It was maybe 25 years ago, although Keith Eck isn't precisely sure when, and he was looking for a good price on windows.
He figured: Why not sell windows himself?
"I started this business when I went to put windows in my house," he said, while sitting at his office in Water Tower Square.
Thus was born Centura Building Products.
"We sold them cheaper," he recalled.
Since those days Eck estimated that the business has sold tens of thousands of windows.
And from that time, the business has expanded its product line to include doors, siding, flooring, and cabinets.
The business both sells and installs products.
"We have commercial clients." I'd say 70 percent is residential sales," he said.
Eck said business has remained steady throughout the economic downturn of recent years.
The housing market has remained stable in the local area, and people are "always looking to remodel their homes," he said.
"People buy and sell homes and then want to fix them up," he added.
Eck credited the success of the business to a "great customer base."
And a lot of new business comes from customer referrals.
Steve Eck can be found many days around the store's 12,000-square foot showroom running the business.
"We get some walk-in business," he said.
People, he noted, will stop by after working out at Planet Fitness located just west of the business in Water Tower Square or after leaving other sites in the business complex.
Steve noted that everything the business sells is installed by Centura.
"We have longtime certified installers," he said. "They are very experienced and well trained."
He said Centura offers probably the largest variety of windows of any business in the area.
"We have product lines of windows most businesses around here don't carry such as Soft Lite.
Keith noted that although Centura sells and installs different home-based products, windows remains its principal product.
"We still think we are the largest window seller in the area," he said.
Centura has been a window treatment installer since 2009.
Customers can contact the business for free estimates and consultations.
