Albuquerque-based Dreamstyle Remodeling, a construction business that’s grown during the construction slump, is expanding into Idaho after being awarded the franchise to sell and install Renewal by Andersen products there.
“Boise will be a great market for us,” said company President and CEO Larry Chavez. “It’s a little bigger than Albuquerque. It’s a state capital. It has five Fortune 500 companies and some very large hospital systems.”
Awarded the New Mexico franchise from Cottage Grove, Minn.-based Andersen Corp in 2007, Dreamstyle has since added exclusive Andersen territories in Tucson and northern Arizona, San Diego County in June 2014 and now Boise and all of Idaho.
Add up all of its other lines of business — Renewal by Andersen is its biggest — Dreamstyle is expected to gross more than $75 million this year, the company said in a news release.
Andersen corporate headquarters did not respond to a Journal request for comment on why it has repeatedly awarded Dreamstyle expansion of its franchise territories.
From his perspective, Chavez said the foremost factor was customer satisfaction, as measured in post-installation surveys, followed closely by volume of business. Another factor is likely taking the lead in pursuing strategies to boost business, he said.
“Andersen’s network of franchises has a culture of trading best practices,” Chavez said. “We have learned a lot from successful affiliates from Boston to Houston and Denver and we’ve made our own significant contributions.”
As an example, six years ago at Andersen’s annual meeting, Chavez said he gave a presentation on offering homeowner financing to customers through third-party lenders. At the time, financing wasn’t in widespread use but has since become the network standard.
“It’s been very beneficial to the entire network,” he said.
Another factor in Dreamstyle’s success at expanding is the quality of its employees, he said. Kellie Linfoot is the top finance manager in the network, he said, while Morgan Edelman has been recognized as the network’s top call center manager.
Each expansion translates to five to 10 more jobs in Albuquerque, where the company maintains its back-office operations like customers support and human resources, Chavez said.
