Local business recognized as Dealer of the Year

Williston-based Windows & Doors by Brownell has been named a 2011 Dealer of the Year by Windows & Doors magazine. The company was recognized for Excellence in a Retail Program for their outstanding showroom.

When he formed Windows & Doors by Brownell more than 20 years ago, Les Brownell married his past experiences and set a goal to build a window and door specialty business with a strong retail presence. The company has built three thriving showroom locations to highlight the flexibility and creative options consumers can find in the Marvin and Therma-Tru products it carries. The displays are true-to-life, with window and door products built into simulated walls, and the company frequently updates its displays to reflect its manufacturers’ most recent offerings.

“From day one, I’ve had the philosophy that a piece of literature is only a piece of literature,” Brownell says. “With people making this kind of investment, they need to touch it, feel it, see it.”

In the beginning, Windows & Doors by Brownell featured a small showroom, but Brownell quickly realized additional space would be necessary to make the facility an integral component of the business model. The company’s flagship showroom, located in Williston, Vermont, was built in 1998 with an innovative approach to displays, and expanded in 2006 to include even more products and displays. Today, the dealer displays various product lines as they would appear built into a wall—showing size, shape, and color combinations as they would look in actual home settings.

With a successful recipe of real-life displays, a flexible product line, and well-trained sales associates, Windows & Doors by Brownell expanded its retail strategy to other nearby markets. In 2007, the company opened a Plattsburgh, New York, showroom, and in 2010 added a third retail location in West Lebanon, New Hampshire.

Brownell believes his company’s welcoming and inspiring showrooms have become an important resource for area home improvement shoppers. “We’re well known here in this marketplace,” he says. “A husband and wife might wake up on a Saturday and decide they want to put a new patio door in. Most will then say, ‘Let’s go to Brownell’s.’”

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.wdbrownell.com.