AJAJ ShadesVeteran Owned

VETERAN-OWNED · AMERICAN-MADE

Dealer Network · Washington · Benton County

Own the Tri-Cities Sun Market as an AJ Shades Dealer

219,625 residents, three converging rivers, hundred-degree summers, and the fastest-growing new-build belt in Eastern Washington -- with no wholesale shade dealer anywhere in it.

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Prefer text? Text AJ Shades at (909) 325-3110

Our team has earned 605 five-star reviews.

Veteran
Owned
American
Made
15-Year Warranty
on awnings & screens
605
five-star reviews
Licensed Since 2010
CSLB #951583

Prefer to talk it through? Text (909) 325-3110 (TEXT-only) or call Richard Gutierrez, Project Manager, at (949) 378-6642 (Se habla espanol).

Heat is the product argument in Benton County, and the county makes it for you. The Tri-Cities sit in the rain shadow of the Cascades where summer means weeks of triple-digit afternoons, and a south or west-facing patio without shade is furniture nobody sits on. Homeowners here do not debate whether they need shade -- they debate what kind. A retractable awning that deploys in spring, works the entire brutal season, and parks itself for winter is the answer that fits how this market thinks: equipment for the conditions, not decoration.

The buyer base is unusually qualified. Richland grew up around the Hanford Site and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, which means engineers, technicians, and project managers with technical incomes and technical mindsets. These buyers read spec sheets, ask about motor torque and fabric ratings, and decide on engineering before they decide on color. A Somfy-powered system with a sealed cassette and a fifteen-year factory warranty on the awning and screen line is exactly the kind of product that survives their scrutiny -- and wins their referrals.

Growth is the third leg of the stool. Benton County holds 219,625 residents (Washington OFM, 2025; 223,200 projected for 2026), and the new-build belt across West Richland, south Kennewick, and Benton City keeps adding the cleanest install base in Eastern Washington: standard decks, standard sliders, standard mounting surfaces, no surprises. Red Mountain AVA and the Horse Heaven Hills keep the wine money flowing through Prosser and Benton City, and the Columbia, Yakima, and Snake rivers converge here -- which means river-view patios from the Sacagawea Heritage Trail corridor to the Richland waterfront, all baking in the same sun.

The territory is served from far away, which is the opening. Tri-Cities buyers currently drive to Spokane-market shops -- Shade Pros, StruXure PNW, Alpine Home Products -- or buy through national brand-box programs, because no independent wholesaler sells premium motorized shade inside Benton County. Franklin County’s Pasco side of the river is growing even faster, and the same vacuum covers it. A local dealer with wholesale pricing on American-made product does not compete with those shops on their terms; the dealer simply stops the drive to Spokane.

The model is built for an operator who installs. AJ Shades’ own crews stay in Southern California, so every Benton County job -- measure, install, service -- belongs to the dealer and the local installers the dealer trusts. Build-to-order manufacturing means the catalog and fabric samples are the showroom; there is no inventory to finance. And the motorized power screen rides every awning consult: the same west-facing exposure that needs the awning needs the screen on the slider, and one customer becomes two tickets without a second lead.

Dealer catalog

The Benton County product set

Heat-season systems for the hottest market in the state.

Retractables

Full-cassette and open-roll retractable awnings engineered for hundred-degree weeks: deploy for the season, park for the winter, let the wind sensor handle the river gusts, and lean on the fifteen-year factory warranty at the close.

See cassette awnings

Drop Screens

Zip-track motorized screens for the west-facing sliders and patios that bake every afternoon: cut the heat blast, seal out the insects, and sell the screen line’s fifteen-year factory warranty alongside the awning.

See power screens for dealers

Recover + Motor Upgrades

Re-fabric service for sun-faded frames and Somfy-powered motor kits for the Tri-Cities’ aging manual awnings -- fast consults, single-visit installs, and the referral engine that feeds the premium line.

Browse the dealer catalog

Every retractable awning and motorized power screen in the catalog carries the 15-year factory warranty -- American-made, veteran-owned, and the sentence that ends comparison shopping in the Tri-Cities. Coverage varies by product and component; awning recover service for existing frames completes the Benton offering.

Patio covers are excluded from the dealer catalog.

Where the installs land

The Tri-Cities service map

Riverfront tickets, subdivision volume, wine-country margins.

Richland is the engineering buyer. Hanford and PNNL households along the Columbia waterfront and the established neighborhoods buy on specs and keep systems for decades. The cassette-and-sensor demonstration lands here better than anywhere in the county, and the fifteen-year warranty is the detail that survives the spreadsheet comparison these buyers actually run.

Kennewick is the volume. The county’s largest city keeps adding families in the southern subdivisions, and those homes have the standard decks and sliders that install in a day. Win the visible streets here and the neighborhood referral chain does the marketing -- one committee-approved install sells the block.

