Decorative Displays

There’s no doubt that decorative architectural glass is a hot item with architects and designers, especially when it comes to interiors. It seems like when people think about glass the first thing that comes to mind is a window, but in reality, the possibilities are endless.

With that said, a good crowd of folks headed to Chicago earlier this week to search out the latest interior design innovations—including glass—at NeoCon® World’s Trade Fair. More than 1,200 showrooms and exhibitors offered the latest and greatest for all types of interiors: corporate hospitality, health care, retail, government, institutional and residential.


I did just a quick scan of the exhibitor list (available here http://www.neocon.com/exhibitor_listing.asp) and saw that companies like 3Form, Arch Deco Glass, Dorma Glas, Skyline Design, Meltdown Glass and Joel Berman Glass Studios, just to name a few, were there. Brian Pitman from the Glass Association of North America sent me this picture he took at NeoCon in the 3Form booth. The company uses a variety of materials, including glass, to create architectural elements for use in applications such as walls, partitions, back splashes, doors, windows and many others.


Speaking of hot topics, NeoCon had information on a lot more than just glass. I took a peek at the seminar schedule and saw that on the first day alone nearly 30 percent of the presentations were titled to have a direct focus on green, energy, sustainability … if there are people out there who still don’t think green is here to stay, they are wrong. The world is changing and as individuals and as an industry it’s truly something we must embrace.


On a side note, if decorative glass is your game you will be excited to know that we’ll soon have a new publication designed specifically for you. Decorative Glass magazine will premier as part of the August USGlass magazine; the second issue will be published in November. I am really excited that we will be able to bring you this great new publication that will cater to innovations, trends, styles and needs that are unique to the decorative glazing industry. More info will be posted here as it becomes available! In the meantime, if you’ve got pictures, projects or story ideas that relate to decorative glass please send them my way.

Good-Bye Mr. Yenny

There’s a very small glass shop located not far from my house that I drive past everyday. Yenny’s Glass is anything but bustling; in fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone go in or out. I’d gone by there once, but it was closed. In fact, it was closed for business a lot.
Today as I drove past it I saw auction signs all around it, saying the building and all of its contents will be auctioned off.

I got home and started thinking how much I regretted never getting back over to that store. Wanting to try and find out a bit more, I Googled it and found that Heiny Yenny, who had owned the store, died a few months ago. I never knew Mr. Yenny, but I felt sad and remorseful that I never made it back to his store when it was open.

I read his obituary and it said he was born in Biel, Switzerland on March 24, 1926. The glass shop he owned was founded by his father, and according to a company profile I found online Heiny Yenny was currently its only employee. As you might imagine, with such a small business there was not a lot of information available about it online. There was no website, but I did find it in an area business guide that said in addition to glass it sold paint and wallpaper.

I wanted to find out a bit more about Mr. Yenny and his work with glass. I read the guestbook on his obituary page and saw that several people had fond memories of him, thanks to his glass work.

One person wrote, “…We have some lovely glass pieces to remember him by.” Another said, “We have mirrors all over our house to remind us.” Another talked about having shared a hospital room with Mr. Yenny who had tried to show him how easy it was to cut glass.

There are glass shops, small and large, everywhere. Sometimes, though, they go unnoticed--especially the tiny ones. When I told my husband that Mr. Yenny, owner of Yenny’s Glass, had died, he had no idea there was even a glass shop in town. Made me wonder, what if Yenny's Glass had been consolidated as part of one of the big chains? It certainly happens often enough.

Earlier this week on the USGlass message forum (visit http://www.usgnn.com/ and click the Forum link) Paul Bieber wrote the following:
“We all know the independent auto glass shop is in steep decline. The nation-wide chains have been gobbling them up for years, forming national installation chains. Will this happen to flat glass, too? Will there be a consolidation of glaziers and glass shops? Would you join such a consolidation if the payment for your shop was adequate?”

It’s an interesting discussion topic and one on which your opinion is important. Let us know what you think.