NewsNow

Trainor Glass Closes All Nine Locations, Releases Employees

Trainor Glass, a contract glazier that most recently was based in Farmers Branch, Texas, abruptly closed its doors in February. The company closed all nine of its locations and released all of its 400 employees, according to sources close to the situation.

Just one year ago the company, originally of Alsip, Ill., was named the largest contract glazier in the country with sales of $173 million in nine locations. For 2011, the company reported that it achieved annual sales of $110 million—a 36.4 percent drop from the previous year. In fact, USGlass received the latest numbers for 2011 for its annual list of the country’s top contract glaziers less than one week before the company announced its closing (see related story on page 24).

Vendors and creditors say they began to suspect the news that the 59-year-old glazing contractor was closing early in the day on February 21. “We started getting calls from general contractors asking us how much money Trainor owed us,” said a Northeast contract glazier. “I called a couple of guys down there, and they said they didn’t know. Then, I got five calls within an hour from Texas, Richmond [Va.] and North Carolina all asking the same question.”

Another representative at a commercial construction services firm in Charlotte, N.C., added that the firm is going through its books now to see how much money Trainor owes it.

“They owe money all over the place and particularly so to the unions,” says a longtime industry professional familiar with the situation. “This is going to be a real mess.”

Another person familiar with the situation says Trainor’s closure was not entirely unexpected because it has been increasingly difficult for the company to secure materials. “Once your vendors cut you off, that’s it,” he says.

In January this year, Trainor auctioned off everything from its Chicago office and four other operations, and released 20 people from its engineering group, says another contract glazier in Dallas.

In March 2011, the company consolidated several core business units and plant production (see related story in April 2011 USGlass, page 18).

“This is unexpected,” said a Northeast contract glazier. “People thought they’d go to Chapter 11 and reorganize, but not close shop.”

Just one day after the closure, trustees of the Indiana State Council of Roofers Health and Welfare Fund filed suit against Trainor alleging that the company ceased making its pension and health and welfare fund payments on behalf of its employees, required under its agreement with the fund, in November 2011.

The company had not filed for bankruptcy at press time.

Grey Mountain Acquires Hawkins Glass Flat Glass Division Assets
Grey Mountain Partners of Boulder, Colo., has acquired substantially all of the assets of the flat glass division of Hawkins Glass Wholesalers LLC in Stafford, Va. The acquisition was made through Grey’s wholly owned entity, Hawkins Architectural Products LLC.

Hawkins Architectural Products is a fabricator, seller and distributor of flat glass and acrylic products for the construction and glazing industries. The company serves a customer base primarily located in the Mid-Atlantic.

“We are very excited about the addition of Hawkins Architectural Products to our growing presence in the architectural glass and metal fabrication space,” says Beth Lesniak, vice president of Grey Mountain.

Industry veteran Arturo Carrillo, who recently joined Grey Mountain, led the acquisition (see related story on page 48).

USG
© Copyright 2012 Key Communications Inc. All rights reserved.
No reproduction of any type without expressed written permission.