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O'Neil's Glass Service looks upside down from the outside. That, of course, is because of its upside down sign. Is it a mistake? At first, it was.
Now, it's the company's best unplanned advertising because the sign could be the most well-known in the area. In fact, O'Neil's Glass is even featured in a question in the Fort Wayne Trivia Game.
"What is the only company in Fort Wayne with an upside down sign?" asks Sales Manager Barb O'Neil, reciting that particular question.
Ironically, though, the upside down sign began as a mistake. Yet, founder Jack O'Neil didn't ask for it to be corrected. Instead, he decided to let it remain.
"Jack broke tradition in a couple of different ways," says Terry Keenan, department manger at O'Neil's, who has worked with the company for over 17 years. "First with the sign and second with the way he operated the business."
O'Neil's Glass originated in Jack's garage in 1959 as an auto glass repair and replacement shop, but it soon moved to the current Phelps Dodge location on New Haven Avenue and eventually settled at the corner of New Haven Avenue and Coliseum Boulevard in 1970. Since then, the company's square footage has been increased at least three different times to accommodate its growth.
In 1970, O'Neil's expanded its services, extending into light residential and commercial repair of flat glass. It also added mobile service for auto glass.
"We were the first in the area to repair and replace auto glass at a customer's location," Keenan says.
Throughout the 1970s, the company also served as a glass distributor, selling and delivering within a 100-mile radius of Fort Wayne. That accounted for approximately 60 percent of the company's gross sales, according to President and General Manager Kim Lenwell.
Although O'Neil's still handles stock sheets and delivers on demand, its focus has changed over the years.
"Although our sales have remained solid over the last 10 years," Lenwell says, "we're now more focused on retail."
O'Neil's service includes crack and chip repair, contract glazing, storefront installation,...