Automated Entry
A sliding solution to glass-shattering South Texas winds turned into Horton Automatics
By Ruth Cochran-Escamilla, Caller Times
Ka-whoosh is the sound of doors sliding open to the future.
If Horton Automatics of Corpus Christi has its way, homes in the United States will begin installing sliding automatic doors, which company co-founders Dee Horton and Lew Hewitt invented in 1954.Private homes are one of the few untapped markets for Horton Automatics, which builds about 25,000 automatic doors and windows annually, sending them around the world to the tune of $70 million in sales last year, said company president Bob McGovern.
Horton Automatics, a division of the Overhead Door Company of Dallas, has built doors and windows for Fortune 500 companies such as McDonald's, Sears, American Airlines, Walgreen's, Wendy's, IBM, Exxon, AT&T, Marriott, Taco Bell and Disney World.
Step through the airport doors in Dallas-Forth Worth, Kuala Lumpur, Frankfurt or Las Vegas and you step through a Horton Automatics product. The company even provided an entryway to Britain and France -- it built the automatic doors used at the Channel ports.
Horton began marketing the sliding automatic door in 1960. Horton and Hewitt invented their door when they were working at Horton Glass Co. They were continuously repairing conventional hand-opened, push-pull doors that Corpus Christi's strong winds would slam shut, causing glass to shatter.
Their first door in operation was a unit donated to the City of Corpus Christi for its Shoreline Drive utilities department.
The first one sold was installed at the old Driscoll Hotel for its restaurant. Aida Guzman, Horton Automatics sales and marketing administrator, said the Torch Restaurant still used one of the company's original doors.
Hewitt, who also invented the automatic sliding window, served as general manager of the firm until 1986 when he became president. Hewitt, Horton and several others had sold their shares in the firm to the Dallas Corp. in 1970.Hewitt, who is 69, retired four years ago, but he still serves as an engineering consultant for Horton Automatics.
His sons, David and Danny, also work for the firm. David is vice president of engineering and special projects, and Danny is is director of information services. Daughter Giovanna used to work in marketing, though she has moved to one of Horton Automatics' largest customers.
Danny Hewitt said working for Horton Automatics came, well, almost automatically.
"I was in the Army awhile and came back to finish school, and while I did I worked part-time here," he said. "David and I both did. When we got out of school we both continued working here. Manufacturing is something we all enjoy doing. It helps people and it's a good business."
Though Lew Hewitt and Dee Horton built the company, Danny Hewitt said many others contributed to the company's success through the years.
Still, Danny Hewitt said he can't help but feel a sense of history about the company.
"What seems amazing sometimes is pulling into the parking lot and knowing where the company came from," he said. "This facility is supporting so many families, not only here but (in) our distributor network. It does seem amazing what it's come from to what it is today."
Staff writer Ruth Cochran-Escamilla can be
reached at 886-3683 or by e-mail at
escamillar@caller.com.