Chief Executive Jane Skeeter is closing UltraGlas, the Chatsworth manufacturing business she started nearly 50 years ago and turned into a pioneer in high-end decorative glass in construction.
Skeeter, active in civic organizations, said she had been looking to sell the business but had difficulty finding a buyer. So she decided to sell off the equipment piecemeal to different companies that will continue the relationships she built with clients.
Big companies that could afford to buy the business weren’t interested because it is too niche-oriented and creative, while the smaller businesses couldn’t afford it, she explained.
“So, it left us in a kind of no man’s land,” Skeeter said.
One reason Skeeter is selling UltraGlas, which she founded in 1987, is because of the real estate. She owns her building at 9200 Gazette Ave. and has a lot of equity in it having bought the property about 20 years ago.
With real estate prices now at a premium, it made sense to sell the business, she said.
“It’s time for a little bit of fun,” Skeeter added. “With real estate having increased in price so much that I have a lot of equity in the property, I can afford to just retire.”Â