The Rise and Rise of Window World

For the last six years in a row, the owners of Window World dealerships around the country have gathered for a three-day annual meeting. On the surface, the gatherings are similar to annual meetings held by other franchise organizations. There are educational sessions during the day. In the evening, there is networking and entertainment. But Window World gatherings typically feel different than the obligatory annual business meeting.

For starters, many of the dealers have seen their lives change dramatically for the better since buying a Window World dealership. As a group, they have experienced 40 percent compounded annual growth over the past four years. Many have become wealthy. As a result, these annual gatherings (the most recent meeting was held in August in Cape Canaveral, Fla.) have taken on a true celebratory feel — they are always held at a resort with all expenses paid; spouses are encouraged to attend (and most do whether they are involved in the business or not); and perhaps most telling of all, the dealers themselves have taken to calling the event a “family reunion,” says Todd Whitworth, president of Window World Inc. and son of company founder Leon Whitworth.

“I think this feeling among our dealers is a testament to the value-driven way we approach the business,” says Todd. “We sell a great product at a price people can afford and our dealers have seen the response. It works.”

Leon Whitworth, the founder of Window World Inc., has deep roots in the home improvement industry. Beginning in the early ’70s Leon sold aluminum siding in a bygone era of the siding business. From there he went on to establish a successful building supply distribution firm and a window manufacturing firm.

According to Todd, all of Leon’s business experience in home improvement, (the good and the bad aspects of the industry) laid the groundwork for establishing a new kind of replacement window firm in 1995. And the beginnings of the company were very humble.

“My dad started the company out of what most people would call a roadside shack near Wilmington, N.C.,” recalls Todd. “When I first saw it, my response was: ‘You are selling how many windows out of that?’ I could not believe it. And Leon told me confidently that I would be working for him in a year. I thought: no way. I have a good job and I don’t intend to work for my dad. He was wrong. I was working for him 10 months later.”

Independent of his father’s business experience, Todd also has deep roots in home improvement. Before joining his father in helping to launch Window World in 1997, Todd was a national sales trainer for a window company that eventually became Atrium Windows.

“As soon as I got down to Wilmington, Leon went out and began establishing our dealer network,” says Todd. “Our first dealer was in Raleigh and we got the ball rolling from there.”

Since that time, the company’s growth has been nothing short of phenomenal. The company now has 195 dealers throughout the country, and in 2006 those dealers sold and installed 89,874 jobs, which translated to $270,691,333 in sales, or 850,000 windows. Last month, the company installed 100,000 windows and this year, Todd expects that the firm exceed 1 million windows sold and installed.

A Different Way of Doing Business

When Leon Whitworth set out to establish Window World, in many ways he was also hoping to establish a new model for doing business in the home improvement industry, says Todd. He wanted to offer an alternative to “the dinosaurs” and the old ways of doing things that have dominated home improvement since the 1970s.