Sign signifies family's unshattered resiliency

SANDUSKY — They broke into the glass game almost two decades ago. Yet, up until recently, nearly everyone outside of the Adkins family still referred to this auto-based business by its former name — one it technically hasn't gone by since a change of ownership in 2008. And who could really blame them? "We hadn't changed the 'Butler Glass' sign. We still answered the phones as 'Butler Glass.' We just kept calling ourselves 'Butler,'" said Randal Adkins, the owner of Adkins Auto Glass on West Perkins Avenue. It's across from a Wendy's and near the Sandusky post office. But a true sign of the times, signifying a new era for Adkins Auto Glass, occurred not too long ago. The business — which repairs and replaces damaged glass for vehicles, be it windshields or windows — just unveiled a new sign, facing out toward Perkins Avenue, reading Adkins Auto Glass. As a hat-tip, in tribute to the past, Adkins kept a small butler — also featured on the old sign — on his new sign. It also means the business, whether Adkins or Butler, intends to provide upstanding service to customers. "It's been long enough," Randal said. "It was just time for people to really know that we are here, running this business. It does really make me happy that it's finally up." History lesson Adkins Auto Glass' lineage dates back to the mid-1990s when Joe Butler founded Butler Glass. Joe previously worked for a residential-based glass business, known as Sandusky Glass. It was located on Jackson and West Market streets, near the Register's office, in downtown Sandusky. "He did residential glass and was thinking about doing it for vehicles," Randal said. "He realized nothing like that was around and could do well, and it took off. He started with a little garage big enough for one car and just kept getting bigger and bigger and needed a bigger space." Joe originally operated out of a small shop in downtown Sandusky before relocating to the company's present-day location on Perkins Avenue. Buckeye Body Shop worked out of this site before Butler Auto Glass found its new home. Enter Randal, who faced an impending layoff at the former Ford plant, now Ventra, on Tiffin Avenue (Ohio 101) and needed another job to support his family: his wife, Courtney, and their then-young son, Spencer. "We just built a house, and our son was maybe 3 or 4 years old at the time," Randal said. "I didn't want to transfer far away. Instead, I wanted to look for a small business nearby for myself and my wife to run, something just to make ends meet." Randal worked with a business brokerage and learned Joe wanted to sell Butler Auto Glass privately and quietly. "I figured that he'd been around for a long time, so he's got to be doing something right," said Randal, who had no experience in glass. "I was told that, 'If you can run the business the way he is and keep up with the annual income and expense levels, I should be OK.'" With Courtney's trust, Randal decided to buy the business as its new owner-operator. "I decided to pull the trigger," Randal said. "Joe told me that 'Glass breaks every day.' At first, I was like, 'Huh?' but then I realized that I'll always have business because glass does break every day." Owning a business presented many challenges and even some fears, Randal said. "It can be tough," Randal said. "When you are at a place like Ford, you are guaranteed a 40-hour-a-week paycheck. Here, if the phone isn't ringing, you don't have business." There's one lesson Joe ingrained in Randal that he's reminded of each day. "The reason we are still here today is because of the commitment and dedication to not only the business but to your customers and realizing you have to always find a way to provide for your family," Randal said. And in a way, Randal showed his appreciation to Joe by maintaining the Butler Glass name, in one way or another, for so many years. Randal also kept the employees during the changeover. He also maintained a core business principle. "Whether people called it Butler or Adkins, since we've been here, our quality of work has remained the same," Randal said. "I don't sell price. I sell quality. There are a lot of fly-by-night glass companies that are about quantity and not quality. With the work we do here, I want to do a job and then never see you again because our work should last. That's what quality is about: giving you the best price without making profit a priority." Family first Randal considers himself a hands-on operator, doing much of the glasswork himself and alongside Spencer. Courtney works behind the scenes. Rhonda Adkins, Randal's sister/Spenecer's aunt, handles many of the administrative duties, such as customer service. But in the shop, it's almost always a two-man team, consisting of Randal and Spencer. At times, Randal's dad/Spencer's grandfather, Ronnie Adkins, comes in to help, giving his son or grandson a break. "We are a small operation," said Randal, who welcomes new customers and works with all insurance companies. "I do enjoy working with my son. It's nice to see him every day and work together with him." Spencer, a 2024 Margaretta High School graduate, also cherishes all this bonding time he can spend with his dad. Not many young adults do so with their dads at his age, he admitted. "Working at our family auto glass business has a lot of good things about it," Spencer said. "One of the biggest benefits is getting to work alongside my dad and learn from him while he runs the business. I get to learn how the auto glass industry works, gain hands-on experience and develop skills that I can use for the rest of my life." Spencer emphasized how, "Working with family can make the job more enjoyable because there is a stronger sense of trust, teamwork and pride in what we do." "Sometimes we bump heads and don't agree, but that's just part of it," Spencer added. "It also gives me the opportunity to learn about responsibility, customer service, hard work and what it takes to successfully run a business." Rhonda also enjoys being around her relatives. "It's a good job made even better by being around my family," Rhonda said. If anything, people should realize this new sign — with the Adkins Auto Glass branding — signals the Adkins family's long-term commitment to serving Sandusky-area customers with their auto glass needs for many more years. "I'm hoping that I'm here for as long as I can and then for my son to take it over," said Randal, noting they're going to start answering the phones "Adkins Glass" going forward, although a slip-up of Butler Glass might come out of habit. "We're hoping to be here for a long time."