By Sophia Ling
Cori and Scott Brown, co-owners of Franklin Window and Door,and Lorenzo Finestre, are opening the Glass House Gallery showroom on Sept. 1 on the first floor of the Indiana Design Center. The motivation to integrate both companies into one showroom stems from a desire to offer the best possible products to their clients.
“The clients sometimes will select the Franklin Window and Door products for the main portions of the home and then they’ll add specialty pieces (within the home) with the European products, so it was for the ease of the customers,” said Scott Brown, co-owner of Lorenzo Finestre and COO of Franklin Window and Door.
Scott Brown said the availability and prestige of the IDC, and the chance for design professionals to touch and feel and experience everything, is what drew the couple to the new showroom.
“It was more opportunity than anything else,” Scott Brown said. “We always wanted the space. When it became available, it gave us the opportunity to bring it all together.”
Where European products expanded to larger glass panels and door systems, Scott Brown said North American glass sizes and functionality of door systems became limited. However, with the visibility of the first-floor showroom and exclusive access to luxury European architectural products, the Browns are committed to pushing local architecture to evolve alongside their European counterparts.
Getting the opportunity to work with Italian manufacturers spurred their interest in European markets, one of the focal points of Lorenzo Finestre.
“We realized there is a whole other level of luxury architecture, very unique that no one has ever seen yet, so we are bringing this to the market,” said Cori Brown, CEO of Lorenzo Finestre and Franklin Window and Door.
Melissa Averitt, Pedcor Companies senior vice president for sales and marketing, is eager to see the new gallery launch in the IDC at 200 S. Range Line Rd. in Carmel. Pedcor owns the IDC building.
“We cannot wait for Glass House Gallery to debut within the center and marketplace,” Averitt stated. “It will be an enticing addition to our first-floor retail showrooms and fulfill a niche that fits perfectly within the IDC.”
