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| industry profile
From
A to Z
Croci North America develops and produces the hurricane protection products
its customers need and want.
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HP: Please give a detailed description
of your company and its history.
Gil Morzaniga, CEO: Croci North America (formerly American
Shutter Products) is part of the Global Croci International Group with manufacturing
facilities on four continents.
The company started in 1995, we are today 22 employees, we have a 23,000-square-foot
plant and are in the process of building a new 52,000-square-foot plant
in Fort Myers, FL.
HP: What hurricane protection products did you handle initially?
What products do you handle today?
Morzaniga: We started with roll-up shutters
and a few months ago started producing accordions shutters. We are planning
to increase our range of products even more as soon as we will have our
new facility ready, which is expected to be the end 2005.
HP: Give a percentage breakdown of these
products. What one product or line stands out above the rest?
Morzaniga: Roll-up shutters are still
95 percent of our revenue, but we do sell bulk material (components) and
knock-down (pre-assembled) and finished products, too.
We sell 100 percent wholesale—no retail at all—so we do not compete
with our customers, unlike many of our competitors who sell retail, too.
HP: What is your approximate sales volume?
What was it after your first year in business?
Morzaniga: We have more than tripled
our sales volume in the last three years since I took over in September
2001. I arrived here from France on September 9, 2001, just two days before
September 11, so it has been a great challenge for me.
This year is going to be our best year ever in sales and profit. This has
nothing to do with the hurricanes this summer, as we were already 69 percent
up in sales at the end of June compared to the first six months of last
year.
HP: Is your business computerized? Do you
have a company Web site, and how is it used to communicate with customers?
Morzaniga: We are fully computerized.
We have a Web site, www.croci.com and e-mails can be sent to info@croci.com.
We are linked to the head office in Italy by computer and can receive orders
by fax and e-mail.
HP: Who are your customers? What parts of
the country do you service?
Morzaniga: Our customers are manufactures,
contractors, builders and installers nationwide from Florida to Texas, Arizona
and California.
Three years ago Florida was 85 percent of our sales. Today it is less than
50 percent. We sell overseas, too: Canada, South America and Caribbean islands,
and these markets are growing very rapidly for us.
HP: How many salespeople do you employ?
Morzaniga: Brian Tolson is our only
sales rep. He has more than 10 years experience in our industry and is very
customer oriented.
HP: How has your segment of the industry changed
since you first began?
Morzaniga: High quality products, quick
service, best high-density foam-filled slat and quite extruded slat in the
market.
HP: Where do you see yourself and
your company five years from now? Are there additional areas within the
industry that you would like to get involved in?
Morzaniga: Croci North America is definitely
the leader in the roll-up industry. We are No. 1 in volume of slats sold
for high-density foam-filled products and are growing quickly in extruded
profiles as well.
We find our competition is following us and tries to offer products similar
to what we have as far as foam-filled products are concerned, but Croci
started manufacturing shutters in the 1960s, more than 20 years before one
of our competitors in Texas, so we can definitely say we know what we are
doing.
We will double our sales in the next three years again and will add new
hurricane protection products and sun and shade products. We still have
a tremendous sales potential because of the service and the quality of our
products.
HP: What best describes your niche in the
marketplace?
Morzaniga: Service, quality and customer
service. When a customer starts doing business with us, he does not switch
from one supplier to another any longer.
HP: What are some of the key factors involved
in your growth and success?
Morzaniga: Since I took over in September
2001 (I was in charge of the export department for Croci Italy for seven
years for the Middle East and Asian markets), we have showed the market
that we have a strategy and that we are a big player in the market.
We are part of a big group based in Italy and have a great knowledge of
the U.S. market and the products available in our industry. We have a Research
& Development department that develops new products, and my knowledge
(15 years experience in this field) of the U.S. and European markets make
us stronger locally. We know how to answer to our customers needs.
HP: What are your strengths in the marketplace?
Morzaniga: Being consistent in quality
and service, offering new products on a regular basis, following the evolution
of the codes, being a manufacturer and not exclusively an importer like
many of our competitors.
HP: What advice would you give to other
hurricane protection professionals?
Morzaniga: Hurricane protection products
are expensive because of the new codes. Advise your customers to start with
a safe room (shutters only in one room) first, then they will come to you
for more as they will understand that roll-ups are not only good for hurricanes
(why do we have such a big market in Canada?) but also for security, heat
and cold insulation, energy saving, sun shade protection.
The Florida “snowbirds” are bringing our products back home to
the Northeast because they realize that shutters are good for them too there.
HP: What trends and cycles do you see occurring
in the industry? How is your business addressing them?
Morzaniga: We have experienced regular
growth since 2001. Everybody told us that the best years were 1999 and 2000.
The market is going to grow even more after this terrible 2004 hurricane
season. Be loyal to your customers, offer them what they need not what you
want to sell them, continue developing new products that will be more resistant
to hurricanes and not necessarily heavier (and so more expensive).
HP: What distinguishes you from the competition?
Morzaniga: We manufacture our own slats
and so can control the quality from A to Z. We are consistent on the color
from the end caps to the hoods and the slats, once again because we manufacture
and powder coat all our products.
We believe that there is more to do in the shutter industry to let the homeowner
know about our products, and I am sure that we will have at least 20 percent
more new products in three years. This market is changing quickly and we
have to move with it. Our growth hasbeen so big because we do not try to
convince the customer to buy what we have, we try to sell him what he needs!
Some of our competitors think they are alone here. I have read in your magazine
people saying things like, “We are the only company in the U.S. manufacturing
slats locally.” I would tell them, “Sorry guys, we started manufacturing
before you here in the United States, and we will still be here when you
are gone.”
We are not so interested in what is happening in Germany or the rest of
Europe, we are interested in the local market, the U.S. market, and we are
creating what is good for us. We have to follow our local codes and so have
to create new products for our market. This is what distinguishes us from
our competitors.
Croci North America
6360 Topaz Ct.
Fort Myers, FL 33 912 U.S.A.
(239) 278-3066
(800) 951-1195
fax : (239) 278-5977
www.croci.com |
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