Glassworker Kevin Sands’ passion is crystal clear
Kevin Sands has the ideal commute to work every morning.
He simply walks out his front door and enters his glass shop a stone’s throw away.
That’s because his house and his business are on the same property at 4298 Union St. in North Chili.
Pleasant View Glass is not only Sands’ occupation, it is also his passion and his dream.
Sands, along with his wife of 19 years, Lisa, and his 14-year-old daughter, Brittany, own and operate Pleasant View as a full-service family business that specializes in glass installation and repair.
Lisa is the president of the company, responsible for scheduling, billing and office duties; Kevin is the chief estimator and works in the field on installations and repairs along with his two full-time employees and one part-timer; and Brittany helps with design work and office duties.
“It has been a great gig for the last 20 years,” Kevin Sands says. “I’ve got the greatest job in the world. I get to walk to it in the morning, and when I need to work on something on an off-day, I just walk out my front door.”
The Sandses operated Pleasant View out of a two-car garage for 13 years before deciding to move into the current location four years ago. The shop was built first, and the house followed a year later, built on the last piece of his great-grandparents’ farm.
“Everything is right here. It is convenient,” Sands says. “Customers enjoy that we are a family and they are receptive. Customers are looking for that homey environment.”
Sands has a deep history and appreciation of glass-making. His grandfather owned and operated one of the first glass shops in the city of Rochester, and his father started Pleasant View in 1982 as a part-time vocation.
“I was cutting glass before I could spell my name,” Sands says with a chuckle.
Some of the services that the business offers include auto glass replacement, home window repairs, custom-designed shower doors and installation of safety glass on heavy equipment.
Kevin and Lisa Sands say they’ve learned to separate the business from their personal lives, something that is key to a happy, productive relationship.
“We work very well together,” says Lisa Sands. “There are days that are pretty trying, but when we are open for business, it is business. Whatever happens is strictly business, it’s not personal.”
While the Sandses keep it strictly business at work, customers say they always receive and appreciate a personal touch.
“It is a family business,” says Kelley McManaman, an estimator at Cortese Auto Group, who has worked with the Sandses on automotive glass for the past four years. “I know them. I don’t get transferred to 100 different people to get things done.”
Dan Secklar, owner of Advantage Auto Body in Churchville, echoes those sentiments.
“They are very careful about what they do,” says Secklar, who has done business with Pleasant View for more than 10 years. “They stand behind their work. The quality of their business is excellent. They don’t have to come back and do it twice. It is done right the first time. They are very dependable.”
Kevin Sands believes in the personal approach, citing it as the primary reason for Pleasant View’s longevity and success.
“We’ve been really lucky,” he says.
WCLEVELAN@DemocratandChronicle.com
If you go
What: Pleasant View Glass.
Where: 4298 Union St., North Chili.
Phone: (585) 889-3753.
Web: www.pleasantviewglassinc.com.
