Every day, rumbling semis stacked floor to ceiling with steel doors and windows leave the PINKYS Vernon warehouse to make their journey to homes and businesses across the US; to San Fransisco, Scottsdale, Miami, New York, and everywhere in between. Located at the corner of Santa Fe and 48th Street at the center of California’s most industrious city in a historic building once used for manufacturing airplane parts during World War II, the PINKYS warehouse is the beating heart of our operation.
Measuring over 100,000 square feet, featuring multiple floors and a spacious freight elevator and home to the largest stock of steel doors and windows in the US, for six days a week the warehouse is a hive of activity. Stepping inside the cavernous space, it would be unusual not to hear the hum of forklifts trundling across the concrete floor (cleaned and waxed weekly) or the echoing voices of PINKYS staff hard at work readying orders for fulfillment.
When PINKYS moved into the space a number of years ago, it was hard to imagine that we’d soon fill it. Like a boy stepping into his father’s shoes, it seemed inconceivable that the budding business could grow so much in such a short time (and incidentally that’s not far from what actually happened, for PINKYS, now run by brothers Dion and Arin Der, has its roots back in the late 1970s with the ironworks of their father, Vic Der-Sarkissian) but that’s exactly what we’ve done. Today, from the solid grey floors to the distant, airy ceiling, the space is stacked with iron and steel doors waiting for their trip to the home they’re destined for.
It’s a busy operation. From our signature steel entrance doors to more traditional iron doors, to wide french patio doors with sidelights and transoms, all of our doors and windows are palletized by hand, on pallets we build ourselves for the purpose.
Why go to the effort of building our own packaging? We do it to ensure that from the moment an order leaves our warehouse it’s safe, sound and protected from harm along its journey to wherever in the country it’s going, pristine and ready to be installed. It also helps to account for our wide range of customization. We offer modestly-sized doors and steel windows for typical American residences, as well as expansive bi-fold accordion doors, sliding doors, and pivot doors to accommodate larger homes and businesses, and a whole lot in between.
Once they’re palletized and wrapped, Pinkys doors and windows are loaded onto trucks (we offer a range of shipping options to help optimize for speed or cost depending on your needs, including LTL, flatbed, local shipping and even pick up for those who prefer it) and shipped off to their new homes.
Of course, part of why PINKYS has been so successful, and why we need such an expansive space, has been our dedication to offering a wide selection of in-stock doors and windows. These sit wrapped and packaged in handmade wooden crates made specifically for each door and are stored flat on racks that reach the ceiling 50 feet high, waiting to be ordered.
In addition to our stock, which is the largest in the US, we offer pre-sales, able to be purchased during the production process to match the timeline of any project. These doors, often as not, are destined to leave again as soon as they arrive, hopping from one truck to another with few steps in between, adding to the warehouse’s generally bustling air.
PINKYS has big plans in store for the future, and lots of surprises in store. There’s no telling if we’ll someday outgrow this space. What is clear is that 2382 East 48th Street is and always will be an important part of the PINKYS legacy.
