According to Randy Rice, general manager of Atrium Patio Doors by Woodgrain, the acquisition was a smart business decision. The Atrium Companies are in the millwork business, but they manufacture window products from aluminum and vinyl, not wood. Atrium Doors was the only company within the Atrium Companies that used wood, and it didn't quite fit with what the parent company was trying to do. As a result, The Atrium Companies looked at selling this part of its company, explains Rice. "Looking at Woodgrain [as a prospective buyer], everything they do is wood. It's a perfect fit." 

Rice really appreciates Woodgrain's philosophies when it comes to business. "Their philosophies are so basic. They are in the business to grow and build and satisfy customers. Reed Dame [Woodgrain's CEO and president] has very basic priorities in managing his business. Number one is the customer; number two is the product. And that was the first thing that I heard the day they bought the company," says Rice. 

Atrium Patio Doors' employees 116 people in its' 100,000-square-foot facility located in Greenville, Texas. Larry Johnson, national sales manager, and Gary Reiber, manufacturing manager, join Rice in the management of Atrium Patio Doors. "Right now we have over 150 years of wood door manufacturing experience in our management team," says Rice. 

Currently, Atrium Patio Doors offers two lines of patio doors: the Design Series and the Professional Series. The Design Series is the company's top of the line product with multi-point hardware, solid brass hardware, clear door edges and jams, and clear veneer interior surface material. 

The Professional Series, is a high quality, builder grade product. This series offers fingerjoint door edges and jambs, is a paint-grade product and also has clear veneer interior surface material. It is sold without hardware to allow the consumer's choice. 

Within these two series, Atrium offers single swing doors, double French swing doors, four-panel French doors, and sliders in both aluminum exterior or all wood. "This allows the choice of a low maintenance product or one you can paint," says Rice. 

According to Rice, Atrium Patio Doors white clad swing door sells best. Rice said, "It's the markets that we sell in. In today's fast-paced world, consumers need time saving, quality products. The clad door fits those needs, it is very low maintenance; you never have to paint it. Basically, you have to wash it once a year." 

Atrium Patio Doors' wood doors are manufactured out of Radiata pine, which will allow them to obtain FSC [Forest Stewardship Council] certification. Conservation conscious manufacturers today must strive to be FSC certified. "Our goal is to be FSC certified by 2002," Rice states. Atrium Patio Doors uses wood supplied by its parent company, Woodgrain Millwork Inc. They are vertically integrated -- they own the forests; cut the trees, mill, kiln dry, fabricate, and they manufacture doors. Translated, this means they are in control of the quality and timeliness of their products.

Atrium Patio Doors uses a variety of different materials in its door products. For instance, the door stiles are made from laminated veneer lumber (LVL), which makes for a much more stable stile that does not bow or twist, and it's strong as iron, explains Rice. "The aluminum that we are using today is extruded, not roll formed. It has a 0.06 thickness on the panels, which is very durable. Doors take a lot of abuse in their life. We carry a high quality finish with a ten-year warranty on it. We use Cardinal glass-all LowE. Plus, our doors meet all the energy requirements for NFRC. All the doors are rated," states Rice. 

When asked about future products or changes the company will be implementing, Rice said, "We are extremely excited about a new entrance door system we will introduce at the NSDJA convention in Reno. Atrium Patio Doors is well known, and we want to be able to fill any exterior door opening, not just the back of the house. The new entrance door has a very elegant handle and brass kick plates. And it's mainly designed for that [individual] who doesn't want the steel door look--who wants the look of a beautiful wood door with the durability of steel or, in our case, low-maintenance, prefinished aluminum on the outside." 

An entry door system isn't the only product change Atrium Patio Doors is looking into. The company is working on a whole host of things ranging from aesthetic enhancements of small details to product improvements. "We are constantly striving to improve our products and offerings to meet or exceed the expectations of our customers," says Rice. 

"One of the best things about Atrium is we're a door company. That means our goal is to be the best door company there is. Our focus is direct, unlike a lot of manufacturers that are making doors today. They are making many products including windows. That means we are going to have the best product on the market for the best price," boasts Rice. 

When discussing the company's doors with distributors, several factors stand out. "Number one is name recognition. We are nationally known at the consumer level. Number two: When you look at the other options out there and at what we do [only doors], I believe we are one of the only [companies] that focuses on doors only. Number three: We offer a very competitively priced product with high performance. So you have the name, a great price and a quality product. Plus you've got a lot of history," says Rice. 

Atrium Patio Doors' goal is to do as much two-step distribution as possible. To help its two-step distributors sell the company's products, Atrium Patio Doors offers a complete marketing support program that includes a co-op program, catalogs, brochures, displays, sample radio ads and national advertising on both, the professional and consumer level, says Alex Mohr, corporate marketing manager for Woodgrain Millwork Inc. 

Atrium Patio Doors believes in maintaining a strong presence in the market and the NSDJA convention is a great tool to help accomplish that goal. "We are an associate member, and we've been a member of the NSDJA for over 20 years. The NSDJA brings us together with our customer base, as well gives us a chance to visit with potential customers and to display and feature new products," states Mohr. 

Whether applying new philosophies to business, improving current products, creating new products or cultivating distributor relationships, Atrium Patio Doors' outlook is positive. "I can say coming to work in the last year has been fun--tough--but extremely fun."