For Al Portnoy, owner and CEO of Hallmark Remodelers on Welsh Road in Northeast Philadelphia, celebrating an anniversary as auspicious as his 60th in the business is just another day at the office. When you’re renovating kitchens, bathrooms and everything in between for this long, and with that much dedication to cause and craft, it’s a lifestyle.
“I was always passionate about home repair ever since I started,” said Portnoy. “Back then it was all roofing, windows and aluminum siding. That was what people cared about at the top of the 1960s. But, as time went on, homeowners in the area began having different needs – kitchens, bathrooms, basements and concrete work.”
Noticing radical changes in the personal home design marketplace — and to the glut of window, roofing and siding businesses that rose up in his wake — Portnoy reacted and evolved, making Hallmark Remodelers more flexible and responsive to the necessities of home redesign.
“You have to stay flexible,” he said. “I got into deeper into kitchens, bathrooms and basements and never looked back. The majority of home design contractors who were in roofing, siding and windows didn’t have the expertise, knowledge or wealth of people on their staff to do all that is necessary in a kitchen or a bathroom. That made all the difference.”
Also making a difference was the fact that the average homeowner interested in renovations evolved to an increasingly younger audience — young families with and without children and single homebuyers.
“That didn’t happen overnight, that change, but as buying homes became an easier sell to all, so too did fixing them up,” stated Portnoy. “Plus, our older client base stayed steady as they require easier ways in which to get in and out of tubs and showers without having to worry about slipping.”
Hallmark Remodelers grew up with its older audience, as well as it worked with, and developed, younger homebuyers. Moving into the present day, Portnoy finds that homeowners now tend to call Hallmark not just out of repair needs, but also to beautify their living spaces, and change those designs with time and trend.
“Whether people are buying a home or selling a home, people rarely climb on top off the roof and see its condition, or head to the basement and check on the heater; they walk in, and see if the kitchen is attractive,” said Portnoy.
One of the advantages of being in business for six decades is an understanding of how things not only change – often quite radically – but how much they stay the same. When it comes to the present day of home redesign, in Portnoy’s opinion, Hallmark can make any dream come true.
“We can do almost anything when it comes to new ideas and materials – cabinets not the same old oak or white, specialty quartz and granite countertops as opposite to Formica… 99-percent of the people who remodel their kitchens want granite and quartz,” he said. “It’s an entirely new look and a brand-new day for homeowners and Hallmark can do it all – for repeat customers, which we get often, and new customers. There’s no better feeling than having the sons and daughters of the mothers and fathers who used us in the past, calling for our services. That word of mouth is gold.”
For homeowners young and old, Hallmark Remodelers has monthly financing available for all pockets.
“Look, I have been doing this for 60 years,” he says. “You’re not just providing a service. You’re coming into people’s homes – you’re developing a relationship. If anything goes wrong with something, I, or someone from our team, is going to be there to make it right, and often for free. That’s what it means to be in a relationship with a client, rather than just putting something new up, and walking away. Hallmark will always be there for its customers.”
Sponsored content produced in partnership with Hallmark Remodelers