West Richland and Benton City are the growth edge. New construction means clean mounting surfaces and buyers already spending on the house, plus Red Mountain and Horse Heaven Hills wine money flowing through tasting rooms that need shaded patios. This is the dealer’s commercial lane and the residential growth lane in the same week’s route.

Prosser and the lower valley hold the margins. Wine-country properties, acreage homes, and the operators who serve them buy bigger systems and keep them longer. One written Benton County territory covers all four zones, and the Pasco side of the river stays in reach for the dealer who wants it.

Why Benton wins

The case for a Tri-Cities dealer

Heat, engineers, growth, and nobody local to serve them.

The heat never negotiates. Triple-digit weeks make shade a necessity purchase, not a lifestyle upgrade. Consults start with the buyer already convinced -- your job is showing the best system, not selling the concept.

Engineers buy engineering. The Hanford and PNNL buyer base evaluates motors, fabrics, and warranties like professionals. American-made systems with Somfy-powered drives and a fifteen-year factory warranty are built for exactly this scrutiny.

New builds install clean. The West Richland and south Kennewick growth belt delivers standard decks and sliders with no surprises -- the fastest, most profitable installs in the dealer’s book.

The competition is 140 miles away. Spokane shops and brand-box programs serve this market remotely. A local dealer with wholesale pricing ends the drive and keeps the margin in the Tri-Cities.

Zero inventory, zero franchise. Build-to-order manufacturing and no buy-in mean the dealer’s capital stays in the business -- trucks, crew, and marketing -- instead of sitting on a warehouse shelf or going to a franchisor.

Already running an install crew in the Tri-Cities? The contractor program fits crew-led operators and pairs with the dealer program. See the dealer benefits breakdown before applying.

Apply to Become a Dealer

Dealer questions

Benton County: what dealers ask

Can one awning really survive a Tri-Cities July and a January freeze?
Yes, because it only works one of those seasons. The retractable spends July deployed, shading the patio through the hundred-degree weeks, and spends January parked inside its cassette while the cold does its worst to everything left outside. Fabric never carries ice, arms never bind, and the wind sensor pulls the awning in during the shoulder-season gusts that roll off the river. Benton County dealers teach the two-move seasonal routine -- deploy in spring, park in fall -- and the routine is the warranty protection buyers actually follow.
Will Kennewick or Richland make me pull a permit?
Almost never for a standard wall-mounted residential retractable. Kennewick, Richland, West Richland, and Benton City treat a house-mounted retractable awning as an accessory, not a structure, so the usual answer is no permit and no delay. Commercial patios, rooftop mounts, and anything street-facing in a downtown overlay can be different, and the dealer checks with the city on those jobs. Submittal paperwork comes from the program, so the question gets settled during the estimate instead of stalling the install.
Do the new subdivisions in West Richland allow awnings?
Most do, through architectural review rather than prohibition. The newer subdivisions across West Richland and south Kennewick run design committees that approve fabric colors, mounting hardware, and placement before installation -- they want the street to look coordinated, not awning-free. Dealers handle this routinely: the program supplies spec sheets, color samples, and photos, and the submittal goes in with the estimate. A committee approval in hand also becomes the neighbor referral that sells the next two houses on the block.
Do I have to buy a franchise to carry the AJ Shades line?
No. There is no franchise to buy, no upfront buy-in, no percentage of your sales going back to the factory, no required ad budget, and no rent on your territory. You run your own company, buy American-made retractable awnings and motorized power screens at wholesale pricing, and sell across Benton County under your own name. The factory supplies the product, the training, the samples, and the fifteen-year warranty on the awning and screen line -- the business itself stays yours.
What products come with the Benton County territory?
Retractable awnings in full-cassette and open-roll builds, motorized power screens with zip-track sealing, and awning recover service that re-fabrics existing frames -- the full motorized shade catalog, manufactured in America and backed by the fifteen-year factory warranty on retractables and power screens. Patio covers are excluded from the dealer catalog; every item in it is something a local crew can measure, order, and install without a second trade on the job.
Do I have to stock inventory to be a dealer?
No, and that is one of the main reasons the program fits independent contractors. Everything is built to order: you sell from the catalog and the fabric samples, take the deposit, and the factory builds the unit to your measurements. No warehouse shelf of finished awnings, no capital tied up in sizes that never sell, no end-of-season clearance. Benton dealers run the business out of a truck and an office, and the money that would have sat in inventory stays working in the company.

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Free estimate • No pressure

Benton County’s dealer seat is open.

Wholesale retractable awnings and motorized power screens for Tri-Cities dealers: American-made, veteran-owned factory, training, and a 15-year factory warranty on the awning and screen line.

Text AJ Shades

(909) 325-3110

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Veteran
Owned
American
Made
15-Year Warranty
on awnings & screens
605
five-star reviews
Licensed Since 2010
CSLB #951583
Become a DealerSubmit an inquiryText AJ Shades(909) 325-3110