JACKSON GLASS BUSINESS CATERS TO A GROWING CITY

Jackson Glass Inc. co-owners Terry Steele, left, and Steve Brands hold a miniature patio sliding door designed in Germany. The new business carries a wide variety of glass products.

"Jackson has grown enough that it was time for the city to have a business like this," said Steve Brands, co-owner of Jackson Glass Inc., which opened at 326 E. Jackson Boulevard on Jan. 2. The new business will have its grand opening Monday.

Brands, along with co-owner Terry Steele, conceived the idea of a full-service glass company last summer. Brands was visiting Steele at his home in Festus; Steele expressed a desire to move to the Cape Girardeau area to be near relatives. Brands, who has been doing glass work in Cape Girardeau since 1978, was interested in starting his own business.

"We decided to do it," said Brands, who is originally from Portageville. "For 13 years I ran the Cape Paint and Glass store and I worked five years at Edgewater Glass in Cape. I wanted to venture out on my own."

Jackson Glass Inc. is in a brick building that for a long time was used as a Ford tractor dealership. It took weeks of cleaning oil and grease off the floors to make it suitable for a new use. A new side door was added and a side parking lot will soon be improved.

Although January and February are typically slow months in the glass business, Brands says the time will be used to get well organized and to stockpile inventory.

The service area of the business will be about a 35- to 40-mile radius of Jackson. Brands and Steele expect to do business in such places as Perryville, Marble Hill and Portageville; however, the emphasis will be on serving the needs of Jackson residents.

The business offers glass replacement services for vehicles and various glass-related items for homes and businesses.

"We will concentrate more on residential than commercial work," said Brands. "We'll do light commercial work like door plates and replacing plate glass windows. But we want to do a lot of residential work because of the housing boom in the area."

The company carries Quaker brand window products that Brands says are very competitive with Andersen and other well-known brands. There are free estimates for sales, service and installation.

"And we'll try to provide fast service," said Brands. "It's been my experience that some companies take three days, four days, even a week or two to answer a service call. I hope to get to customers within a day or two."

One of Brands' employees, Matt Westbrook, has been a licensed and bonded carpenter. That, says Brands, is an asset to the business -- Westbrook will do refinishing work when windows are replaced in homes.

Another employee, Mike Campbell, has about 15 years experience in flat and automotive glass work. Windshield repair is expected to be a large part of the company's business.

"We're going to have complete automotive service and people can drive here for it. We'll also have some mobile service," Brands said, adding that mobile service generally involves going to a body shop to replace glass that has been broken in an accident.

Bulls-eye repairs -- patching small cracks in windshields usually caused by rocks and gravel -- is offered. Since electrical equipment is used in the "healing process," Brands says it is best to bring the vehicle to the shop, rather than request mobile service.

"One of my sticklers is to do quality work. I don't like to take short cuts or use inferior products."

Bulls-eye repairs, which prevent small cracks from becoming large cracks that wander across the windshield, are encouraged by insurance companies -- they cost about $35. Insurance companies will often wave the deductible and pay the bill, says Brands, because it's a lot cheaper than having to replace the windshield later on.

"In recent years automotive glass has become more specialized. There's privacy glass and some Luminas have windshields that turn shades according to the weather. Windshields can cost from $200 to $2,000 to replace."

Brands said a computer is being installed that will provide quick estimates for automotive glass replacement. It will use the National Auto Glass Service listing, which is a standard for insurance companies.