Founder-Owned GaraDry Targets U.S. Expansion
The British maker of threshold seal kits for garages is heavily focused on growing in the U.S., which has eight times as many residential garages as the U.K.
Lancashire, England-based GaraDry Ltd., a maker of threshold seal kits for garages, plans to capture more market share in the U.S. and set up a fulfillment center in Canada in the next few years, founder Ashley Smith, 44, told The Deal.
The U.S. has around eight times as many residential garages and much larger ones on average, compared to GaraDry's home market in the U.K. "Most garages are usually about seven feet wide in the U.K., where in the U.S., the most common size door is 16 to 18 feet, which is a massive double order for us, "Smith said.
The company's investing in sales, marketing and branding efforts such as SEO and television commercials to reach more customers in the U.S. Founded in 2008, GaraDry designs and produces garage door threshold seal kits that prevent standing water, rainwater, leaves, dust and debris from being blown under the garage door. They also prevent mice and other small rodents from squeezing underneath the gap between the door and the floor. The threshold seals are glued to concrete floors using a specially formed MS polymer adhesive and sealant.
Business at a Glance
- Workforce: 12 employees
- Locations: North America, the U.K., France, Germany, Denmark, Norway, Netherlands, Italy and Australia
- Warehouses: Three
- Customer base: 70% to 75% residential
GaraDry predominantly sells its products through e-commerce channels including its website and online marketplaces such as Amazon.com. GaraDry launched U.S. operations, GaraDry LLC, in Atlanta, in 2017 amid rising demand from customers in the country. The U.K. remains its largest market.
"We kept getting orders from all over the U.S. and I decided that we needed to have a formal presence in what is a huge market for us," Smith said.
The company's big markets are North America, the U.K., France, Germany, Denmark, Norway, Netherlands, Italy and Australia. GaraDry has warehouses in the U.K., Germany and in the U.S. The company plans to open a warehouse in Canada soon to cut down on shipping costs from the U.S. and grow in the market.
"We do sell to Canada, but shipping from the U.S. is pretty horrifically expensive —in fact, it's cheaper for us to send products from the U.K. to Canada," Smith said.
Smith also sees GaraDry acquiring smaller companies that make complementarygarage door products in the long-term.
While GaraDry's primary customer base is residential, it also makes aluminum seals that can withstand heavy-duty vehicles for commercial purposes, such as airport hangars.
Over the past 12 months, there's been growing interest in the company's commercial product from residential customers too. Smith attributes that to the company's marketing efforts, a rise in electric vehicle use and more sales in the U.S., where people use pickup trucks.
Smith previously owned another e-commerce business started in 2005 that sold spare parts for garage doors such as cables, locks, spindles and springs. He frequently got requests for a product that could stop rainwater and leaves from entering the garage through the gap at the bottom of garage doors.
Smith, who has a degree in industrial design, decided to launch GaraDry in 2008 as a result. Smith hasn't taken on any debt or outside investment to grow the company. While Smith has had some tentative inquiries from potential investors about the business, he isn't interested in an investment at this time and wants to continue growing organically.
A growing number of PE firms are investing in the broader garage door space. Among the consolidators in the market, Gridiron Capital LLC, for instance, launched residential and commercial garage door services platform GarageCo Holdings LLC in March. Cortec Group Management Services LLC, meanwhile, acquired A1 Garage Door Service Holdings Inc. in January 2023 with debt financing from Audax Private Debt.