We began manufacturing energy-efficient windows in 1980 on West Street in Annapolis. At this time we only sold our windows to contractors that then sold to consumers. Our original building was demolished as part of the West Street revitalization project, forcing the company to move from West Street to Thompson Creek Road in 1997. In 2001, we changed our strategy in order to sell windows directly to consumers, with the goal of controlling the entire process and giving the customer the best possible experience by eliminating the middle-man. Along with that strategy, we changed our name to Thompson Creek. We quickly outgrew the 20,000 square foot facility on Thompson Creek Road and in 2007 moved into a 80,000 manufacturing facility on the beltway, near Arena Drive in Landover, with our new corporate headquarters down the road, in Lanham.
A message from Rick Wuest, President of Thompson Creek Window Company:
I was 13 years old in 1980 when my family moved to Maryland to open a window manufacturing company in Annapolis. They invested everything they had in the company, and we actually lived above the window factory in the early days. I started out sweeping the floors, then graduated to window builder, truck driver, service man, window installer, and eventually got to “run the show.”
For 30 years, I've lived and breathed windows. It's shaped my philosophy on the proper way to operate a home improvement replacement company, keeping customer satisfaction as a top priority. Growing up in and around the business, I learned what was important. In the early days, vinyl window materials were relatively new. I saw firsthand the deficiencies when I went out on repair calls, such as fogged glass or balances that went bad.
What the early days have taught me is that our products are only as good as the design and the materials that go into making them.
Since we guarantee our products, if any part fails then we are responsible and accountable to our customers. If it breaks, we would have to spend the time and money to go out and fix it. I'd rather spend more time and energy up front, designing and incorporating better materials into our products and perfecting the manufacturing process, enabling us to guarantee our products for a lifetime.
Home improvement costs represent a major investment for our customers; they don't want to have to spend more good money down the road to make the same improvements again. So we stand behind our products as long as they're in their home – including the labor and the materials.
One of the directors here affectionately calls me a “window geek.” I travel extensively to continually learn all I can about the science of window manufacturing. I visit the extrusion plants where the vinyl is manufactured, the glass factory, the factory where the resin is blended. I spend a lot of time at the testing lab, where we put our windows up on the test walls and test them to the failure point. This helps us better understand where the weak spots might be and continually improve our design, staying up to date on our technologies.
I am also a firm believer in true customer satisfaction. And what better way to gauge that then to actually ask our customers how we're doing? Thompson Creek has implemented a very comprehensive customer survey system, where we measure all aspects of our performance. We ask customers about the initial home visit and consultation, installation, scheduling and the product. We have dedicated staff in place to monitor all survey responses we receive. If any question response receives a low rating, it gets forwarded to the manager of the pertinent department, where they contact the customer within 24 hours for resolution. This information is then reported back to marketing support with the resolution, which is entered into the database. Management reviews the survey results on a regular basis. All of this attention to each and every customer comment has helped us to make improvements with 100% customer satisfaction as our goal.
Thank you for the opportunity to come into your home and help you create the home of your dreams.
Rick Wuest, President of Thompson Creek Window Company