In this month’s edition of “Catching up with our Customers” we interview Monty Brinson, Estimator and Project Manager at Charleston Glass Company. Charleston Glass was established in 1963 by Harold Morgan and is now run by his children, Randy Morgan who operates the commercial side, and Brenda Metts who operates the residential side and shower door department, and their families. Not only is the company still family owned and operated, but according to Monty, when you work there, you are considered family as well, which is why so many employees have been there for decades. Charleston Glass services include interior and exterior glass work and caulking for homes, hotels, storefronts and more. A few projects Monty is excited about are the Greek Hellenic Church in the city of Charleston, and the new Fire Station 11, which is being built on the Charleston 9 Memorial land where nine brave firefighters tragically lost their lives battling a furniture store fire in 2007. Read more about this special project, and more about Charleston Glass in the full Q&A interview below.

Full Q&A with Monty Brinson of Charleston Glass

• What projects are you most excited about right now and why?
  • “One of the jobs we are excited about is Fire Station 11 in Charleston, which is built on the land where The Charleston 9 Memorial is. It’s a special project. We are also excited about The Greek Hellenic Church in the City of Charleston and the Daniel Island Recreation Center. For each of these projects, we are installing heavy duty hurricane rated impact glass.”
• Any favorite previous projects that come to mind involving New South? If so, tell us about them.
  • “The complete wet sealing of the Charleston Marriott hotel was a great project. Every piece of glass in that building had to be wet sealed, so that was a big job. Another one is the East Central Lofts. The building was only three years old but it had hundreds of leaks, so we took out all the glass, replaced it, and redid openings with the Pecora 895 we get from New South. And lastly, we worked on the South Carolina Federal Credit Union which called for glass installation and wet sealing as well. For each one of these projects, there were roughly 800-1,000 pieces of glass and we are happy to say, there have been no more leaks.”
• What should others know about NSCS that they may not know?
  • “I’m old-fashioned like Jim Sobeck, and that is why I’ve dealt with New South, they treat you like a friend and not just another customer. Bailey Williams is the best sales rep I’ve ever had; he is such a great guy, they keep their warehouse full of the material I need, and I am very loyal to New South because of my friendship with Bailey.”
• What do you buy the most from NSCS? Any branch and NSCS associate you work with the most?
  • “95% of what we buy from New South is Pecora 895 silicone, and the other 5% is caulking guns. Bailey Williams is who we work with the most. We’ve worked with him for about 11 years. He’s become a great friend of ours. He even comes to family events, including birthday parties for my children. We always have a great time together.”
• Tell us about Charleston Glass, its history as a company, and the main services offered.
  • “Charleston Glass started in 1963 by Randy’s father, Mr. Harold Morgan. It is still a family owned and operated company. Randy Morgan operates the commercial side, while his sister Brenda Metts, works on the residential side and is also in charge of the shower door department. She has two of the best showeer door installers in Charleston. They both started working here in high school. And now both of their families work here as well.”
  • “We do interior and exterior window installations, weatherproofing, maintenance, and caulking for residential and commercial clients. We install windows, mirrors, regular shower doors, and frameless shower doors in residential homes which is about 30% of the business and the other 70% is commercial jobs like storefronts, hotels, and banks for example. Everything in Charleston has to be hurricane proof, so some of the exterior windows can be expensive and weigh anywhere from 50-500 pounds.”
  • “During the recession, we focused on repair work since we knew people weren’t in the market for new windows. We started wet sealing and caulking the windows shut, which saved money and stopped the leaks. Now we do all of the repair work for management crews of office buildings around Charleston, and have five caulkers full time on the team.”
• What areas does your company mainly serve?
  • “We work mostly in the Lowcountry Charleston area, where 95% of our work is. But sometimes we have jobs in Savannah, and Columbia as well.”
• How are you different from your competition?
  • “We are a family-owned and local company that has been around for a long time. We do absolutely no advertising. We are all word of mouth and we have a trusted reputation and have built great rapport with our customers.”
• How many employees do you have right now?
  • “We have 35-40 full time employees as well as a few sub-crews that are used every so often.”
• Optional: What else did we leave out or would you like for businesses to know?
  • “It’s a family affair and everyone is treated like family. Randy and I grew up and went to high school together, and I’ve been at Charleston Glass about 30 years. It makes a difference and is why we stay busy, have a good reputation and why we don’t have marketing. We stay as busy as we need to be and we do a good job. When working with New South on the caulking products, we can ensure our frames are not leaking. A glass company’s number one fear is leaking, so we feel good about it.”
• What is the easiest way to get in touch with you or if someone wants to learn more about your business?
  • “Our phone number is (843)-747-7371 and our address is 4231 Spruill Ave., North Charleston, SC, 29405. They can email me, Monty Brinson (Estimator/Project Manager), at montybrinson11@gmail.com or call me at (843)-224-8249.”