The Springdale plant and an Evendale operation will be merged in Sharonville. For Champion, the ride has been more than being in the right place at the right time although there has been plenty of that, too. Champion is riding the crest of a baby boomer wave that pushed owner-occupied housing rates from 68 percent in 1970 to 75 percent by 1990, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That wave brought the nation a record-setting 1.6 million new housing units last year. Wis. New construction drives remodeling because when people build a dream house, they sell their old home, and people who buy that existing property tend to remodel, update and change features.
Champion builds replacement windows from scratch.
But rather than making windows from wood, it became a trendsetter in the 1970s when it was one of the few companies to use vinyl for framing. It is a maintenance question, said Bernard Barbash, president of Champion Windows. With wood, you are constantly painting and puttying and everything else. With vinyl, you put it in and forget it. Baby boomers want to enjoy their free time more.