Kensington Operations Acquired by Serious

Serious Materials, the Sunnyvale, Calif., manufacturer of high performance windows and glass, has acquired the assets of Kensington Windows, the vinyl replacement window manufacturer based in Vandergrift, Pa. Kensington was previously owned by the Jancor Cos., which shut the operation down last October and filed for Chapter 11 shortly thereafter.

Kevin Surace, Serious Materials' CEO, reports that the company plans to ramp up producton of Kensington's existing product line as soon as possible, and from there introduce production of its own line of high R-value windows. “While building material companies that make commodities are having a hard time in this downturn, we continue to expand operations and hire more people for our unique energy saving products,” Surace continued, “We look forward to adapting this plant to produce Serious Windows & Glass which reduce energy use and costs well beyond today’s Energy Star-labeled products.”

The company's line of windows includes vinyl, composite and fiberglass products incorporating Heat Mirror insulating glass. Demand for the products, which offer R-values ranging from R-5 to R-10, remains high, he notes.  "We're sold out, and we're looking to get capacity up as quickly as possible."

Serious Materials is also in negotiations to acquire the former Republic Window & Door facility, Surace states. It is awaiting the bankruptcy court's decision now.

While window and door sales are down across the board, Surace says his company's products are enjoying strong demand due to their significantly increased energy efficiency even compared to standard dual-lite low-E windows. The commercial market accounts for the majority of the company's sales, he reports, noting that the company has focused most of its sales efforts on LEED projects. 

Although it sells virtually no windows and doors in the residential new construction market, Surace says the company is active in the residential replacement business. Products produced in the Kensington plant will be produced under the Serious Windows' name, he notes, but the company does plant to reach out to existing Kensington dealers to work with them.