Stormy weather has opened windows of opportunity for local shutter makers Condado Window and Rodszon Aluminim Shutters. Clear skies, on the otherhand, bring out the Puerto Rican penchant for home improvement - which has fuelled the fast-track growth of window and door maker Ventanas Puertasalgo mas (Windows, doors and much more).

"There's a lot of metal coming in here," says Steve Moll, sales andmarketing vice president for Hydro's aluminum extrusion plant in Belton,South Carolina, during recent customer visits in the capital city of SanJuan with colleague Abdeel Rodriguez, territory manager for southern Florida and the Caribbean.

"Being on an island means we keep a large inventory," says Condado owner Bobby Van Bever about their stock of aluminum hurricane shutters.

"Being on an island means we keep a large inventory," explains Condado owner Bobby Van Bever. To keep close track of it all, the company's controller Julio Blasini developed an internal bar code registration and closed circuit television system to monitor all incoming materials, inventory, stages of product development and shipment.

Condado and Rodszon produce a full line of mostly accordion and roll-up aluminum hurricane shutters. Aluminum's inherent strength and corrosion resistance make it the natural choice in tropical climates. "Roll-ups originally come from Europe.  We just make them hurricane proof," says Van Bever, sketching a new design idea to share with Moll and Rodriguez.

Rodszon Aluminium Shutters owner Rudolfo Rodriguez trusts the quality of aluminium he gets from Hydro Aluminum.

Rodszon's aluminum hurricane shutter systems are found on countless Puerto Rican homes, many of the island's large pharmaceutical companies and on all 60 of Puerto Rico's Walgreens pharmacies. "About 98 percent of our business is domestic," says owner Rudolfo Rodriguez.

Most Condado extruded aluminum window systems also stay in Puerto Rico, but a growing number are shipped to other Caribbean islands.

Ventanas, which builds aluminum casement windows and security windows and doors, almost exclusively targets the domestic residential market through a large retail showroom in San Juan.

"People on the island own their own homes and love to remodel," says Ventanas owner Carlos Rivera, a former corporate CPA who has seen sales soar from $650,000 a year in 1999 to more than $7 million in 2005.

Ventanas Puertas y algo mas owner, Carlos Rivera appreciates good service from Hydro Aluminum for his aluminum hurricane shutter business.

All three agree that no other supplier beats Hydro Aluminum when it comes to dependability, quality and timing. "I've looked at China, but the delivery times are not reliable," says Rivera. "They say four months and it takes six. When Abdeel says four, it's four."

"Why Hydro Aluminum? Because they've got good sales people, good product and they're reliable," says Van Bever, adding, "they've pulled me through in a pinch more than once."

Rodszon's Rodriguez concurs. "The relationship with Hydro Aluminum engineers, the warehouse manager in Belton, the computer guy, all that service is amazing. Plus, there's the quality of the metal."

External contacts:

Condado Window
Tel. +1 787 723 5469
www.condadowindow.com

Rodszon Aluminium Shutters
Tel. +1 787 752 4120

Ventanas Puertas y algo mas
Tel. +1 787 789 2449