Meet the Waltons: Northwood’s Family Roots
Northwood Windows and Doors is a North Bay business that has active roots in the community. Before purchasing the business back in 1998, Ray and Wendy Walton were involved in contracting and other building-related trades. This background gave them an excellent foundation to service builders, contractors and homeowners with quality window and door products.
A little over a decade after purchasing Northwood, Ray and Wendy handed the day-to-day operation of the business over to their sons, Andrew and Adam, in 2010. Andrew is the owner and the sales manager, while Adam heads up project management and service. Clients will be most familiar with Andrew, as he goes out to do most of the initial estimates.
Andrew has a small business diploma from Canadore College, which prepared him well for his current role. Andrew’s wife, Cassandra, does bookkeeping and marketing for Northwood and Adam and Andrew’s uncle, Dan Rowan, is the service technician. And of course, it isn’t just a family show – there’s a great team of employees behind each installation and interaction at Northwood Windows and Doors.
Northwood’s charitable and community work
Northwood has sponsored many community events and sports teams over the years, including the Ride for Dad and curling teams. Any time someone comes in asking for a team sponsorship for a sports activity, they usually do it. Northwood has also done and will continue to do work for local churches who need new windows and doors at cost, making it possible for the churches to replace old, leaking windows where they may not have been able to afford it otherwise. This isn’t work that Northwood brags about, but just something they do to help out the North Bay community when it comes up.
Benefits of dealing with a local family business
Buying local has real economic effects on a community. A Civil Economics study conducted in Grand Rapids, Michigan revealed that for every $100 spent at a local business, around $68 stays in the local economy. If you spend that $100 at a large, multi-chain business, the community only keeps $43 of your money. The only other choices for windows and doors in North Bay are large chain stores, where you definitely won’t get the same level of expertise as you will at Northwood – plus more money stays in your community, feeds local families, and encourages growth of a small local business.
Northwood also respects the need to balance quality and affordability, and will sell you the window and door solutions that are right for your budget and needs, not the ones that they will make the most money on.
The Waltons hope you’ll continue to make Northwood Windows and Doors your first stop for your windows and doors, and hope to continue to serve you and the North Bay community for a few generations to come.