Queens: Business Spotlight

Over the last few years, residential development, retail, and nightlife have been attracting more and more residents across the East River. All of this increased activity makes Queens an increasingly interesting borough for small businesses. In this issue, NY Report (with the help of the Queens Chamber of Commerce—queenschamber.org/) spoke with four Queens based small companies—two established businesses and two new companies—about doing business on their home turf, and how their businesses have evolved with this changing environment.

Name: Crystal Window & Door Systems

Location: Flushing, NY

Years in Business: 20

Number of Employees: 400 nationally; 300 Queens location

What they do: Crystal Window & Door Systems manufactures energy-efficient vinyl and aluminum windows, and high-end fenestration systems for residential, commercial, and institutional buildings.

How the Queens business community has changed: According to Thomas Chen, president and founder of Crystal, business activity in Queens began to increase about 10 years ago. The increase of activity attracted an influx of Asian and Hispanic immigrants, as well as a rise in construction. Crystal has benefitted from this trend because of the growing local talent pool that they have been able to hire from. 

Going global: In addition to manufacturing facilities in Queens, Chicago, and St. Louis, Crystal opened a 60,000-square-foot building facility in Suzhou in the Jiangsu Province of China five years ago. In this facility, they make vinyl profiles for the window and door industry, and they only sell the goods this facility manufactures to the Chinese market. “We don’t import any of the products, because China’s had such a large construction boom,” says executive vice president and Thomas Chen’s son, Steve Chen. “Our products have appeal because we’re an American brand, made with American technology and know-how, and that’s quite popular in China where people want foreign items. It’s viewed with a lot of prestige and it has a lot of extra value.”

Going green: As part of another growth strategy, Crystal developed its Helios division two years ago. The division provides residential, commercial, multifamily, and institutional building owners and distributors with environmentally friendly solar power systems to lower electric operating costs, reduce power plant carbon dioxide emissions, and assist with building LEED or NAHB certifications. Helios manufactures panels of photovoltaic (PV) technology that can be used in green construction for solar generation of electric power. Manufacturing the PV panels has a lot of similarities to manufacturing Crystal’s current line of products, making their entry into this industry a relatively low investment with a high learning curve.

Today, according to Chen, PV solar cells usually are used as standalone units that sit in a yard or up on a rooftop. However, in the near future, these materials will be integrated into construction of building enclosures. Both Thomas and Steve recognized that the increasing government incentives for developers to build green, as well as customer demand for sustainable real estate, will create a demand for their Helios products.

Next strategy for growth: “In the next three to five years, we’re also looking to increase the market awareness of Crystal Windows,” says Steve Chen. “We’re finding out that end users, not just building developers, are starting to request the types of brands that are going into their buildings and also going into their condo units or into residential homes. As a result of this finding, Crystal is planning to take a much larger, stronger marketing approach with the end users, so that they are aware of the Crystal name and aware of our energy-efficient products.” Crystal has begun the direct to consumer marketing by purchasing ads on the radio. “This type of marketing is easy for companies like Anderson that have several billion dollars in revenues,” says Chen. “They just put aside two hundred, three hundred thousand for an ad campaign. Crystal’s a lot more modest than that, so it’s definitely a challenge, and also a tricky thing to balance finding the right venue to reach the consumer.”—DM

Name: Magic Pest Management and

Suburban Exterminating

Location: Flushing, NY

Years in Business: 50

Number of Employees: 60 at Magic; 100 at Suburban

What they do: Magic offers all forms of pest control for homes and commercial property. They employ two staff entomologists to consult on client pest control needs in Queens, Manhattan, Brooklyn, Nassau County, and Suffolk County.

It ain’t easy going green: Magic became Green Shield–certified two years ago because of consumers rising concern about safe exterminating. Green Shield is an independent, non-profit certification program that promotes practitioners of effective, prevention-based pest control. In order to get the third-party certification, they have to use products that meet specific organic guidelines; however, the efficacy of these materials is not as good as traditional extermination materials. The result is that exterminators must spend more time to get the same results, which drives up the cost of the labor. “Green has the reputation of being the politically correct thing to do,” says Anthony DeVito, Magic’s general manager. “Many people will contact us simply because it is the popular thing to do. Unfortunately when people find out what the charge is, they go back to using traditional material.”