Posted on October 29, 2020

In 1973, our founder Leon Szyller created an ad with a green, fanged monster with the slogan "Fight the Uglies!" It became an instant community hit. The ugly monster leering from a rotting piece of wood personified homeowners' worries: damage, rot, and disrepair creep up slowly on a home, turning it from a refuge to a disaster.

With LAS, homeowners had a friend in the fight and a team to call if their house got hit with the "uglies." This nostalgic piece of New Orleans remains part of our cultural landscape, with vintage t-shirts as collectible memorabilia.

Why is it so important now? Today's homes are much bigger investments than they were in the 1970s. Home values are far outpacing inflation, almost twice as fast in some communities. Allowing the Uglies in simply isn't an option.

When it comes to selling, curb appeal is also more important. The majority of buyers begin their search online and with photos. If the Ugly crops up in those photos, that means your potential buyer has already moved onto the next home. Your home's first impression is so important, in fact, that 94% of real estate agents recommend improving a home's curb appeal before listing it for sale.

Just as importantly, this year's active hurricane season proved that frequent storms can have a measurable impact on our community's inland cities. For over 60 years at LAS, we've designed products that are made for and built in the Gulf South. Recent technology has allowed our LAS designers to further refine our design standards and materials to stand up to these storms.

Richard Maia, Manufacturing Engineer
Chief Executive Officer

Richard Maia is the Chief Executive Officer of LAS, one of the Gulf South's leading window and shutter manufacturers. A structural engineering graduate of Louisiana State University and a lifelong South Louisiana native, Richard grew up around LAS and spent summers working the floor before eventually leading the company. His engineering background shapes everything about how LAS operates: products are designed from first principles, not convention, and engineered specifically for the heat, humidity, and storm demands of the regional climate.

Under his leadership, LAS has pursued deep vertical integration by investing in in-house manufacturing capabilities to maintain tighter control over quality, sourcing, and timelines. A graduate of Jesuit High School in New Orleans, Richard brings both technical rigor and genuine local roots to a company he has built around one straightforward belief: that a lifetime warranty only means something if the company is still around to honor it.

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Posted in: Home Owner Advice Uncategorized

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Julia,
On behalf of Lighthouse Louisiana (formerly The Lighthouse for the Blind), please convey my thanks once again to your coworkers for supporting our summer camp for children who are blind. It is a rare thing to see a corporate family like yours, where people get together and give from their own hard-earned paychecks to local groups that are doing good work in the community. As donors, sometimes it’s hard to know what donations to organizations we care about are actually being used for. We consider LAS an important investor in our work, and we cannot thank you enough for helping us serve our clients.

Thank you,
Erin McQuade Wright
Director of Development

We just finished getting new windows from LAS and I can’t be any happier. From start to finish, this job was done professionally. The salesman, Garrett, came to the house on time and explained the windows and the process and answered any questions that we had at the time. He indicated the person who would do the measurements would call and set up an appointment within two weeks and the the windows would be built and installed in about 5 weeks. Well, the job – from the initial estimate to complete install – was three weeks. The installed that completed the job did an excellent job of install, caulking and cleanup. We can’t give them a higher rating. The most amazing thing so far is the look and how much it has cut down on outside noise. I highly recommend LAS and since they are local, from repairs to employing people, we keep it right here at home. We are very satisfied customers.