Become an AJ Shades Dealer in Lake County

Leadville sits at 10,152 feet, the highest incorporated city in North America, and everything about the shade market follows from the altitude. About 7,552 people live in Lake County, in a former silver-boom town that never lost its character, with Mount Elbert rising in-county and a tourism economy layered over workforce housing. A dealer here sells into thin air, literally, and the product story writes itself.

Extreme altitude UV is the engineering argument. At two miles up, the sun punishes bargain fabric and exposed hardware fast, and Leadville’s porches and patios take the full force of it. Premium acrylic, sealed cassettes that shelter the system between uses, and the fifteen-year factory warranty on every retractable awning and motorized power screen turn the harshest sun in the dealer network into the dealer’s best demonstration.

The historic housing stock is the canvas. Leadville’s Victorian-era homes carry deep porches, tall windows, and facades the town protects, which makes motorized screens the natural fit: they drop over the porch opening without touching the architecture and retract out of sight. Restoration-minded owners pay for the system that respects the building.

Tourism and workforce housing split the book. Bed-and-breakfasts, lodges, and short-term rentals buy shade for guest areas in multiples, while the workforce households who keep the town running buy on durability and warranty. The dealer serves both with the same line, the same samples, and the same service rhythm.

The trade lane is wide open. Few specialty shade businesses work at this altitude, which means the dealer who commits to Leadville and Twin Lakes owns the highest market in North America by default. AJ Shades is product-only wholesale, dealers sell nationwide and fulfill through trusted local contractors, while our own crews install only in Southern California, in San Diego, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties.