YKK AP to Open Houston Branch in April

YKK AP America Inc. in Austell, Ga., plans to open a new branch in Houston to serve its commercial building industry customers in south Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi.

The new branch, the company's ninth, is expected to open by April 2008 and will ultimately have 15 to 20 employees involved in sales, estimating, customer service, production and warehousing functions. The company is evaluating several sites in Houston's northwestern suburbs.

YKK AP's commercial products group sells aluminum glazing systems used in the exterior envelope of office buildings, schools, apartments and condominiums, stores and other buildings. Branches are supplied from YKK AP's Dublin, Ga., manufacturing facility, which is being doubled in size and capacity. The Dublin plant's third extrusion press and second paint line should be operational when the Houston branch opens.

"With vertical integration of sales and support services, the Houston branch will provide local access and service to architects, glaziers and developers in South Texas and the Gulf Coast," says Oliver Stepe, senior vice president. "We look forward to introducing this region toYKK AP ProTek™, our highly successful line of hurricane impact-resistant products."

According to Stepe, the Texas market for nonresidential construction is one of the largest in the United States."We currently have a branch in Dallas but found that in order to increase our ability to serve the state and increase our revenue in the region, we would need to establish a location in the southern part of the state, namely Houston. Secondly, based on our market research, both customers and non-customers wanted us to open a location in the area. Further, the state of Texas is an emerging market for impact-resistant products and we will use Houston as a platform to launch our highly successful ProTek product line in to the coastal areas of Texas and also New Orleans and the Gulf Coast."

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