LIVERPOOL — When Diana Keene launched her business, A Shade Different, in 1989, she didn’t think she would still be in business a quarter-century later. “I’m so excited that I am, and over the years I have loved it. It got me through raising my children and having fun with it,” says Keene. […]
LIVERPOOL — When Diana Keene launched her business, A Shade Different, in 1989, she didn’t think she would still be in business a quarter-century later.
“I’m so excited that I am, and over the years I have loved it. It got me through raising my children and having fun with it,” says Keene.
A Shade Different, a sole proprietorship, is a provider of custom window treatments for residential and commercial customers.
Residential customers generate about 60 percent of the company’s revenue, and sales to commercial clients account for the remaining 40 percent, says Judd Keene, Diana’s husband.
Judd Keene works with his wife as an independent contractor handling treatment installations, he says.
The Keenes spoke with CNYBJ at the Café at 407, located at 407 Tulip St. in Liverpool, on Feb. 11.
Diana Keene declined to disclose specific figures, but says her company’s revenue increased 35 percent in 2014 from the previous year.
Keene, who described 2014 as her company’s “best year ever” is also “hoping for even more” growth in 2015.
A Shade Different in 2014 expanded its product offerings to include custom draperies, roman shades, cornices, swags, valances, and cascades.
Help of a friend
Diana Keene got interested in work as a window-treatment dealer after her friend moved to Ohio, bought a new home, and had trouble finding someone who would help her in purchasing window treatments.
“So, she started doing [similar work] out there,” says Keene.
The friend called the work “fun” and encouraged Keene to get involved and served as a “guide” in recommending contacts for Keene as she got started.
Keene started the company looking for something “flexible” that would generate work for “part-time” hours.
As she learned more about the business, Keene says she “fell in love” with the concept.
“So I decided over the years, as my children grew, I’d put more time into it,” she says. “And it grew.”
The business
As an independent sole proprietor, Keene can sell treatments from any manufacturer.
She mostly offers products from a manufacturer called Graber, a brand of Middleton, Wisconsin–based Springs Window Fashions.
“If someone comes to me and wants something else, I certainly can [pursue that product line], she adds.
She also works with Rotterdam, Netherlands–based HunterDouglas, a manufacturer of window covering and architectural products.
The manufacturer offers the product at a specific price, says Keene.
“Graber has a retail price and then they offer me a discount on that, basically wholesale, and then I just add [a markup],” she says.
Graber offered a whole new line of overtreatments through its artisan series, which helped Keene generate more sales in 2014.
“It’s been … a hole in my business that I’ve not been able to … fill until now,” says Keene.
The new line provided more than 500 fabrics to choose from for sheers, draperies, pinch-pleat draperies, valances, and curtains.
Keene believes in customer service and doesn’t charge for the consultation.
“It’s me who goes out to their home,” she says. “I bring all the samples to the customer.”
When Keene has a first meeting with a customer, she asks a lot of questions to find out what the person is seeking.
“My favorite kind of customer is when they say, I have no idea. I need your help,” she says.
She comes to a customer’s home armed with samples and books and examines the windows.
“I listen to their needs first and then … customize the treatment to that,” she says.
Visibility
A Shade Different will participate in the Home Builders & Remodelers of Central New York’s Home and Garden Show, which is set for March 19-22 at the New York State Fairgrounds.
“Really hoping that [participation] will help us with more visibility,” she says.
She also plans to join the Home Builders & Remodelers’ organization and the Greater Liverpool Chamber of Commerce, she says.
Diana Keene graduated from New Hartford High School in 1977 and earned an associate degree in dental hygiene from Hudson Valley Community College in
1980.
Keene says she worked as a dental hygienist before launching A Shade Different in 1989, and remained in the field until she decided to devote more time to her business in 2005.