BY TIM HARTY

When David and Patty Deters decided to finally move their business out of their Grand Junction home and into an actual store, they knew they needed to do it.

The owners of Ambassador Blind N’ Shutter Inc. got by for about 18 years at home, but they couldn’t store all of their Hunter Douglas window coverings there any more. The garage was full. The back porch was full. The side porch was full. Blinds took up residence in the family room, the dining room, the backyard.

So, they found a unit they wanted at 1048 Independent Ave. in a commercial building at Independence Plaza, a next-door neighbor to Sam’s Club. They moved into Unit A-111 on Jan. 1, 2022.

Not only did that give them warehouse space to store blinds, it gave them space to set up a showroom, which they installed in April that year.

It was an exciting time. It also was an uncertain time.

“In the beginning, we had no idea if people were even going to come into the showroom,” Patty Deters said.

Customers quickly figured out where the store was, and Ambassador Blind N’ Shutter had one or two people checking out the showroom every day. It proved to be the right move, so much so that three years later they’re ready to double the size of the showroom.

When a next-door unit, A-112, was vacated by Community Hospital last fall, the Deters quickly called dibs on it. Their overall footprint increased 1,638 square feet from the previous 2,918 square feet. As a result, there’s more warehouse space, more office space, more room for desks and tables and more room to display blinds.

Now, Ambassador Blind N’ Shutter is just a few days away from the new showroom being installed – it’s scheduled to take place Feb. 20-24 – and it’s just in time.

Two businesses that used to sell blinds – Window-ology Inc. and Gallagher’s Flooring – recently stopped. Instead, they’re referring customers to Ambassador Blind N’ Shutter. Patty Deters said Ambassador has been seeing several more customers per day from those referrals.

Pat Smith, co-owner of Gallagher’s Flooring, said it was an easy call to send people to Ambassador. He said Gallagher’s Flooring emphasizes customer service, and he sees that same commitment to customers from Ambassador Blind N’ Shutter.

“I wanted to leave it in good hands, know that (customers) are going to be well taken care of,” Smith said. “I’ve always in our business focused on quality and service, and I felt like they were very much the same. It is very, very important to me to provide great service, and I felt like they did that for their customers as well.”

It’s not lost on the Deters that things have kind of fallen into their lap in recent years.

The business has grown, and the staff has grown with it. From going 12 years with no employees to hiring Charles Gonzalez as the first employee in 2016 – and he’s still there – to now having 13 employees, they needed more room for desks. They needed more space for tables to sit down with customers.

They knew they needed more room than their current store had, but they weren’t going to relocate. They had an alternate approach in mind, but then the unit next door became available.

“When (Community Hospital) said they were moving out, that was the answer,” Patty said, “because it gave us more warehouse space, and we could make the showroom bigger.”

Now, there’s a conference room with a large table. The showroom will have two more tables for sales staff and customers to meet, and Patty Deters said that’s important, “so that we could meet with more people and get our showroom person in the actual showroom, so she’s right there to greet you when you walk in.

“We’re starting to meet with more builders and designers and customers building homes. This gives us this new showroom, gives us these tables to sit down with them and go over their design with them … so this gives us the ability to reach more people.”

The showroom person, Judith Maynes, speaks Spanish in addition to English.

Now, Ambassador Blind N’ Shutter can take on more work.

The business has accrued five vans over the years, three install vans and two sales vans. Patty said they are about to buy a third sales van.

The business is taking on more expenses, but “we’ve been able to cover that and still grow,” she said. 

And that continued growth means there’s no talk of retirement for David and Patty. There’s a lot more work to do, and they have the room to do it.