New product cleans up on the graffiti front
GLASSCOVER makes it easy to keep surfaces free from street ‘art’
Barry Erdle doesn’t like graffiti. “I see it as an eyesore and damaging others’ property — no different than smashing in a car window,” he said.
But without graffiti, Erdle wouldn’t be in business. The 32-year-old Montreal native is president of GlassCover Inc., which distributes a liquid coating that helps prevent graffiti.
Manufactured in Japan, the coating can be painted or sprayed onto porous and non-porous surfaces such as concrete, brick, wood and metal. Because paint pools on the coating, the product acts as a deterrent to taggers and graffiti artists. And if they do spray paint over it, their handiwork is easily removed with a mixture of rubbing alcohol and water.
Erdle did not set out to get into the graffiti-prevention business. A graduate of Bialik High School, Marianopolis College and Concordia’s John Molson School of Business, Erdle’s first job after graduating from university was as a bank teller. After that, he worked as vice-president of sales for an investment house and later for CEP News, an online news agency. When the economic downturn struck in 2008, CEP News closed and he found himself unemployed.
It was Erdle’s father-in-law, Issie Wiseman, president of Tyfoon Group, a clothing licensing and distribution company, who encouraged Erdle to start his own business. “The idea of going away from a guaranteed salary made me very nervous, but in the end, it worked out,” Erdle said.
When the family was vacationing in Florida in 2009, Wiseman introduced Erdle to Jerry Oren, owner of Green Concepts, a distributor of ecologically friendly cleaning products. Oren’s product line included a green graffiti remover.
“Before our meeting, Jerry spraypainted his Bentley, then he left it to bake in the sun. Afterwards, he cleaned the car with the graffiti remover. Until then, I’d always been under the impression that green products didn’t really work and were more expensive,” Erdle recalled.
In 2009, Erdle became the exclusive Canadian distributor for Green Concepts. Initially, his clients were mostly janitorial companies, but in 2010, the city of Montreal signed on for his green graffiti-removal product.
In 2011, Erdle received an unexpected phone call. “They told me they were from the trade commission of Catalonia and that they had an amazing product that prevents graffiti. I thought it was a prank. It was so out of the blue. So I said, ‘Send me an email and I’ll get back to you,’ ” he said.
Erdle didn’t open that email until two weeks later — and it was a good thing he did. The commission was on its way to Montreal, and Erdle met with them the following day. He was impressed to learn that in areas where the city of Barcelona had used GlassCover, they had reduced the incidence of graffiti by 88 per cent, and reduced their cleaning crew from a staff of 74 to only two.
In addition to deterring taggers and graffiti artists, GlassCover also repels stickers, which, Erdle pointed out, are not only expen- sive and time-consuming to remove, but also often damages the underlying surface when they are removed.
For many cities, businesses and homeowners, graffiti is a maintenance issue. “They react to graffiti once it’s happened,” Erdle explained. “That way, the graffiti budget doesn’t fall; it only increases. Our product is preventative. It doesn’t stop graffiti as a phenomenon, but it moves it off of areas that are covered.”
Erdle invested $25,000 to bring GlassCover to Canada. In his first year of operations, he did $320,000 in sales, mostly on the island of Montreal. Eighty per cent of his customers are municipalities; the other 20 per cent are property owners or managers. By the end of 2013, Erdle expects his company will bring in a $1.5 million in annual sales.
Because GlassCover can only be applied in temperatures over 5 degrees Celsius, Erdle does most of his local business in the period between April and November. During that period, he hires between five and 30 seasonal workers, most of whom are painting contractors. Without a volume discount, the company charges $2.50 per square foot for their product; the price goes up to $3 when it is applied by Erdle’s team. Applying the prod- uct is not difficult, says Erdle, and the company’s website includes an application tutorial.
If Erdle’s people apply the product, it is guaranteed for five years. He says, however, GlassCover lasts for more than 10 years, further reducing long-term costs.
Last summer, Charles Martin, a technician with the city of Brossard, used GlassCover on street lamps and electrical boxes on a portion of Rome Blvd., near a local high school.
“We’ve had no graffiti at all on these surfaces,” Martin reported. Martin is hoping for similar results on a newly built pool chalet in Parc St-Alphonse.
Gloria Lichter, a real estate administrator with Dalfen’s Ltd., is also pleased with the results after her company used GlassCover on its Ste-Catherine St., head office. “Our building had been hit several times. We did an application last summer, and we’ve haven’t been hit once since then. But I know if I do see graffiti on the building, we’ll be able to take it right off.”
Erdle is now concentrating on growing the Canadian and U.S. market for his product. He recently landed a contract to coat all of Quebec City’s new garbage/ recycling bins and he is also doing lab testing for Canada Post. Erdle says he feels good about the work he is doing — and not just because sales keep rising. “I’ve travelled to 40 countries and I love Montreal the best. Just helping to keep this city clean gives me a lot of pride,” he said. For further information about GlassCover, visittyfoon.com / glasscover or call 514-731-7070, Local 276.