The WindowCovering Advisor

Manufacturer,Fabricator, Retailer??

So, here I am going to explain the structure of the window covering industry. Simplified,  basically it a big chain of links...........

The MANUFACTURER is a real maker of the components or whole blinds. They are the likes of Hunter Douglas, Graber or Levelor. Big players. (hint: I used to work for one of them)

The FABRICATOR assemble the components (from the manufacturer) into whole blinds and sells them to the retailer. The warranty is generally from the fabricator. Some manufacturers are also fabricators, like hunter Douglas. (My opinion, use these fabricators if possible)

DISTRIBUTOR do not make any products, they merely distribute the products to different retailers. They are no value at all to the food chain. Levelor is one of the few major manufacturers that uses distributors, very archaic and inefficient system.

RETAILERS buy from fabricators and sell directly to the consumers.

The RULES

Fabricators and manufacturers will sell only to the trade, i.e. they will not sell directly to the consumers.
There is usually a fixed list price for all blinds and window covering products from the manufacturer. These are usually in a grid format. (see attached EXAMPLE Hunter Douglas Price Grid). This list price grid is standard for ALL Retailers.

Retailers are given discounts of these price grids. The more the sales the retailer makes the deeper the discounts. This discount is known as retailer multiplier's and ranges from 0.125 - 0.5.

The retailer uses his profit margin anywhere from 1.25 to 2.0. (i.e.  retailers profit margin is 25% to 100%). So for each product the retail price is:
List price * Retailer multiplier* Retailer profit margin

I have seen the price increase from 50% to 400% before the blind gets to the customer, buy the time all the link get a cut of the profit. 

So how is this going to help you??

Well! I am afraid it doesn't....... There is not much you can do the break the chain and go direct. The system has been in place too long and all the hole have been plugged. There are some net retailers however that will tell you actually what their profit is per blind if you ask them. These are a new breed of entrepreneurs, they relish in teaching their consumers the facts. I will shortly be adding my favorites internet websites to this website.