Death of a friend

I just returned from my annual pilgrimage to Fargo, ND where I attended the 35th Annual ABC Seamless National Franchise Convention.  Aside from the frigid temperatures, this is always a great time to re-connect with fellow Franchisees from all across North America.  The opportunity to share ideas and thoughts, creates countless sheets of notes to gather for the trip home.

An interesting statistic regarding vinyl siding was shared by our friends at EDCO/Arrowhead Products in Hopkins, MN.

In the mid 1990’s, there were 26 manufacturers of vinyl siding; today there are 8, and of those 8 companies 2 of them produce 70% of the market. 

It is obvious that consumers are demanding more than the plastic market can accommodate.  Educated home owners have learned that warping, buckling, expansion/contraction, and severe fading can be avoided with a quality product.

Since joining the industry in 1988, I have seen these types of trends come and go.  Like a late night infomercial that promises to fix all with little or no expense to you, vinyl siding has transformed itself from market domination, to another building product ‘has been.’  The death of the product was easy to foretell, the cancerous signs were all around, and its limited lifetime created a target for consumer watchdogs as the product continued to fail to meet expectations.

I will miss this old friend.  It was an easy target; a cheap, short term fix that homeowner’s flocked to for repairs on their house.  It was however, (and will continue to be) a great source of new siding leads, as we replace the dying vinyl with a time proven product like ABC Seamless Steel Siding.