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ACADEMY OF ARTFUL SCIENCES
Great-looking, quality work is a hallmark of SoCal's Academy
Awning.
The fact that Academy Awning Inc. specializes in commercial work
means the Southern
California company understands better than most others what it
takes to deliver a job customers
will find exceptional in quality materials, quality craftsmanship,
cost and timeliness, according to company president and owner, Jim Richman.
For example, a well-known Los Angeles hotel five years ago looking
to increase its
appeal to the traveling public decided to get rid of the covers on
its 300 awnings and replace
them with fresh material in bold new colors.
Academy Awning located in City of Commerce was contacted by the
hotel on a
recommendation from the lodgings' Chicago-based designer who was
familiar with Academy's
reputation for excellent work.
"We used CAD and related computer programs to superimpose the new
fabric colors and
additional awnings on a photograph of the 15-floor hotel to give
the owners an exact picture of
how the contemplated changes would alter the appearance of the
building's exterior," Richman
remembers. "We used this capability to very easily and quickly
show the customer a range of
different colors and awning scallop styles. We developed a
color-and-style scheme after the
customer found the combination they liked best."
The hotel owners chose 9-ounce Sunbrella fabric and went from the
original color of
burgundy to a stunning blue.
Once those details were settled, Academy was given six weeks to
complete the job.
Complicating matters, Academy crews could only access most of the
installed awnings
by way of the guest rooms, which meant they had to wait for rooms
to become vacant before
entering. This required careful coordination between Academy's job
schedulers and the hotel's
front desk.
"When my crew went into a room, they would retrieve the awning,
lay it out in the room
and replace the cover material right there," says Richman. "We
made it a very efficient process."
One facet of the project entailed adding a dome to an existing
flat-fronted canopy at the
hotel's entrance.
"It was quite tricky because of the sizes involved and the nature
of the building,"
Richman reveals. "First of all, the original frame was not
designed for this. We had to beef up
the frame by adding structural members and tying them in. The
careful way the project was
handled allowed the customer to truly benefit from the curb appeal
it was seeking.
"Many upscale hotels are electing to protect their poolside guests
by offering poolside
cabanas. Not only do they protect their guests, but it also
generates revenue and adds great
aesthetic value to their hotel or resort."
SKILLED PERSONNEL
Then there was the time Academy was asked to build a shade
structure on the main deck
of the battleship USS Missouri, which had been permanently docked
in Honolulu and converted
to a museum.
"The shade structure was to be designed so that it could be
erected and taken down over
and over whenever public ceremonies were to be conducted aboard
the famed vessel," says
Richman. "The shade structure was to be hung from heavy-duty
cables.
"But the winds were so extreme that just getting accurate
measurements was difficult. In
fact, just to be on the safe side, we went back to the ship and
re-measured immediately before
committing the plans to an actual product."
It turned out the double-checking wasn't necessary; the team had
gotten it right the first
time. But such is the commitment of Academy to eliminate the
potential for mistakes that can
delay a project.
"Part of the reason jobs like this don't impede a company like
Academy Awning from
delivering an exceptional product is that the people performing
the work are highly skilled," says
Richman. "At the hotel project, I had one of my most experienced
team members on site he'd
been in this business close to 50 years at that point; an
incredible asset.
"When a restaurant chain tells us they're opening a new outlet on
a specific date, we pull
out all the stops to make sure that we deliver and install the
completed awning before then. The
last thing a customer wants to hear from its vendors and
contractors is 'sorry, we're running a
week late.' We do everything necessary to make sure our customers
never hear that kind of thing
from us."
That's not an easy thing to do, especially considering that every
awning is custom-made.
"We can't just pre-make awnings and pull them off the shelf as
need arises," he says. "It
doesn't work that way. We can't even measure for awnings until a
customer doing a construction
from the ground up reaches a certain stage.
"Sometimes, there is only little over a week to measure, fabricate
and install the product
by the grand opening date."
RESPONDS FAST
Framing for the awnings Academy produces are made at various
satellite shops, while the
actual fabrication takes place at Academy's 15,000-square-foot
facility.
"The satellites gives us flexibility to be able to accomplish
tasks at the drop of a hat, so
that we can deliver jobs very quickly," Richman explains. "Just
this morning we received a call
from a panicked customer who needs awnings in two days. We'll be
able to accommodate that
request because of the way we're organized."
Academy's capabilities include full graphics services, which the
company draws upon to
produce signage and backlit awnings as well as standard awnings.
Before acquiring Academy Awning in 1992, Richman worked as a sales
and marketing
specialist for a Fortune 500 company involved in manufacturing.
It had long been his dream to own a business. Naturally, Richman
spoke of that yearning
to his friends and associates who kept their eyes and ears open
for opportunities that might be of
interest to him. One such opportunity to which Richman was alerted
was Academy Awning, at
the time a division of Academy Tent and Canvas.
"Academy Tent and Canvas is a company that manufactures and rents
large-scale tents,
such as those that would be used to house Tournament of Roses
parade floats under
construction," he says.
When Academy Tent and Canvas conveyed interest in divesting its
awning division,
Richman didn't have to think twice about buying it once he
completed looking over the shop.
"I recognized it had tremendous potential," he says, adding that
his intention was to
develop Academy Awning as a business focused on making large,
commercial awnings.
"When I bought the company, it was still for the most part doing
residential awnings and
was structured like a mom-and-pop business," he notes.
Richman swiftly moved to introduce new and better technology, and
to implement the
kinds of potent marketing strategies typical of companies in his
former employer's league.
Dramatic growth soon resulted.
NEW OPPORTUNITIES
Today, Academy Awning provides products and services to
restaurants, hotels, schools
and shopping centers.
"We do a lot work for chain operations in particular," Richman
discloses.
Meanwhile, Richman says he envisions branching the company into
new markets. About
80% of Academy's business currently is conducted in California.
The remainder involves work
from elsewhere in the United States and beyond.
"We currently ship product worldwide," he says. "But because we
don't have a physical
presence outside of California, installation is handled in those
distant places by local
contractors."
Eventually, Richman wants to have his own people carrying out
installations in as many
of those faraway settings as practical.
"Our philosophy is to help design and manufacture the best product
so that the
customer's keep coming back," he says.
(Visit Academy on the Internet at www.academyawning.com.) |
