General Info

So in 1987, after selling Paul's business, The Fireplace Brick & Stone, and their home Paul & Lynne Lommen left Alexandria moved to Marathon Florida in the beautiful Florida Keys to embark on a new entrepreneurial venture. They would start a "Window Decorating Specialty Store" and fabricate blinds and shades. Earlier in Paul's career, he had been involved in a brand new product by Levelor called the mini-blind! The Fireplace business had a window covering department like so many other businesses like furniture stores, hardware stores, etc and he always believed there was a market in that industry for specialization. They bought a home in Marathon, built a shop in the garage, ordered business cards and they were off on their new venture together. They learned rapidly that the Minnesota work ethic would prove to be a valuable commodity in this laidback island culture. They opened a storefront on Overseas highway in 1989 and started "The Blind Factory of the Florida Keys" with the logo "We Shade the Keys."