Today, Siemers Glass has expanded into a business that goes beyond automobile glass, also specializing in residential and commercial glass services, and Siemers’ granddaughter Jane Weinzapfel is the third generation to operate the company.
The Evansville location has moved to Walnut Street, and the company also has grown to include three additional locations: Princeton, which opened in 1990; Mount Vernon, which opened in 2002; and Jasper, which opened in 2006.
The multiple services and multiple locations have helped the business as it has continued to succeed over the years, Jane Weinzapfel said.
“We have grown to four locations to be able to service a broader area,” said Weinzapfel, whose husband, Mark, started working at Siemers Glass in 1981 as an installer; he now operates the company alongside her, serving as the president of the company and managing the four locations.
“Over the years, we have added residential and commercial glass replacement. We now install awnings, shower doors and custom mirrors. We offer same-day replacement of insulated units for your home,” Jane Weinzapfel said.
And while the company is celebrating 70 years in 2013, it hasn’t neglected current technology.
“We are the only shop in this area that manufactures our own insulated units,” Jane Weinzapfel said. “We have recently added a glass-edging machine that can polish any shape of glass, and we have a new machine that can drill holes in mirrors and tabletops.”
Automobile glass itself has seen many changes in the past several decades as well.
“Over the years, windshields have become more of a safety feature,” Mark Weinzapfel said. “Back when I started, the windshield just held the rearview mirror on.”
Now, he says, safety is at the forefront of automobile glass, with windshields serving as a buffer for air bags. Installers now have to be certified as well, and the urethane adhesives Siemers Glass uses are approved by the federal motor vehicle safety board.
In addition, Mark Weinzapfel said, there are a wide range of features windshields can have, including GPS displays and “heads-up” displays — all of which have greatly increased the number of possibilities for windshield glass and all of which have to be taken into consideration when a windshield needs to be replaced.
Jane Weinzapfel said that — just like keeping up with changes in the industry — keeping the business in the family has been a natural evolution, with each generation interested in continuing the tradition. She took over for Jack and Kate Siemers, who were actively involved in the business until Jack’s death in 2008; Kate Siemers remains involved, Jane Weinzapfel said.
And now, the legacy is continuing. Jane and Mark’s son Mac recently graduated and is working with the business — the fourth generation to be involved since John Siemers took a chance on a conversation he overheard in 1943.
