As the leader in its sector, Whitney Burns Shutters gets copied on how it does what it does. "That’s a compliment to the reputation we’ve built up," says Tim Burns, president.
Burns and Ivan Whitney, vice president, have been involved in family-owned shutter businesses since the early 1970s. They opened Whitney Burns in 1991 with 3,000 square feet in a business park. As Tucson grew, so did their company which now operates out of 15,000 square feet under roof at its customizing plant-factory-showroom and service location on the westside.
  
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"We were building our business working with high-end homebuilders when shutters weren’t at the top of the popularity chart," says Burns. "But that’s changed dramatically. We grew 20 percent to 25 percent every year during the building boom until last year’s drop in the market. We’re still working with clientele who are finishing off new builds as well as repeat business and remodels. We did the Heritage Highlands development for 13 years through Lennar U.S. Homes, a project where every house has shutters. We’ve upgraded 80 rooms, with another 240 to go, at Tucson Omni Hotel. Richmond American sells our product as part of their new homes package. We have a contract with KB Homes for all their subdivisions."
Annual sales in recent good years run close to $3 million.
"Business volume has fallen a bit in the domestic market, but we’re in a great area of the country and Tucson is not your typical American town," Burns says. "Retirees love it here and this is the year 60-plus year-olds are retiring, the baby boomers, so builders are gearing up and standing by to satisfy that demand and the market may show some signs of normalcy by late 2008."
"You’re still seeing a lot of earth being pushed over, lots of infrastructure building going on as developers put things in place for a quick startup," Whitney adds. In the meantime, "We’re looking at different options this year to stay as busy as we’d like to be. We’ve moved into the exterior shutter field, our Armor Coat protective window film sector is doing well, and we’re looking for other sources. We’ll keep busy until things rebound."
There are a variety of window coverings that span the quality-price range, from old sheets on student windows to drapes and blinds in many local structures. "Shutters have now grown to be the number-one window treatment in the world," says Burns. There are a variety of reasons why this transition has taken place, product quality and longevity at the fore. "People are now realizing that shutter installation needs to be done only once barring desired color or style changes. They’re going to last more or less forever. With drapes you have to clean and repair them – about seven years before they need replacing – while blinds need replacement slats and cords."
According to Burns, "The average sale to a Tucson home may cover five or six windows at a cost between $1,500 and $2,000, although in some retirement complexes, like the Robson Communities, we deal directly with customers who want their whole house shuttered at a cost up to $10,000."
Because of the quality of the product – "to last a lifetime" – which includes a transferrable lifetime warranty for repair or replacement, a six-year-old window film division that growing at an annual rate of 20 percent, and local service capabilities, Whitney Burns received Gold Ribbon status from O’Hair Millworkers. It was based on a 99 percent customer satisfaction rating for everything from professionalism to promptness.
"Our message is pretty consistent," says Burns. "Although some guys sold their soul and outsourced product – and millions of dollars – during the boom time when it was hard to keep up with demand, our advertising still promotes product made in the USA, not China."
O’Hair Shutters, a family-owned business in Texas since 1939, manufactures shutters from white poplar, a North American hardwood, on family-owned land through sustainable forestry.
"Shutters are built to custom specs and shipped to us where we customize the frame and perimeter moulding and size them to fit," Burns says. "Unlike buying mini-blinds off the shelf from a national big box outlet or having a contractor slap a frame around a window and build his shutters to fit the frame rather than the window, we do custom work to meet customer requirements. They receive exactly what it is they want."
With a top-ranked reputation for quality and service comes the constant need to maintain that status. "We’re still out aggressively trying to let builders know what we can do for them and if homeowners give us a chance to tell our story, we usually get the job," says Burns.
Both men are happy with their past, satisfied with the current operation, and looking forward to better days ahead.
"Shutters are all I’ve ever done, right out of high school. I love wood," says Whitney, who has a garage full of woodworking equipment to play with at home.
"While its slower than usual right now, we’re looking at things we can do to be even more efficient," says Burns. "Now’s the time to put changes in place before activity levels ramp up again."
Lee Allen is a Tucson-based freelance writer.
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