People of Pinnacle – Moira Glass-Mirror Ltd.
By Melody Pereira
The Downtown District includes not only Front Street, but also the West Side of Pinnacle Street! We’re excited to introduce you to some of the People of Pinnacle you may have not met before, or who you want to get to know better. Let’s shine the spotlight on the Downtown District’s very own: Pinnacle Street! We learn their stories and discover more about the events and motivations that have led them to their successful businesses today. Let’s get into it …
Moira Glass-Mirror Ltd.
The next stop on our People of Pinnacle virtual tour was a check-in at Moira Glass & Mirror. Owners Christina and Pierre Moussa shared more about their business, what it’s all about, and what makes it so unique!
Moira Glass-Mirror Ltd., sitting at 314 Pinnacle Street, offers a wide range of glass services and products for both commercial and residential properties. They replace windows, doors, showers, storefronts, and other glass and mirror-related services. They also have an automatics department with experience in replacing and repairing automatics.
The business handles plenty of counter work, replacing sealed units and screens, among other things. In store, they carry a variety of hardware relating to windows, doors, screens, etc. As a growing business, Moira Glass-Mirror Ltd. is constantly expanding their knowledge and increasing stock – they are always adding to the products and services that the offer!
This husband-and-wife duo began their first business in 2000 in Oshawa, Ontario. They worked on growing this company for over 20 years until they started to consider purchasing Moira Glass-Mirror here in the Downtown District of Belleville. Moira Glass-Mirror Ltd. has been operating for about 50 years under the founders Barb and Derek Lawday. The Lawday’s then passed on this business to their daughter Debbie who then ran the company until she passed in 2016. Christina and Pierre then decided to buy Moira Glass-Mirror in 2017, where they have run it at the original Pinnacle Street location ever since.
The story of how the current ownership of Moira Glass-Mirror came to be goes a little something like this …
Pierre had been working in the glass industry before he and his wife Christina had met. Christina had been working for her parent’s glass company during high school. What a match! Eventually, Pierre decided that he wanted to branch out and begin his own company taking great pride in his work and his high skill in the trade. He first started his private glass company out of a van at their family home and worked to build his reputation gaining resources to take his work even further.
This decision to purchase Moira Glass-Mirror in 2017 came after discovering what a great step it would be for their next growing business. Christina shares that:
“Although it was a risk to invest so much into Moira Glass-Mirror, we saw the potential it carried being located in the downtown of a growing city, so it was the perfect place to expand our reach”.
Why Pinnacle?
Christina shares that this location on Pinnacle was originally an old horse stables, but over time there have been multiple additions to expand the building as the business grew. They believe that the spot of Pinnacle is the perfect location for their company since it places them in the heart of Belleville which allows for their brand to be well-known to the downtown as well as surrounding areas. A large part of their decision to purchase the company was, in fact, due to its unique location and the importance of location to attract potential customers.
Pierre and Christina’s mission with Moira Glass-Mirror is to provide Belleville and its surrounding areas with high quality glass and mirror services. Whether they’re doing your windows, doors, showers, or just simple repairs, at Moira Glass-Mirror, they strive to ensure that everything they do is done correctly with the customer’s best interest in mind. They also work to foster a friendly and positive work environment so that both employees and customers alike can feel comfortable and confident with their services.
Moira Glass-Mirror is unique in that they genuinely care about the work that they do and all of their servicemen take great pride in everything they do. As a smaller company they truly feel that their employees are a second family, and they extend that way of thinking to the Belleville community as well!
A typical day at Moira Glass-Mirror goes a little something this…
As a smaller business, almost every day is busy with servicemen measuring and installing from 8 til 5 and office staff working just as hard. Although owners tend to spend a lot of time doing paperwork, they also love taking part in customer service and dealing with customers directly. Each day is enjoyable as it is spent alongside “family”. Although each day can bring a new set of challenges, there is also a great satisfaction that comes at the end of the day knowing how much has been accomplished and how far the business has come.
What’s in store for Moira Glass-Mirror?
Looking into the near future, Christina and Pierre have goals to continue working with new and repeat customers and gain more business as the province continues to reopen back to the former way of living.
Within the next 5 years, Moira Glass-Mirror plans to bring new glaziers into their family to be able to learn from their staff and successfully serve the Belleville community for years to come. They also plan on doing some renovations and updating their stock hardware to improve the showroom. Their commercial and automatic departments also have plans of expansion for larger jobs while continuing to serve smaller businesses.
Looking 10 years ahead, Christina and Pierre hope to see one of their children taking on more responsibilities within the business upon completion of school. They currently work summer seasonal jobs at Moira Glass-Mirror and are excited to continue on this endeavour working alongside their parents to contribute to the family business.
Be sure to follow along with Moira Glass-Mirror on social media and reach out for all of your window and glass needs!
