The Goldray Story

The Goldray Glass of today is both a far different and yet very much the same company as it was when we opened in 1985. Goldray was started by myself and my co-founder in the mid 1980’s with the idea that we would make highly specialized decorative glass for the furniture industry. We learned how to silver mirrors, wheel engrave glass and sandblast images – all funded with a department store credit card!

Our first large customer was a waterbed manufacturing company and we supplied them with decorative mirrors for the headboards. We were seriously cash-strapped at the time and bought broken cases of mirror from AFG for pennies on the dollar, salvaged the big pieces and produced the mirrors for our customer. For cash, of course so we could go and buy more cases of broken mirror and start the process all over again!

Having no knowledge or experience at the beginning was certainly a challenge but also turned out to be a blessing. Because we didn’t have enough money to compete with established glass companies, we had to go out into the market and see where the holes and pain points were for the companies that we were hoping would become our customers. The challenges allowed us to be creative and learn everything that we could about decorative glass and also to invent the things that didn’t yet exist. 

Decorative glass back in the 1980’s wasn’t a very widely used material, so we also took every opportunity to educate architects and glazing contractors on what we learned about the material and how it could be used. Just like we tried to do with products that didn’t yet exist, creating customers and demand that didn’t yet exist was another part of building the market.

The path from waterbed headboards to commercial construction projects was certainly not a smooth one. Because we continued to have the mindset of constant reinvention and staying ahead of the market, we were immersed in the volatility of start up mode all the time. Our answer to any question at that time was always “yes, we can do that.” We would then go back to our shop and figure out a way to do what the customer needed. At the beginning, that was what we had to do to survive and to feed the kids! But by constantly practicing “yes”, this became the overriding culture of Goldray. 

Over the years we continued to build on our culture of “yes”, developing an intense focus on innovation and technology. It wasn’t an easy way to build a business. We didn’t back away from a challenge, even when maybe we should have! Some of the most demanding projects – the ones that kept us up until 3 am for months in a row – are now the ones that we are most inspired by. We have always embraced challenges and persevered where others may have given up and it has become one of Goldray’s defining features.

We have definitely had our share of pain and missteps along the way. From being a public company with investors that didn’t fit with the Goldray culture, to building a business in NY that failed, to large projects that didn’t go according to plan where we faced huge losses, there were a few times that we thought we were going to lose everything. But every time we faced certain disaster, the Goldray ideals of perseverance, family values and doing what is right helped us to dig our way out of whatever mess we were in.

Within the next decade there will be a new generation taking over the company and building it in their own image. Growing up in an entrepreneurial family business, I expect that they will have learned much from our mistakes and will be far smarter than my generation. What I’m certain will continue is our culture of collaboration and focus on our partner’s success. We all understand that we have many partners in our business from our employees, to our customers, the architects and designers that we work with, our suppliers and even our competitors.

The culture at Goldray is to support our partners and elevate them for the success of all of us. Building a culture is definitely not a quick way to success but is certainly one of the most important parts of running a company. It has taken focus, attention and consistent communication with every partner at every level on an ongoing basis. That focus and attention though has come back to us tenfold in the form of sustainable, trusting relationships. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what product you make or what industry you are in, it is your relationships that are most important.

This year, Goldray will celebrate 34 years in business. We have grown from a two person start up with no money, knowledge or experience into a well known architectural decorative glass company providing jobs for over 100 talented and diverse people. We are still a family run company and are proud of what we have accomplished so far and excited about continuing the journey into the next generation. No one knows what the future holds, but for the Goldray family, we know it will be an exciting ride!