East Side Glass

Company Overview

East Side Glass is a family-owned, full-service glass company located in St. Cloud, MN. The third-generation business has built a strong reputation over its 70-year history of being the go-to company in the area for its quality of work and expertise. 

East Side Glass Leadership Team — (l-r) Andy Ferkinhoff, Laura Hutt, Luke Ferkinhoff

Leadership: (siblings and co-owners) Luke Ferkinhoff, president; Andy Ferkinhoff, COO; Laura Hutt, CFO

Website

Facebook

Location: 305 Franklin Ave NE, St. Cloud, MN

Years in business: 70 - Jim Ferkinhoff (grandfather), founded the business on March 22, 1953, and Dave Ferkinhoff (father) retired in 2018.  

Company motto: Glass Solutions Guaranteed! Transparency is our Business!

Q&A with Luke, Andy and Laura

What products and services does East Side Glass offer?

Commercial glass and glazing: storefronts, alum entry doors, curtain walls, interior glass wall/partitions, hardware, service, furnished and installed.
Residential glass and glazing: customer shower doors, insulated glass replacements, window hardware, mirrors, screen repair, furnished and installed.
Retail/wholesale glass shop: in-shop screen and window repair, glass shelving, cabinetry inserts, display doors, wholesale sales to fixture and cabinet companies.

What are your company's keys to success?
Doing quality work, being straight forward and honest, and offering realistic common-sense solutions.  

We’ve built a strong reputation over or 70-year history of being the go-to company in the area because of our quality of work and expertise. Our project managers and installers, office and shop staff are all very experienced and overall have been with our company for a long time.  We treat our employees like family because we know they are our biggest asset, and that is how they deserve to be treated. That, in turn, has kept our turnover rate very low historically, which brings us back to why we have a strong reputation in the industry for quality work and expertise.

What’s something your company does that sets you apart from others, or that has been helpful to the way you do business/your bottom line?
Living and working according to our "keys to success." We also learned from our father, who learned from his father (our grandfather), that you need to keep a financially strong business. Invest back into the business and always be ready to weather the next economic downturn. 

Why did you join NGA?
We joined NGA for many reasons, including being a part of our national industry association, participating in technical committees and task groups, and receiving the most up-to-date news and information.

What is a big glass project or accomplishment for your company?
Our company won small business of the year award for the state of Minnesota in 2001, and Celebrated 70 years in business in 2023.