3318 or click to www.carolinashutter.com.
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