On August 29, 1929, in historic Salem Massachusetts, Saul Goldberg (Mr. G.) sold his broken down car, bought a little red pickup truck and opened up his corner glass shop, Salem Plate & Window Glass Co. (later renamed and incorporated as Salem Glass Company). Having learned the trade from his father and watched as his two older brothers opened their own glass companies in Washington DC, Saul hung his shingle at 10 Margin Street. Borrowing money from the local credit union and convincing his new bride to take on the additional duties of bookkeeper and office manager after a full day working at Pekins Cleaners, Mr. G. grabbed any work he could to keep the business open and growing.
Mr. G. was not only the owner, but he was part of the fabrication crew and installation team until the late 1930s when the company had grown large enough that it required a separation between management and labor. The company moved from Margin Street to Front Street in the mid 1930s and then again 75 Canal Street in Salem just before World War II.
The 40s, 50s and 60s were tremendous growth years for the company in both revenues and profits. Mr. G. put together a terrific team that helped the business prosper. The company grew in both size and scope with the boom of the construction industry. It began to do much larger retail stores and commercial work in Boston and throughout Massachusetts. It also began doing work up and down the east coast for clients like Zayres and the St. Laurence Seaway. With the explosion of commercial space and high-rise buildings came large downtown Boston construction projects like the JFK Building, One, Two and Three Center Plaza, and First National Bank of Boston. During these years the company was primarily a glass installer; cutting and installing glass into frames provided by others. After Mr. G passed away in 1978, Lois Miller (Mrs. M.) succeeded her father as president of the company.
The 1980s were a tremendous boom and Salem Glass Company took full advantage increasing revenues year after year. Notable projects during the 1980s included Wang Kneeland Street, Hynes Convention Center and Lahey Clinic. Mrs. M transformed the glass company into a comprehensive full service skin contractor, expanding its expertise into manufacturing and broadening its product mix to include aluminum windows, curtainwalls, panels and skylights. Salem Glass Company also carved out a niche in interior tenant fit-up work dedicating staff to develop this market.
With the economic bust of the late 80s and early 90s, Salem Glass Company diversified into public work including many MBTA terminals, Suffolk County House of Corrections, Deer Island and South Station Bus Terminal. As the economy strengthened, Salem Glass Company continued with its private work including Flagship Wharf, 111 Huntington Avenue, 1 Bowdoin Square, 101 Merrimac Street, The Seaport Hotel and Astras Boston Research Center. As the decade ended, Salem Glass Company completed the complex and controversial conoid glass curtainwall at the New United States Courthouse.
Salem Glass Company was heavily involved in The Big Dig, working on Vent 5, Vent 8, Parcel 7 and the Dewey Square Air Intake Structure. The tech boom of 2000 found Salem Glass Company working on projects for Level III, Cisco Systems, Nortel, EMC, Novell and Nervewire.
With the company’s growth and customer focused discipline, Salem Glass Company decided to invest in the future by building a new 50,000 square foot manufacturing and main office facility. The new facility, completed in April 2002, dramatically increased the company’s manufacturing capabilities and capacity. It included an expanded engineering department, conference area and training facilities. The goal is to provide comprehensive services to exceed the market’s increasing demands for speed, flexibility and quality.