Dealer Network · Iowa · Urbandale
Become an AJ Shades Dealer in Urbandale
A top-tier Des Moines suburb of mature oak streets and fast northwest growth, anchored by Living History Farms, and no local dealer owns the wholesale shade line yet. That seat is open.
Prefer text? Text AJ Shades at (909) 325-3110
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Owned
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on awnings & screens
five-star reviews
CSLB #951583
Urbandale is the suburb Des Moines built twice. The first Urbandale runs along Douglas Avenue east of 86th Street: postwar and 1970s ranches on generous lots, mature oaks arching over quiet streets around 70th Street and Roseland Drive, Lions Park and the old streetcar-era bones of a town that grew up as a coal and trolley suburb. Homeowners here have often held the same house for thirty years, and their rear patios face the classic problem of a shaded lot with one glaring exception: the low western sun that slips under the tree canopy every evening and lands squarely on the deck, the sliding doors, and the kitchen table beyond them. The second Urbandale is still being framed: northwest of the Walnut Creek corridor, master-planned subdivisions climb toward 156th Street and Waterford Road, where two-story family homes stand on open, treeless lots and every backyard faces full prairie sun from noon to dark.
Between those two cities sits the commercial spine a dealer learns first: the 86th Street corridor with its retail and services, Douglas Parkway running west, Meredith Drive carrying commuters, and the Interstate 35 and 80 interchange that locals simply call the crossroads of America. Living History Farms, the 500-acre open-air farming museum at that interchange, draws school groups and wedding parties all season and reminds every visitor that this suburb's roots are agricultural even as rooftops replace fields along its northwest edge. Families choose Urbandale for the schools, the Walnut Creek Trail system, Walker Johnston Park's softball complex, and the Buccaneer Arena crowds on hockey nights, and they invest accordingly: researched purchases, documented HOA approvals, and a strong preference for the contractor who can show warranty terms in writing.
The working arrangement is easy to explain to a partner or a lender. Manufacturing stays with our Southern California factory; every Urbandale sale and installation is yours, run under your own company name on wholesale supply. AJ Shades crews install only in Southern California, across San Diego, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties, so no factory crew will ever bid against you in this city. Start with the dealer benefits, survey the Iowa dealer network, and look at the wider county ground in Polk County and Dallas County before you claim your neighborhoods.
The product line
What Urbandale dealers sell
Shade engineered for HOA review, open-lot sun, and commuter evenings that start late.
Covered-Patio Motorized Power Screens
Urbandale's covered patios and three-season porches are a screen market waiting for a dealer. Zip-track screens drop at a button press to cut the low west glare, blunt creek-corridor mosquitoes, and hold privacy on close northwest lot lines. Somfy-powered, sensor-ready, and backed by a fifteen-year warranty.
See power screens for dealersFull-Cassette Retractable Awnings
The HOA-friendly answer for association-managed streets where architectural committees review every exterior change. A cassette awning presents a clean, closed housing in approved colors, opens for evening shade, and seals away for winter. Fifteen-year warranty, American-made construction.
See cassette awningsAwning Recover & Reskin
For the northwest homeowner on an open, treeless lot whose existing awning frame is still sound, dealers offer awning recover and reskin work: fresh fabric over the patio and outdoor kitchen area. A practical refresh, stated honestly, sold beside the retractable line.
See awning recover optionsWarranty language is a selling tool in a suburb that reads paperwork. Urbandale dealers put the 15-year factory warranty on every retractable awning and motorized power screen they sell, stated plainly and never blended into one vague promise. Patio covers are not part of the dealer lineup; AJ Shades sells and installs those itself in Southern California only. See wholesale pricing and the national dealer network for the complete picture.
Territory opportunity
The Urbandale market, street by street
Four distinct selling lanes inside one suburb.
The mature-core lane. Around Douglas Avenue, 70th Street, and the streets near Lions Park, long-tenured owners maintain ranches under full tree canopy and buy once, buy right. A precisely sized awning that solves the low evening sun under the oaks, sold on the written 15-year warranty, fits their temperament exactly, and their referrals travel through decades-old neighborhood networks.
