Keder Screens was born out of frustration. Justin Collins, the founder, had an awning fabrication and installation company called AwnPro that he started in 2001. He felt that he was wasting too much time and energy servicing outdoor screens due to the weaknesses in the product. From fabric tearing at the corners near the weight bars to screens popping out of their channels and being too flimsy to withstand real-world use, the challenges were endless. He thought that there had to be a better way.
Turns out there is, and he invented it. It took about three years to develop it, but his V-Screen Retention System is designed to address all those issues and more in a high-performance outdoor shade system.
Former CEO of Screen Innovations Kim Parker was impressed enough by the product to make an investment in the company, and then formally joined Keder Screens as a business development partner in January with the goal of helping it grow its channel beyond the Dallas-Fort Worth market and expand it to the entire United States. Parker sees that expansion happening through custom installation dealers.
Here, Parker discusses what the product is, what it can do, and what dealers need to know to get started working with Keder Screens.
RESI: Why is this product a good fit for the custom installation industry?
KIM PARKER: I’ve been in the custom integration channel for 30 years, and I’ve been everything from a secretary all the way to owning my own installation company and then working for multiple manufacturers over the years. My expertise in the CEDIA channel is why we’re focusing on it. There’s a huge gap in these product offerings that are offered to CEDIA, and even fewer companies in this particular category that know how to deal with the channel.
Of course, we’ve got a great product that the dealers love, but they need to get good training and understand the obstacles, the opportunities, and why this product is going to help them build a business rather than create another service model for something else that they’re installing.
It’s definitely targeted at luxury homes, say $750,000 and up. Those people want something that’s going to last. They want something that’s going to last 10, 15, 20 years, and that’s our product.
In your opinion, what is it that sets your offerings apart from the competition?
The primary difference is that most other shade companies require you to roll the shade up at 30-40 mph winds, and we want our shade to be down. Even at 100 mph winds, you can keep that shade down. Once you get over 100 mph winds, you’ve got more to worry about than a shade on your home. A lot of these houses are second homes, and clients don’t want to have to worry about whether they left it open or not. So, they can just leave it down.
We have fabrics that are made from a company called Twitchel that have Kevlar woven through them. Twitchel has two different fabrics, OmegaTex and StormShield, and both of them are fantastic materials. You would get those if you’re worried about something hitting and penetrating the screen, but all the other shade fabrics we use are still very strong for just wind abatement.
Also setting Keder Screen apart is that we have a patent on the design of the frame that specifically covers the way the weight bar is mounted in the track. The biggest issue that Justin found was that weight bars, once they come out of the track, act like a battering ram. They have this huge piece of heavy metal that’s now blowing in the wind, and it will rip out that zipper. If that weight bar doesn’t get retained inside that side channel, then it’s game over for your shade. You’re either having to roll it all the way up and reseat it, or you’re having to fix it because it ripped the material. That’s the primary function of the patent, as well as reinforced corners and the other design features.
Is manufacturing done in the USA?
We get parts from all over, but the good chunk of what we do is made here in the USA. There aren’t very many fabric weavers or looms here in the United States, so all our fabrics do come from overseas, but everything else is pretty much made here in the U.S.
How long does it take to fulfill a typical order?
It depends on the time of year and season, but typically anywhere from three to five weeks.
How much training is involved in getting started?
It depends on how experienced you are with construction using different types of materials. Are you going into brick, stucco, or rock? Are you recessing the tracks?
I would say for the average dealer that’s never done outdoor shades, it’s an 8- to 16-hour training requirement. There will be some handholding by us on your first project to make sure that it is successful. We have some unique processes, but, for the most part, you’re mounting a box, you’re mounting a side track, you’re mounting a tube with fabric and a motor, then you’re wiring and programming that motor. Those things are fairly common between everyone else’s shades and ours. The design of the track and the design of the fabric are very different, but it doesn’t take a whole lot of exceptional training to understand that. It does take an understanding of the process of each step to go through to make sure that you’re getting it right, so that you don’t have to make any adjustments and go back to fine-tune it.
What are the startup costs to the dealer? Are there any ongoing requirements that a dealer needs to meet?
They will have to get our demo kit, which is $350 plus shipping. Upfront, it’s a time investment more than it is anything else. As you would expect with anything that you’re doing new in your business, you’re going to have to get the knowledge and really understand that new category to make sure that you become the professional that your customers are going to expect you to be. We’re a pretty minimal investment.
What control systems do your screens work with?
We work with Bond Bridge on all three motor types. We also work with Alpha and Somfy motors, and we just released our own Keder Screen motor. The Somfy has a five-year warranty, Alpha has a seven-year warranty, and our motor has a 10-year warranty on it.
The Bond Bridge is a great device, and it will allow the screens to integrate with Control4, Crestron, Savant, Josh.ai, and other companies that are in the market. It’s an easy way to get it integrated. The drawback to it, though, is that there’s no two-way communication. So, if you use a remote control, the feedback will get out of sync with the automation system. There’s an opportunity in the marketplace for us to develop a two-way control architecture for outdoor motors, which no one has offered yet.
What power options do you offer?
Wiring 120 volts to the right side or to the left side of the shade.
Do you provide on-site support for dealers?
We have an escalation process and, if need be, we will fly someone out to the field to help the dealer remedy issues. I would say 99% of the time, a FaceTime call reveals the issue and it is solvable. The one thing that we don’t have is an RMA department. We don’t have a tech support department because we just don’t get the calls — our product goes in, and it just works. As long as the dealers are adhering to our design and installation processes, it’s just going to work really well.
What dealer programs and warranties do you offer?
We offer a 50% dealer margin when they first sign up. Then, at their first anniversary, we review items like trainings taken, tech support calls, and revenue attainment in the first 12 months to continue that 50-point margin. It is more than just a revenue target we want to see dealers doing. It is also about expertise attained and driving efficiency with high levels of customer satisfaction. We do all of this to make sure the dealer is representing Keder Screens as best as possible to the market.
Our best warranty is 10 years on fabric and motor, with a limited lifetime on metal structure.
What tools are available to help dealers show the various fabrics and screen styles?
In the demo kit, there’s good amount of fabric samples to show their customers. By and large, I would say 80% of what we sell is black frame, black fabric, and the opacity is 10% to 5%. So, 80% of what they’re going to sell is not going to be a big design challenge with the customer or the homeowner.
We also have a cool virtual screen designer dealers can use to show what the screens will look like in their respective openings. It uses AI to generate a very realistic image, so it takes away the mystery or imagination of what the screens will look like.
Related: Creating a Backyard Glow-Up
Our Facebook and Instagram pages are also great for getting ideas and seeing the tech and how it performs in tough conditions. Find us under Keder Screens for Facebook and Vtrack Screens for Instagram.
When you get an interior designer involved, they’re obviously going to want to choose colors and they’re going to want more involvement in the choice of fabric than maybe the homeowner would ultimately care about. In those cases, the dealer can give those items to the interior designer — or exterior designer in this case — and we’ll work with them and help them make a good choice.
There are things that you should know about fabric. For example, if you use a very light-colored fabric, it’s difficult to see in and out of. If you use a dark-colored fabric, it’s easy to see out of and somewhat difficult to see in. That’s why most people go with dark fabrics because they still want to feel like they’re outside when they’re on their patio. And a 5% to 10% opacity on the screen allows you to feel like you’re outside, but still protect you from the bugs and wind.
For more information and to become a Keder Screens dealer, visit https://kederscreens.com/.
