“Our customers’ security is paramount,” says Dean Carman, President, CEO & General Manager of Garage Door Depot. “At a high level, overhead doors, be they the garage door on your home, the entry gate to your underground parking or the loading door at your business, all are for access and security.”
The company’s name might suggest primarily a retail consumer focus; however, Garage Door Depot’s business is 70% commercial.
“We are really in the business of ensuring our customers’ security through the manufacturing, installation, servicing, and maintenance of overhead door products,” says Carman.
Most of us take the security gates at any underground parking space for granted. We don’t think twice about the 1,000 or so times a day those electric gates roll up and down at our condos, townhomes, or offices – until they stop working.
“We understand that entry and exit for all buildings is crucial,” says Carman. “Imagine if a gate system were to fail at 6 in the morning when people are trying to get out and go to work. It can be pretty severe. We put an enormous amount of emphasis on our response time, so when our customers, usually property managers who represent the owner of the building say ‘jump’ we say, ‘how high and what time would you like us there’? Our trucks are on the road 24/7/365 and always on call for after-hours emergencies.”
B.C.-based Garage Door Depot began in 2016. However, its roots are from an earlier overhead door business partnership he had in the same industry.
“It was there where I was immersed in this business, mentored and trained by my then business partner,” explains Carman. “After he retired and left the business in 2015, I decided to start fresh with a renewed and more service focused business model.”
Since then, the Vancouver team has grown to 19 people, in addition to 9 other independently owned and operated licensed locations that bear ‘The Garage Door Depot’ name and standards across Canada.
What’s Garage Door Depot’s secret to success?
“In our business the quality of the installation and the product all look the same to the untrained eye” Carman says. “People go ‘oh yeah, that’s a gate or that’s a garage door.’ But, if we did not build to a certain spec, a high level of quality and finish, those products won’t last, they’d fail prematurely and add significant costs to the owners and tenants of the building.”
“I’ve seen first hand through the eyes of people that were trapped over the years, that they are vulnerable,” he says, referring to the stress of being locked in or out of a parking area, having no access to one’s home or workplace, and the serious safety and security issues that can result.
At the Vancouver office, a poster that says ‘Customer, Company, Self’ illustrates what the company holds dear.
“If we do the right thing for the customer, that will benefit the business. If we make good decisions for the business that will benefit the individual. But if we put ourselves ahead of the customer, that has a negative trickle down that isn’t good,” says Carman.
The company’s name has grown to be synonymous with trust and professionalism, and the emphasis on service and maintenance is where the most time, energy and effort lies.
“With liability concerns, in every space, and no significant industry standards established in Canada (concerning these gates and doors) that puts a lot of pressure on us. We emphasize preventable maintenance so that people in the buildings are protected and safe, and that is what is most important.”
Garage Door Depot is featured in the 2023 Profiles of Excellence Magazine
