Page 32 - South Mississippi Living - December, 2015

PEOPLE window shopping
WINDOW KING
story by Lisa Kröger photos by James Edwards Bates
Todd Cantor helps keep the Gulf Coast safe
T he Window King family with over 110 years
of collective home-
improvement experience has brought its expertise from New York to the
Mississippi Coast. How does a man born and raised in New York City find himself living on the Mississippi Gulf Coast? “I drove straight down and took two rights,” said Todd Cantor, owner of Window King. Cantor is a man with a sense of humor — and a heart to match.
Originally, Cantor was a commercial pilot, but when family called, he didn’t hesitate to relocate. His father, Dan Cantor, was in the home improvement business
for more than 30 years as founder of Allstate Window and Siding Co. in the New Orleans area. Dan’s other son, Scott Cantor, took over the business, though Dan can still be seen in the commercials.
In 2001, Todd Cantor took the family business to Gulfport, opening Window King.
The business is an easy fit for Cantor, who loves to meet people. When asked what the best part of his company is, he doesn’t even skip a beat when he says, “my customers.”
And his customers feel the same way. Richard Brown of Gulfport is a longtime customer of Window King, having installed the impact windows and doors throughout his home. When asked why
he returns to Window King, Brown said of Cantor, “He’s a friend.”
The customer relationships are evident, and not only in the business’s A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau. As customers come into the Window King office, Cantor asks about family, talks about new restaurants he has tried,
or discusses weekend plans. It’s clear that he is in the business to take
care of people — not just their windows.
Cantor’s motto is “love people, use money.” He says that people often get that backwards, wanting to use people and love money, a problem
he saw following
the devastation
of Katrina. The hurricane,
according to
Cantor, “polluted
the industry,”
with companies popping up all
over the Coast,
offering cheap
window and door replacements,
usually with low quality work. “Buyer beware,” warns Cantor, who says that he is
still trying to help customers by replacing those cheaper fixes
32 SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living • December 2015