ALEXANDER AWNINGS Hard-working family firm has been Niagara’s go-to shade specialists for over six decades.
By Scott Leslie
EVERYONE LOVES THE SUNSHINE – but if you own a home or business that love can have its limits. The sun can easily damage your carpets and furniture or turn your outdoor patio into a stifling furnace. If your property was crying out for shade this past season, Alexander Awnings in St. Catharines has just the solution for you. Alexander Awnings is a full-service manufacturing firm specializing in the design and installation of awnings and outdoor shade solutions. The Alexander Awnings team offers a wide assortment to choose from. That includes entrance and walkway canopies, traditional and fixed frame window awnings, three season sunrooms, retractable patio deck and window awnings, stationary patio awnings, backlit awnings, and industrial and balcony curtains. Alexander Awnings also carries many of the most innovative brands in the shade business. According to Scott Andres, the owner and operator of Alexander Awnings, it all begins and ends with the customer’s needs. “All our work is custom manufactured,” he says. “We’re not here to push a product on the customer or throw something at them they don’t need. We give the customer what they’re looking for. Even if we can’t help out, we’re happy to make suggestions.” Alexander Awnings has been Niagara’s go-to shade solutions expert for over six decades now. The firm was originally established back in 1950 by Harold Alexander who manufactured awnings and canopies for local homes and businesses. Scott’s grandfather John Wall would buy Alexander Awnings from Harold in 1980 and operated it for the next four years. That arrangement would only last so long, however. John needed help so he brought his daughter Susann Andres and her husband Frank on board. Frank and Susann would eventually buy out John’s shares in the company when he retired in the fall of 1985. Over the years, Scott would also begin working with his parents full-time, learning every aspect of their awning operation from cutting and sewing to installation and fabrication to sales and administrative work. These days, Alexander Awnings is located at 461 Eastchester Avenue East
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in St. Catharines. Here, Scott and his team have a 5,000 square foot work space that includes a welding shop, and a cutting and sewing department so they can do everything in-house to ensure the highest degree of quality for the customer. Alexander Awnings also has a modest showroom and a large outdoor display of their canopies and shade solutions. For their customers’ convenience, Scott and his team will often come straight to the site to consult with the customer and review the project. Even then, there are no high pressure sales tactics involved. Alexander Awnings always provides a free estimate and leaves the final decision up to the customer. The firm also services everything they sell and offers dependable warranties on their parts and labour. One big part of Alexander Awnings’ after service business is canopy management. Every year, it stores hundreds of canopies for their customers. As part of their contract, the Alexander Awnings team will take canopies down in the fall (October to November) and reinstall them in the spring (April to May). To this day, Alexander Awnings is still very much a family business. Scott’s son Michael recently joined the firm full-time, after working parttime with their installation crew. Scott’s daughter Jennifer has also become a valuable member of their cutting and sewing team. Scott is looking at transitioning the business on to Michael and Jennifer somewhere down the road. But for now, he’s content to teaching his children the same fundamental values his parents and grandfather instilled in him from a very early age. Principles like fine quality, great workmanship and taking care of people’s needs. “It’s not about providing our customers with cookie cutter solutions,” Scott says of their work. “It’s about building the right awning or canopy to suit their needs.” AITF Alexander Awnings is located at 461 Eastchester Avenue East in St. Catharines. For more information call 905. 984.6884 or visit www.alexanderawnings.com.
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