United Shade has shifted personnel from its Window Expressions affiliate, which formerly served both decorator/designer home markets as well as commercial customers, to the new Contract Division. This division will exclusively focus on larger commercial accounts, offering a full line of window coverings. Window Expressions no longer exists as a separate corporate entity.

 

 “We see larger opportunities in the commercial market,” said Braden McCormick, president of United Shade. “This move allows us to take advantage of our manufacturing strengths for commercial products. … We think this commercial focus really plays to our strength. Our growth strategy is simple: expand market share by focusing on what we do well, which is providing American-made window coverings on a large scale. We’re looking forward to building a great presence in this market.

 

“We plan to diversify by adding new products for this market and by getting new placements for present products,” McCormick added.

 

Commercial applications involve offices, schools, hospitality, health care operations and other demanding environments. Smart Series Roller Shades have been the core products for Window Expressions’ business, and will remain so with the Contract Division, including Smart Power Roller Shades, Smart Rise Roller Shades, Smart View Roller Shades and SmartWeave Roller Shades. Other commercial products include vertical blinds, horizontal blinds, mini blinds and honeycomb blinds.

 

Now, the Contract Division is rolling out an expanded roller shade offering, both manual and motorized. New products include:

 

• SmartShield night curtains for retail refrigerator and freezer cases. Made of durable, aluminized fabric, these curtains extend over the door to trap cold and reflect heat, which can yield an energy savings of up to 41 percent. With motorization, an entire wall of refrigerated cases can be covered by the curtains with the flip a single switch. The thermal curtains can also be programmed to raise or lower at specific times.

• Smart Lift Roller Shade System with 40 mm and 45 mm clutches to support 16 and 24 pound lifting capacities for larger, commercial grade quality shades that utilize many fabric types, including solar screens and a variety of decorative polyester and PVC blends.

• Solar roller shades with Smart Weave sunscreen fabrics in a wide range of transparencies. All include options for manual, cordless and motorized operation.

 

More commercial window coverings are also being developed for the Smart series, including retractable shades, cellular shades and eco-friendly synthetic wood shades.

 

The United Shade Contract Division website (www.unitedshadecontract.com) has been expanded to accommodate all Window Expressions products as well as new products in the Contract Division. The site will also contain product demo videos and installation and repair videos.