“When people are designing a modern house with big glass views, they’ll tell you they don’t want to see the window shade [when it’s not in use]. But then they’ll hide it inside a big box above the window, a fascia, which is detrimental to a clean design,” says James Geiger. Having spent the last 20 years designing and installing high-end audio, video, and home technology (he’s owned East Bay Street-based biz HeAVi since 2003), Geiger knew there had to be a better way.
In 2011, he invented a shade free of the wires, screws, and fasteners that typically call for concealment by a fascia. “Our product is clean and simple, beautiful enough to stand on its own,” he explains.
Before long, his new company, JGeiger Shading, was hired to create the window treatments for the model apartment in New York City’s just-built “Billionaire Building,” One57. “I stood in that skyscraper, realizing they’re taking a chance on this guy from South Carolina because from among hundreds of shade companies, we had the best product,” recalls Geiger. “That’s when I knew we could be big.”
With client bases quickly growing in New York and L.A., JGeiger recently opened showrooms in both cities, and an office in Miami is coming soon. Meanwhile, most of the manufacturing for the state-of-the-art shades—available in manual formats as well as motorized electronic designs controllable by smartphone, remote, and so on—is currently done right here in the Holy City.
Lookin’ Good
Eye-opening stats on the Charleston-based enterprise
➼ JGeiger has installed shades in 90 million-dollar apartments.
➼ Some 60 of their window treatments hang in the model apartment in New York City’s famed One57 condominium building and hotel.
➼ For one memorable job, Geiger designed 30-foot-long motorized electronic shades to cover floor-to-ceiling windows that curve alongside a staircase; a preset allows the shades to ”stairstep” to match the shape of the structure.
➼ JGeiger has 16 total employees working in Charleston, a Greenville operations office, New York and L.A. showrooms, and job sites around the country.
➼ A stunning 7 kitchens were found inside one large residential project completed in—where else—Texas.
