Posted on January 6, 2015

Leon Szyller, founder of LAS Enterprises, created the “Fight the Uglies!” campaign in 1973. The campaign urged customers to let LAS Enterprises help them “Fight the Uglies” on their homes. The ad featured a small green creature with large claws and lots of nasty-looking sharp teeth. “FIGHT THE UGLIES!” the ad proclaimed, “Call LAS Enterprises for help with all your home improvement needs.”

The unique phrase, coupled with pictures of an “Ugly Monster” sitting on the rotting wood of an old house, became an instant hit. “Fight the Uglies” soon grew to be an LAS trademark. In 1977, LAS Enterprises began giving customers free “Fight the Uglies” T-shirts.

Today, the T-shirts are considered nostalgic pieces of New Orleans memorabilia. Customers across the Gulf Coast region know that LAS Enterprises is the team to call when their homes start to look ugly and outdated.

Richard Maia, CEO of LAS Enterprises has decided to bring back the “Fight the Uglies” campaign. LAS is excited to help you Fight the Uglies in 2015, just as we’ve been doing since 1957. That’s almost sixty years!

Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to serve you. At LAS, we know home improvement, and we’re here for you. So if your home is being attacked by the “Uglies”, give us a call today and Fight the Uglies with LAS Enterprises!

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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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.

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.