Glazier keeps tradition going at Lowell shop

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Paul Montemayer binds a floor mat for a 1950 Ford at his business, Lowell (Ind.) Glass & Trim Inc. | Photo provided~Sun-Times Media

Updated: February 15, 2012 8:00AM

“Nostalgia is not what it used to be.”

— Simone Signoret

Paul Montemayer never has needed stitches. Not bad for a glazier.

Montemayer, 46, owns Lowell Glass & Trim Inc., lives near North Newton High School and has a Morocco address. He has been married to Denise for 17 years; they have two sons, Paul, 15, and Patrick, 11.

Montemayer was sewing a seat for a race car when I entered his shop at 7 a.m.

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“I’m the youngest of seven children,” Montemayer began.

Paul, I recall your family living in Sumava Resorts. Memories?

“Rowing a boat to the bus stop after a flood when I was in third or fourth grade. I also remember Hettie Abbott’s Farmers Market. It wasn’t just a produce market. Hettie sold everything from live bait to Tonka trucks. At Christmastime, I still buy our food from Lukes’ Restaurant.”

How long has this place been here?

“This building has been a glass shop since the 1950s. My brother Tom worked here when he was in high school. It originally was called Lansing Glass.

“The business started out in Lansing, Ill. The owner had three storefronts. The big shop was in Hammond. This shop was their No. 2 shop, and they had another one in Valparaiso.

“A man by the name of Joe Martin worked for Lansing Glass and ended up buying them out in 1968; he changed the name to Lowell Glass. At one time, there were two glass shops in Lowell.”

When did you enter the scene?

“Joe wanted to retire; he got out of here in ’95. I bought the building in ’98 and reopened in April of ’99.”

You must have been in your mid-30s by then. What did you do before that?

“Throughout high school, I worked at my brother’s glass shop in Morocco. After high school, I worked at Hirata’s Lowell Body Shop for a couple years.

“From there, I went to Southlake Glass in Merrillville. Southlake closed, and that’s when I opened up here.”

Tell me what you do at Lowell Glass & Trim.

“Auto glass, auto interiors, residential and commercial glass, insurance replacements, convertible tops ... .”

You don’t get into new construction; it’s strictly replacement and repairs, right?

“Correct.”

Is trim work a major part of your business?

“Yeah, but upholstery work is becoming a dying trade. We had a guy in here last week who drove all the way from Boswell to get some camper seats done. Look in the phone books and see how many trim shops you find — not many.”

Why?

“Because nobody’s getting into it. It takes a lot of time; it’s not an easy job. It’s not like you can knock out a seat in an hour. It takes a good three or four hours to do a truck seat.”

You probably have clients who own classic cars.

“Oh, yeah. We did the interior of a car for a guy from Portage, and he took it down to the James Dean Festival in Fairmount and took first place. From there, he was invited to The World of Wheels in Chicago.”

Cool. What kind of car?

“A black ’40 Ford coupe with maroon interior. We did a tuck-and-roll — Naugahyde

Glass?

“We do a lot of house windows and body-shop work. Ed Snell, Clarence Harding and Kenny Hirata really gave me a lot of business when I opened. We do all the work for the city of Crown Point and the town of Dyer.”

Paul, I didn’t realize you did house windows. That means you work a lot in the field.

“We do a lot of Thermopanes and heavy-equipment glass. We take care of the landfill in Newton County.

“We have most of the patterns for the heavy equipment. Suppose someone calls us and says, ‘I need a windshield for a Cat 963.’ We’ll cut it here in the shop, then install it on site.”

Do you purchase your windows from one particular outfit?

“We get our windshields delivered once a day from a company called Pilkington out of South Bend. We get our car windows from PGW and our flat glass from North American; both of those are Chicago-based companies.”

What time of year is the busiest?

“From April until September.”

Employees?

“My wife does the bookkeeping, and I have one other guy who does estimates.”

This (Pontiac) Grand Prix you have in the shop — it’s more than just replacing the rear window.

“That one has power locks, remote start and a rear-window defogger. All those attachments are in glass; we have to plug them in.”

You must keep up on the latest vehicular technology.

“Thankfully, we’re in the computer age now. When I started, I had to look up all that stuff in manuals.

“Times are changing; the sealers we use cost us $10 per tube. You have to heat it up because all the cars have air bags in them.”

Customer education?

“People want to drive away with their cars the minute we install the windshield. We tell them they have to let the vehicle sit at least an hour. That’s how long it takes for that urethane to cure.

“The windshield is what keeps the air bags in on you. If an air bag deployed and the windshield wasn’t set up, it would send the windshield flying.”

Any other industry changes?

“When I opened, I could make a couple hundred bucks on a windshield. Now, by the time it’s all said and done, I’m lucky to make $100.”

Why?

“It’s gotten so competitive. When I opened here, in order for me to buy glass, I had to have a storefront and I had to have a phone number in the phone book.

“Now, you have all these guys working out of their vans and carrying cell phones. The glass shops will sell to pretty much anyone today.”

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Whether buying a car, lunch or a razor knife at the hardware store, Paul Montemayer tries to make those transactions in Lowell. He appreciates the body shops, car dealerships, heavy-equipment dealerships and Lowell residents who do business with him.

The town of Lowell might not have a blacksmith anymore, but it still has a glazier who upholsters the interiors of 1940 Ford coupes.