Schweiss Bifold Doors: Nations leading bifold door manufacturer

Founded in 1980 Schweiss Bi-Fold Doors today is acknowledged as the country' s leading manufacturer of bi-folds with sales throughout the United States, Canada, Asia, and Europe. The firm, located near Fairfax in rural Minnesota employs 65. It's patented nylon Lift-Strap opening/closing mechanism introduced 10 years ago quickly got the attention of the aviation world and currently nearly 80 percent of Schweiss Bi-Fold sales go to airport operators and private pilots for their own individual hangar doors.

Because each Schweiss Bi-Fold fits specific customer specs, each buyer can also chose from a variety of special options such as: Walk-through insulated doors with windows; Remote control features which permit the operator to open/close the door from his tractor, pickup, or even his airplane; Choice of colors; Outer surface material to match existing structures, even a stucco finish or redwood siding.

Newest product from Schweiss is a One-Piece® Hydraulic door requiring only 4-inch headroom and available up to 80 ft. wide and 23 ft. high. Special feature of this new hydraulic bi-fold is a self-supporting header frame, which gives the buyer/builder additional flexibility to fit an existing building without revamping the supporting structure.

Julie Schafer, head of the Schweiss sales team explains, "We've always been concerned about listening to our customers and building quality and convenience into our products. We thrive on new ideas from our customers."

The initial bi-fold door idea and lift-strap mechanism were both customer suggestions. As builders and architects become more familiar with the manufacturing quality, and the flexibility of the firm, Schweiss built bi-folds are showing up in some unique markets. The press box at the new Philadelphia Phillies baseball stadium sports Schweiss Bi-Folds. So too does a Mall of America storefront, an Arizona auto dealership, a Harley-Davidson dealer in Maui, Hawaii, and the new Ecology Center, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, and airplane hangars owned by actors Jim Nabors in Hawaii and Tom Cruise in Telluride, CO.

The firm provides installation crews, or very detailed instructions for builders doing turnkey projects. Owner/CEO is Mike Schweiss. For information contact: Schweiss Bi-Fold Doors, P.O. Box 220, Fairfax, MN 55332 (Tel: 507-426-8273)