Glencoe resident Bill Conron owns and operates North Shore Shutters, a shop-at-home window treatment company on the North Shore that sells items including shutters, wood blinds and roller shades.
Q: What do you enjoy most about your work?
A: I meet new people every day and it is never the same day. Every kind of window treatment you can imagine, people on the North Shore want.
Q: What is the most challenging part of trying to find the proper material?
A: Sample books. If you have wood blinds or roman shades and the (potential customers) don’t like the color, you have to have four or five huge sample books, and they are about $800 apiece. You have to carry them all in and find the right color.
Q: How much do they weigh?
A: Sometimes a lot, especially if they say they do not know what they want. Then you have to have 20 books in your car and keep bringing them in.
Q: How did you get interested in this line of work?
A: I used to work with the main guy on the North Shore for 50 years. He died and no one took over his business. So I took over the modern way and instead of having brick and mortar, I went to their house. That is what people on the North Shore want. They want you to come to their house on their schedule.
Q: Have you ever quietly wondered why someone was interested in a particular product?
A: Sure, but it is their choice. I might not like it or agree with it, but it is their style. I’ll suggest, but it is ultimately their decision.
Q: Is there one really unusual item that you remember putting into a home?
A: There was a multimillion dollar mansion that wanted aluminum blinds, the cheapest ones you can get and they were next to multimillion dollar pieces of art. I talked them into one inch wood blinds.
Shout Out is a weekly feature in which we get to know and introduce our readers to their fellow community members and local visitors throughout suburban Chicago. Check out more online at ChicagoTribune.com/ShoutOut.
Daniel I. Dorfman is a freelancer for Pioneer Press.
