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It doesn’t take an industry insider to know that the retail business has grown by leaps and bounds since the first marketplace stalls went up centuries ago. And when visual marketing became the norm, retailers had to alter their showrooms and find appealing ways to show off their merchandise.
Glass exists as its own state of matter—a unique composition of environmental factors, crucial ingredients, and chemical reactions all coalescing into a structure used for both practical applications and creative inspirations.
In 1985, Dillmeier Glass Company faced a dilemma. More than 50 years prior, the Dillmeier family had created a successful glass business from the ground up, founded upon relationships with clients across the United States. However, JCPenney—as their largest client, accounting for more than 95 percent of all orders—was beginning to run out of projects.
If there’s one thing Tom Grzywa has learned from 30 years in the retail fixture business, it’s that security and transparency go hand in hand.
For more than 25 years, Grzywa has worked with Dillmeier Glass as a commercial glass fabrication partner to source top-quality lites for retail fixtures and other fabrication projects. Most recently, that partnership has flourished at Jahabow, where Grzywa works as vice president of the retail fixtures division. There, he’s overseen the manufacturing and sales for Jahabow’s full line of glass display cases and cabinets, ranging in application from sporting goods stores to luxury retailers.
Starting on the operations side of the business and eventually transitioning into sales and his current position, Grzywa has gained an appreciation for the people behind the business, whether in partner companies, or Jahabow’s factory in Missouri.
His extensive career has also provided an ideal vantage point to observe the many changes and trends that have emerged throughout the past three decades and will continue to push the industry forward into the foreseeable future.
Foremost among these are an increased need for security to stave off crime, and improved fixture mobility to help provide a flexible customer experience.
According to Grzywa, “smash-and-grab” crime—theft that includes destruction of a product display case to access valuable products—is on the rise.
As construction and building design trends evolve, so too does the glass industry. Recent figures from the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) detail a promising start to 2019 for the sector, characterized by significant job growth chipping away at a lingering shortage of qualified skilled workers from the previous year, among other indicators that include increased demand for automation, and bigger and more intricate glasswork.
The following are five key trends influencing the glass manufacturing industry in 2019:
Commercial construction is the art of building and/or remodeling non-residential structures, including offices, retail stores, restaurants, hotels and medical facilities. Although relatively unchanged for many years, the industry has undergone several significant shifts recently, chiefly due to advancing technology and a growing understanding of our impact on the environment.
Those who don’t work in the glass fabrication industry likely don’t know too much about it. It affects everyone, however. Take a look around the building you work in, stores you shop at, sports arenas you visit, restaurants where you dine—more often than not, glass is incorporated into its design, and impacts your experience.
Interior doors can be constructed of a wide range of materials, including wood, metal, vinyl, fiberboard, and glass—with the latter ever-growing in popularity. Recent statistics anticipate interior glass door utilization—whether swinging, sliding, panel, bi-fold or multi-slide doors—will increase considerably throughout the next several years.
The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) is known for its establishment of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards for commercial and residential buildings—which rate buildings' environmental performance and encourage sustainability components in design and construction phases among architects and contractors.
Many within these industries are aware of LEED and its many benefits, both environmental and economic. There may be several lesser-known aspects of this green building program, however.
