WHITBY FREE PRESS, THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 1973, PAGE 7 Don Brodoy'sonorgy to propel National Drapery's boom across Canada Brodey - "business has been en/arged by personal service and an outstanding product. eQ E Swimming time at Garden Pools, Whitby YOUR NEW LOCAL POOL CENTRE "AQUA-PLEASURE" POOLS BY CONVERTIBLE INGROUND VINYL LINERF POOL ABOVE GROUND POOLS CONCRETEPOOLS SPRING SPECIAL - 16' 32' INGROUND VINYL LINER POOL ALL JACUZZI EQUIP. KIT ON LY - $1625.00 COMPLETELY INSTALLED ON A DELUX HARD BOTTOM $3223.00 (DIFFICULT ACCESS MAY REQUIRE A SMALL ADDI- TIONAL CHARGE) BANK FINANCE AVAILABLE OUR NEW DISPLAY CENTRE WILL BE OPEN SOON IN WHITBY CA LL -- 655-3431 Courtesy of "Furniture and Furnishings', Ronald l. Shuker, Editor. QOn entering the offices at 9 Milvan Drive, Weston, we found ourselves swept up by some mysterious energy field. It takes little time to discover the source of this energy. The precipitator is National Drapery's president, Donald Brodey, a man who thrives on action and so his business thrives. The door to his office is left open to accommodate the continuous stream of people who file in and out, the telephone rings insistently and over and over his name is paged on the intercom. But he by no means sits in his office waiting for the day-to-day business to fall in his lap like manna from heaven. In fact, he spends most ôf his time whizzing between the contract department, the showroom, the manufacturing area and the radio dis- patch room where he checks on the status of each order on the company-designed board. National Drapery, formed in 1966, is a custom drapery manufacturer which Don Brodey says he has "enlarged by personal service and an outstanding product". The key to his success is honest advertising, he claims, plus unexcelled values. The company's advertising consists of full page ads in daily and ethnic newspapers, supported by TV and radio coverage, in which he is is the principal speaker. Seven day delivery is promised on ail custom made drapes. The modern facilities provide com- fortable working conditions for 250 em- ployees who, Mr. Brodey points out, are ail highly specialized personnel. The machinery is the "most modern available to the industry," he says, and the offices are completely carpeted and the plant is air conditioned throughout. The showroom offers a wide range of draperies hung along .the walls, on the windows and on racks. A room off the main showroom features vignettes with brightly correlated drapes, wallpaper, fab- rics and accessories. The most popular draperies, Mr. Brodey finds, are sheers, dralons and antique satins of which an ample supply are displayed in the show- room. The quick delivery promised is made possible by a computer-type board, de- signed by the company, which shows the position of each order in the manu- facturing process and a radio dispatch system. National Drapery was recently acquired as a subsidiary of Gold Crest Products Ltd., opening the furniture market across the continent to their products, Mr. Brodey says. National Drapery is presently negotiating in the mid and far-west and is looking for talented sales personnel. When asked about the benefits each will bring the other, Ted Richmond, president of Gold Crest, told F&F they plan to provide ample financing tfor the new subsidiary for its expansion progranm across CÃnada. National Drapery, one of the largest manufacturers of custom made drapes on thec North American continent according to Mr. Richmond, can offer individual dealers with Gold Crest fran- chises a "toa look" program by cor- relating upholstery fabrics with drapes. Vignettes correlate draperies with fur- niture groupings. About one-third of National Drapery's business is in the contract field. Projects recently completed include the Hyatt Regency Hotel, Howard Johnson Motor Hotel in Toronto, Holiday Inns in Toronto, Ottawa, and Lethbridge, Etobi- coke General Hospital, University of Guelph, London University Hospital, Trans-America Building and other hospitals and institutions 'in Kitchener, Kingston, London, Guelph and across Canada. According to Mr. Brodey, the fabrics include exclusive designs purchased from miîls and designs of their own. He has found that many designers choose com- paratively expensive designs which are "unreal" because of the exorbitant cost or slow delivery. National Drapery has Canadian mills reproduce these fabrics in their entirety at a substantial saving to all concerned, he says. Designs have been chosen from Europe and the U.S. National Drapery has recently com- pleted a contract for York University, installing drapes in an 18-storey building. The contract was time budgeted for 3-4 days and Mr. Brodey says the track was installed in 17 floors in one day, with a task force of seven people. The Hyatt Regency. contract was completed in re- cord time, he adds, based on a large available staff. He employs a crew of installers who operate out of 26 "shops- on-wheels". "The key to a good contract depart- ment", Mr. Brodey affirms, "is know- ledgeable personnel who have the proper tools to work with." National Drapery worked recently with architects and designers on a new fabric introduced at the National Interior Design Show. The fabric, a light- reflective polyester, allows people to see out but not in. The sunscreen-type fabric is especially fitting for application in glass wall buildings where heat transference is a problem. The fabric allows cool rooms on hot days and promotes warm rooms on cold days by a reflective backing which guards against heat loss. It is available in the latest up-to-date shadings. The fabric is presently in use in Europe but has "not found a home in North America", Mr. Brodey says. The company plans to market the fabric in Canada and the U.S. A successful company attributed to honest advertising, unexcelled values, quick delivery, specialized personnel and certainly, we feel, to the man who keeps his finger on the pulse of his business. Energy? National Drapery's president fairly exudes it! * Buyers choose from a wide range of drapefles, displayed in a well-lighted showroom,