“Mostly it’s about, ‘how can I help you be successful?’ in whatever [form] that happens to take on that particular day,” says Stuart Hallett, sales manager of Architectural Products of Virginia, speaking about his responsibilities to guide his team.
Architectural Projects of Virginia, also known as APV, offers some extremely important touches to buildings found in Virginia and southern Maryland, increasing their efficacy and aesthetics. As a commercial distributor of doors and other essentials within the building process, APV’s mission can be observed through the many different products and certain services offered. The company provides necessities to improve architectural projects with its defining sense of intentionality, helping to connect point A to point B in terms of distribution.
APV’s website outlines its history as a success story brought together through family ties. Since 1972, the Henry family has headed the company with excellence. As sales manager, Hallett has worked with the company for approximately four years, having been in the door industry since 1993. A fortuitous happening allowed him to transition into his position at APV following decades of dedicated work.
pre-installed hardware.
APV’s location on Route 17 in Yorktown is a sales office. In past years, company presence around the Newport News area existed in Oyster Point, an office/warehouse combo of several thousand square feet, according to Hallett. “The nature of what we’re doing here in Hampton Roads has shifted,” he says of the company’s “shift in focus.” This change is the result of several factors: keeping costs on the lower end, a lack of necessity for so much additional storage space and a smaller employee base.
With the help of a commercial real estate agent, company officials discovered an area that was “half the size of what we had before,” says Hallett. In September 2021, the Oyster Point office opened back up in Yorktown. A year later, in September 2022, APV’s bustling Ashland location gained some more breathing room in a new company-built space.
The company’s central headquarters in Ashland serves as its main facility, which Hallett describes as its “home office.” This facility encompasses APV’s inventory and is understandably the larger of the two facilities. From its Ashland base, APV offers drop shipping or delivery. Yorktown will sometimes still offer pick-up opportunities, but the bulk of the inventory available can be found in Ashland.
The Yorktown office has certainly become quieter due to the rearrangement of inventory, but it still serves as an integral aspect of APV’s outreach through the Peninsula area and further past it. There are four employees, including a “flexible” worker, and the Ashland location has around 50. With two physical locations, APV also uses some remote workers.
As Hallett says, APV’s strong suit lies in the commercial construction arena. In terms of products, the company distributes doors, security features, closure mechanisms and other essentials. The several services offered include APV’s new pre-installation services, with the company pre-installing doors through hardware. This distinction helps to speed up the process and conserve resources. “We really are the only ones doing this on a large scale in Virginia,” says Hallett. “Our industry isn’t the simplest one to navigate, but I appreciate a challenge.”
Hallett continues, “I kind of fell into construction accidentally, and it’s a hard business. The best part about it is, when you finish the job and walk away, there’s a building standing there,” Hallett says. He spoke highly of the mentor/mentee mentality opportunities that allow room for growth among young project managers and more seasoned workers.
Of interest is the important and/or favorite projects that the company has completed. Hallett’s list includes the doors to the Ferguson headquarters building in Newport News, the new casino in Portsmouth and APV’s recent reach to working on apartment and multi-family buildings.
Originally from Newport News, Hallett understands the need within the area for APV’s offerings. He has been married to his wife for 24 years and they have three sons. Outside of the
office, he enjoys reading and sports.
