Roselle's Woodland Windows and Doors marks 50th year

Woodland Windows and Doors in Roselle celebrates its 50th anniversary this year.

Celebrating 50 years in business only happens when you focus on customer service like Woodland Windows and Doors. That's been their priority since the beginning.

"Our father, who founded Woodland in 1969, always said, if you take care of the customer, the customer will take care of you," said Ken Mariotti, owner.

There are no truer words, particularly in today's crazy world of choices, offers and competitors. In the end, for Woodland, it's about relationships, which are earned every day.

The family-owned business was founded by John and Ann Mariotti at Lake Street and Gary Avenue in 1969. They originally called it the Woodland Lumber Co. and it specialized in selling millwork and doors (as well as firewood and railroad ties to make ends meet).

Before long, builders began asking them for windows, too, and the "Little House with the Doors of Many Colors" became a popular source for windows and doors because they offered high quality installation. Their sons, Rano, Ralph and Ken, had helped with the business since they were boys, becoming official employees during the 1980s.

During the 1990s, the Mariottis expanded Woodland's product offerings to include many top-rated brands of windows and doors. Woodland had outgrown its original facilities, so a 14,000-square-foot building was constructed to house the growing company, with a 6,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art showroom, and John and Ann officially handed over the management of the company to their sons.

The next decade brought the creation of several separate Woodland divisions (residential replacement and new construction, multifamily/homeowners association, and commercial) to better serve the individual needs of its clients.

Today, Woodland provides new and replacement windows, skylights and doors to homeowners, contractors and commercial projects throughout the Chicago area. Woodland offers many of the best and most well-known brands in the industry including Marvin, Andersen, Pella, Quaker, Wojan and Parrett windows; Velux skylights; and Marvin, Andersen, ProVia, ThermaTru, Pella, Jeldwen, Karona, Simpson, TruStile and Waudena doors.

With the internet, customers have greater access to choices for their windows and doors, so more than ever the company needed to re-create Woodland into a company you can trust on the web. They created scalable systems to grow and maintain the excellent repeatable experience for which Woodland is known.

To meet today's customer's expectation of a seamless experience, they automated their entire back office, created a repository of product and project information on the website, and outfitted its sales and installation teams with tablets for connected access to estimating tools, project photos and customer data using high-tech software.

Woodland is speeding up customer response times, automating estimating, streamlining order processing, shortening scheduling and installation times, sharing sales literature electronically and relying on the web to meet increasing customer expectations and maintain its reputation as a customer-focused company.

"We don't have a 'one-size fits all' replacement window and door," said Ken Mariotti. "Our customers choose from a wide variety of products to suit their exact requirements and our sales team members are 'solutions experts,' focused on recommending the best option for your project. Unlike other companies, we don't pedal 'the deal of the day.'

"Our mission is to serve our customers with professionalism and integrity, from the beginning to the end of their project, using the experience and knowledge acquired since we started in 1969 in the millwork and installation industry," he continued.

"We have a knowledgeable sales staff and a friendly crew of 20 full-time installers, and we never work with subcontractors. So, rest assured that no matter what phase your project is in, you're working with the trusted employees of Woodland Windows & Doors," Mariotti said.

For more information about Woodland Windows and Doors, visit www.woodlandwindows.com, call (630) 883-4733 or visit the showroom at 25W355 E. Lake St., Roselle.

Woodland open house and ‘ugly door’ contest

• Woodland Windows and Doors is teaming with the Daily Herald to find the worst front door in the suburbs. Details on Page 2.