Today we’d like to introduce you to Sonny and George Fisher.
In the 1960’s Sonny worked for Hy-Sil, a local manufacturer and metalizer of Christmas Tinsel and Wrapping Paper, The owner noticed how hard Sonny worked and how clean his area was kept. Due to his dedication and professionalism, he was asked if he would like to try installing their newly developed product later known as “window film”. Hy-Sil formed the Greater Boston Window Tinting Company and hired Sonny as the V.P. As a family-oriented man, with ten brothers and sisters, upon his father’s approval Sonny accepted the position and became the first installer of what is known today as Madico Window Films. Sonny worked closely with Madico creating and revising installation techniques (most of which are still used today). He traveled throughout the United States installing Madico films and helped create a Madico dealer network by teaching others how to install window films. Later, Sonny started his own installation company and brought his younger brother (George Fisher) on to help run the business. In 1992, Sonny’s son Rob joined the family business by preparing the windows for his dad. Rob learned by following in his dad’s footsteps and is now assisting to run the company, installing and servicing many of our customers. With family and close friends working alongside of Sonny, Sonny’s Glass Tinting still continues to be one of Madico’s leading installation companies while adding on new services such as custom vinyl lettering and graphics, large format print installation, safety and security film work and more!
Has it been a smooth road?
In the beginning, window film was primarily used for solar control. Being based in New England, winter months can be slow and over the years we had to take up second jobs to keep things afloat. We maintained part-work running a pizza-truck business (like an ice cream truck) selling slices to neighborhoods all over northern Boston and Sonny worked at a women’s clothing store while still tinting cars, homes and businesses. One of the greatest challenges being that all of these were essentially summer jobs which slowed substantially in the winter. Couple this with the fact that window film was a new industry and as such, people just didn’t know what they were offering so educating customers on why they needed film was just as important as the quality of the installation. Again, this may have been an easier task if we had lived a southern state where sun and heat are more of an issue but as technologies advanced, and film became more known as a way to enhance the look of a vehicle, safety films became a solution for major issues such as helping to prevent glass from falling out at the John Hancock building (a contract Sonny’s has held since the mid 1980’s) and decorative films became more prevalent for interior privacy and helping to stop people from walking into glass (it happens more often than you think), a full-time year round business was established which supports numerous families and staff.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Sonny’s Glass Tinting story. Tell us more about the business.
Sonny’s Glass Tinting specializes in Applied Films for windows and sometimes walls. These films can be used for Solar Control (to stop fading, heat and glare), safety / security (to help prevent smash and grab theft, blast mitigation, and impact resistance, etc.), decoration such as frost films (adding etched glass privacy with the ability to remove and replace as needed, providing branding and marketing options for interior glass walls and storefront signage, as well as providing safety strips to glass to add some notification that there is glass there to occupants so that they don’t accidentally walk into the glass and injure themselves) and even scratch / graffiti control films which act as a sacrificial layer from glass scratching, tagging and even acid cream.
Not only are we proud of services which provide benefits from reducing solar effects and cancer causing radiation, extending the life of furniture and artwork to keep products out of landfills, enhancing the safety of building occupants and so much more but we are proud of the attention to detail and our ability to service our customers quickly and with an education in film that truly helps them to find the right solution for their needs. Even beyond that, we have been able to support an industry which was started locally, but grew nationally and a manufacturing facility still based in Woburn to this day.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
While the core films are still in great demand, we see much emphasis on On Demand services such as custom cutting of films into patterns and designs as well as an increase in technologies for dynamic window films which provide a different experience based on your field of view. For example, there are films which are clear at one direction and frost when looking another way, films that react to electricity and switch to frost or clear with a push of a bottom or click from an “app”, there are films that are completely clear but block the view of certain television and display monitors completely! There are even some new films that change color similar to polarized sunglasses with the intensity of the sun. Who knows, someday the film we install might be your next flat screen television or allow you to connect to the world!
Contact Info:
- Address: 434 Central Street, Saugus, MA 01906
- Website: www.sonnysglasstinting.com
- Phone: 781-233-3647
- Email: info@sonnysglasstinting.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Sonnys-Glass-Tinting-194767182650/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/sonnysglass
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/sonnys-glass-tinting-saugus
- Other: https://www.flickr.com/photos/127339930@N06/
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