The northwest growth lane. New subdivisions toward 156th Street, Waterford Road, and the Waukee line deliver street after street of unshaded two-story homes with west-facing rear yards and HOA design review. The dealer who learns each association's color and submittal rhythm quotes faster than the metro competition and takes this volume lane nearly uncontested.
The Walnut Creek lane. Homes backing to the creek and trail system around Walker Johnston Park pay a premium for greenbelt lots, then discover creek-corridor mosquitoes and evening glare off the open water meadows. Motorized screens are the unlock product here, converting covered patios into the rooms these families actually use from May through October.
The interchange and hospitality lane. Living History Farms events, Buccaneer Arena crowds, and the restaurant patios along the 86th Street and Douglas Parkway corridors create a commercial shade market most suburban dealers ignore: operators who lose seats to evening sun and need retractable cover that survives an Iowa events calendar. Apply today and tell us which lanes your crew already works.
Why partner with AJ Shades
The Urbandale edge
A wholesale line built for the way this suburb actually lives outdoors.
1. No local wholesale competitor. Urbandale's shade results are interior blind shops, a metro fireplace store with awnings as a side line, and brand dealers a suburb away. None recruits an Urbandale dealer, supplies a wholesale line, or hands a local contractor a protected city territory. You would be the program, not another bidder inside it.
2. Growth you can watch from the truck. The northwest building frontier adds households every month on streets your crew already drives, so a new dealer does not need to dominate anything to stay booked. Competence, HOA fluency, and returned calls compound quickly when the next block holds another forty unshaded patios.
3. Documented buyers reward documented dealers. Urbandale households research, read warranty language, and file architectural approvals before signing. A dealer carrying American-made hardware, training credentials, and the 15-year warranty in writing matches this market's buying culture better than any discount pitch.
4. Your name, your margin. No franchise buy-in, no royalties, no ad funds. You buy at wholesale, sell as your own Urbandale company, and keep the whole margin, building equity in a business you own outright in the suburb you already serve.
5. Veteran-owned, American-made, warranted in writing. The factory story lands in a patriotic, school-and-scouts suburb full of military families tied to the metro's Guard and Reserve community. Training, measuring support, and direct technical help stand behind the 15-year warranty on retractable awnings and motorized power screens.
Running a remodeling crew, a deck company, or an outdoor-living shop anywhere from Douglas Avenue to the northwest frontier? The dealer program was built for crew-led trades ready to add a premium shade line.
Apply to Become a DealerQuestions first? Text AJ Shades at (909) 325-3110, or call Richard Gutierrez, Project Manager, at (949) 378-6642 - Se habla espanol.
Dealer playbook
The Urbandale dealer playbook
Sell the commuter evening, and master the HOA packet.
Book the spring rush before school lets out. Urbandale families plan patios around the school calendar, and install schedules close by the time Walker Johnston Park fills for summer softball. Dealers who run measuring appointments through March and April, while metro competitors wait for the first hot week, own the profitable half of the season.
Make the HOA submittal your deliverable. Prepare the color chips, housing profile photos, and specification sheet the architectural committee wants before your customer ever asks, and carry approval timelines in your quote. In association-managed Urbandale, the dealer who removes paperwork friction wins ties against cheaper bids.
Work the street, not just the lead. Suburban referrals here travel through school, scout, and church networks as much as through next-door visibility. Sponsor the youth tournament at Walker Johnston, measure two homes on the same cul-de-sac in one trip, and photograph finished work, with permission, on the street your next customers drive every morning.
Urbandale dealer FAQ
Questions Urbandale businesses ask us
How do I become an AJ Shades dealer in Urbandale?
Is the AJ Shades dealer program a franchise?
What products can Urbandale dealers sell?
Do dealers need to carry inventory?
How do retractable awnings handle Iowa winter, derecho winds and freeze-thaw?
What support do dealers get?
Nearby Iowa dealer territories
Free estimate • No pressure
Urbandale's dealer seat is open.
A veteran-owned factory supplies Urbandale dealers at wholesale: American-made retractable awnings, motorized power screens, and awning recovers, with training, HOA documentation help, and warranty support behind every suburban sale.
Text AJ Shades
(909) 325-3110
Built by Family. Designed for Yours.
Owned
Made
on awnings & screens
five-star reviews
CSLB #951583