WARREN New on Vista Window's horizon: sunrooms

Starting out with 15 employees two years ago, the company employs 60.
THE VINDICATOR, YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO
By CYNTHIA VINARSKY
VINDICATOR BUSINESS WRITER
WARREN -- Vista Window Co., a dealer-direct wholesaler and producer of vinyl replacement windows, is setting its sights on a new market: sunrooms.
Dan McCarthy, who founded the company with partner Jimmy Collins two years ago, said the entrepreneurs will be launching their new vinyl sunroom designs at a series of open houses beginning this weekend.
The first open house is set for Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the plant showroom, 3850 Elm Road, and others will be scheduled at the same time every Saturday through the end of the year.
Sunrooms are one of the fastest-growing niche products in the home-improvement business, McCarthy said, because they add space to a home for a relatively low cost. Installation is quick and clean, taking about three days when built on a patio or deck.
Styles
Vista Windows will offer two styles, a studio room which features a slanted "lean-to"-style window wall, and a gable room with peak roof or vaulted ceiling. Average costs for the studio style fall between $12,000 and $14,000, and the gable style runs between $14,000 and $20,000.
McCarthy, chief executive, and Collins, president, worked together for 20 years at another area window company until the fall of 2000. The two men resigned around the same time that year and both looked into starting a business on their own before teaming up to go into the industry they knew best, windows.
They found space in a former Stambaugh Hardware store building on Elm Road and started manufacturing vinyl replacement windows.
Growth of work force
Starting out with 15 full- and part-time employees, the company has a work force of 60, about 35 full-time and the rest on a flex schedule. "We're right on schedule," McCarthy said. "The part-time positions will become full-time as we grow."
Vista is shipping its windows out to dealers in a 300-mile radius of the plant, which also meets an early goal.
The owners began making and selling sunrooms through a small group of dealers about six months ago and the sideline makes up about 5 percent of their business. McCarthy said they expect the niche to make up 50 percent of their business in a few years.
About 45,000 square feet of the plant is used for manufacturing and shipping, and a showroom occupies the remaining 5,000 square feet of space. The showroom is open to the public, but Vista Windows does not sell directly to the public, only through its authorized dealers.
vinarsky@vindy.com