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HP: Please give a detailed
description of your company and its history.
Tom Johnston: In 1957 a small
hardware store called Town & Country started to expand into
the sale and installation of aluminum awnings, storm panels, fences
and screen rooms. During the 1960s, a manufacturing division was
opened and the hardware division was sold. As we entered the ’70s,
our primary focus became the selling of extrusions, screen and other
items on a wholesale basis. The retail was sold and Town & Country
became strictly a wholesale and manufacturing organization. Currently,
the Fort Lauderdale, FL, location is over 120,000 square feet.
During the 1980s the territories we serviced grew considerably.
We opened our first patio branch in Ft. Myers, FL, in 1987 with
20,000 square feet. In January of 1992, at the Fort Lauderdale location,
we opened an industrial division, T & C Metals, which stocks
a full line of standard industrial shapes as well as custom extrusions.
In August 1998 we opened our second patio branch in Tampa, FL, with
40,000 square feet along with its own manufacturing facility. Finally,
in September 2001 we opened the Orlando, FL, patio branch with 32,000
square feet. Town & Country currently employs in excess of 160
people with a sales staff of 80.
Although Town & Country has grown in size, the basis of our
business has remained unchanged. Our business has been built on
prompt, efficient service and quality products at a fair price.
HP: What hurricane products
did you handle initially?
Johnston: Town & Country Industries has been providing
hurricane protection since the late 1950s. Corrugated aluminum storm
panels were made by hand on a break, job by job. The ’60s brought
one of the first roll formers for panels in the industry. We produced
.032-, .040-, .050- and .063-inch aluminum panels.
Prior to hurricane Andrew, Town & Country provided two accordion
lines. One was the original solid-post system and the other was
the hollow-blade system. Both were fairly generic and pieces from
different manufacturers could be interchanged.
Today, Town & Country handles a full line of hurricane protection
products. We have five storm panels, .040-, .050-, .060-inch aluminum,
as well as .0239-inch and .0285-inch galvanized steel panels that
have a rolled edge to facilitate handling. Steel panels are usually
referred to in “gauges,” but the official gauge charts
overlap so badly that we decided to reference our steel panels by
their actual thickness. This way our customers really know that
they are getting exactly what they are ordering. To go along with
these panels, there are more than 20 mounting extrusions to handle
virtually any attachment condition.
We entered the rolling shutter market almost four years ago with
the Super 50 roll shutter. Our goal was to create a shutter that
could span six-foot doors or a double-hung 37-inch wide window in
Miami-Dade county and eight-foot spans for a 60-foot tall building,
regardless of zone condition outside of Miami-Dade and Broward counties,
without the need for intermediate bracing or wind-locks. The Super
50 exceeded both requirements.
Undoubtedly the hurricane protection product Town & Country
is best known for is the 6.8 accordion shutter. The 6.8 accordion
was our second post-Andrew accordion.
The 6.8 was designed from the start to correct the problems that
faced all accordion shutters and shutter manufacturers. We held
numerous meetings with many of our customers to find out what they
needed in an accordion shutter system before starting the design
process. The list was unbelievable. Our customers wanted a stronger,
more cost efficient, easier to manufacture, faster and simpler to
install, more aesthetically pleasing system with fewer components.
They also wanted a system that was substantially different, so that
their salespeople had more to offer to a homeowner than every other
shutter company who might be bidding the same job.
To top off the list, we needed an accordion capable of performing
on high-rise structures. We began by working backwards, starting
with the most common standard opening sizes and designing the shutter
to fit those openings with maximum efficiency. What we ended up
with is the 6.8 and HR (Hi-Rise) accordions.
The 6.8 virtually revolutionized the accordion market. It stacks
tighter than any other shutter in the industry, one inch per foot
finished. That means a 12-foot door stacks in 12 inches. It can
be manufactured with only eight extrusions, faster than any other
accordion on the market. The 6.8 utilizes a universal center-mate.
This means there are no male and female connector pieces. Having
one extrusion to do both jobs simplifies inventory, manufacturing
and installation. The key lock is a custom-designed unit manufactured
from solid brass and stainless steel. There are no locking rods
needed on the center-mates, so installation is considerably faster
and easier. Best of all, the tracks are heavier, the main assembly
screw larger, and it is still one of the most cost-effective systems
available.
The HR shares many of the same innovations as the 6.8, but the main
focus shifted to performance. In the high-rise marketplace a shutter
must roll effortlessly and be strong. The HR does both. The blades
can span in excess of nine feet at 180 psf. The HR is also the tightest
stacking high-rise shutter in the industry. We have just introduced
a new coating for the main assembly screws, which performs up to
five times better than both our previous coating and the other coatings
currently used in accordion systems. We have been testing coatings
for more than two years, culminating with the introduction of the
TC-Ultracote.
The really big news is the new Bahama shutter we will debut at the
World of Hurricane Protection trade show. This Bahama is going to
revive a segment of the market that has been decimated as a result
of design changes needed to survive the missile impact portion of
all modern test standards.
Virtually all Bahamas on the market today require either a clear
or solid metal backing that needs to be bolted on before a storm,
or a perforated blade section that is very restrictive to see through.
Our design utilizes a unique articulating blade that has a less
restrictive view than even the original Bahama shutters while requiring
no backing at all. We are going to have a contest to name this product
at the World of Hurricane Protection trade show (open to attendees
only). There will be a terrific prize for the winner.
HP: Who are your customers
and what parts of the country do you service?
Johnston: Our customers represent
virtually every segment of the building and manufacturing industry
from the boating/marine world to the artist that creates aluminum
sculptures.
Town & Country ships directly from Key West to Daytona on the
East Coast, Naples to Crystal River on the West Coast and Seabring
to Gaines-ville through the center of the state. We also ship material
throughout the United States, Caribbean and Pacific. Just give us
an order and we will find a way to get it there.
HP: What best describes your niche
in the marketplace?
Johnston: Service. That’s a big word with
big meaning. To us, it means being the kind of company that you
can trust to provide you the best products at competitive prices.
It means having top-quality material every time you need it, not
just most of the time. A good example of this is our accordion shutter
product line.
An accordion shutter manufacturer typically builds one of a small
number of available systems. Whoever’s system they choose to
manufacture has a somewhat captivated customer in that the customer
cannot get the materials from any other source. At Town & Country,
we have not backordered a single 6.8 extrusion component since May
2000 and then only for a few days on one extrusion in one color.
Not too many suppliers can say that.
Service also means innovation and hard work. We are constantly working
to improve every hurricane protection system we carry. We realize
that we must work for our customers, listen to them and work as
a team. A good part of the shutter division’s day is helping
customers with installation problems, code problems, application
problems or the big one: inspection problems.
HP: What are some of the key factors
involved in your growth and success?
Johnston: Town & Country is well known for providing
high-quality material and having it when you need it, but no matter
what you do or how great your products are, you cannot succeed without
good people. People make or break every company. Town & Country
is a large, professional corporation that has never lost its family
oriented roots. Knowing when to grow and when to diversify is incredibly
important, but you will always need great people to do it. That
to me is our specialty: great, capable, caring people.
There is an overwhelming number of people who have been here for
more than 10 years. Having a large number of people for 10 years
really says something about a company. The oldest employee in Town
& Country Industries history retired this year. This employee
started in 1963. That’s 40 years! He was the guest of honor
at a company-wide luncheon held at the Fort Lauderdale location
to celebrate his retirement and his lifelong commitment to Town
& Country and our customers.
HP: What other products do you offer?
Johnston: From a hurricane protection
standpoint, we offer a variety of impact glass windows and doors
in aluminum and vinyl, garage door braces, and three different polycarbonate
products.
Outside of hurricane protection, Town & Country is very diversified.
Some of the products we sell are a full line of screen extrusions
and accessories, building products including windows and doors,
composite decorative and structural lumber, vinyl sofit, siding
and accessories, railing, roofing, and a full line of industrial
metals for both the marine and fabricating industries—just
to name a few.
Town & Country Industries
400 W. Mcnabb Rd.
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33309
(954) 970-5105
fax: (954) 970-7705
e-mail: shutters@tc-alum.com
www.tc-alum.com
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