Business Spotlight: Stained glass store offers one-stop shop

Contra Costa Times

Name of Business: Stained Glass Instruction and Design

Type of business: Stained glass

Owners: Kathie Godfrey and Richard Masadas

Founded: November 2006

Address: 613 W. 9th St., Antioch

Phone number: 925-755-7443

Hours: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday; closed Monday through Friday

Number of employees: 2

Products and services: Large selection of stained glass supplies. Stained Glass Instruction also offers stained glass repair services, classes, workshops and gifts, and free pattern resizing. Kathie Godfrey has been certified to teach by national glass work instructor and television host Vicki Payne.

How did you get into the business: "My mother wanted to take a stained glass class and talked me into going with her. I taught Richard, and the rest is history," Kathie Godfrey said.
Godfrey opened her store with her friend, Richard Masadas, whom she instructed in stained glass. When opening her storefront, Godfrey decided to share a business space with her son, who opened a silk screening business called T-Shirts and More INK, or TSaM as many know it.

Best part about the business?: "Meeting new people who also enjoy creating stained glass," Godfrey said. "Teaching the art of stained glass and watching how excited the students are when they finish their first project and how skillful they become over time."

Worst part about the business? Godfrey said she hasn't found anything about the business she doesn't enjoy.

Key to success: "Enjoying what you do," she said.

Biggest misperception about the business: "People thinking that they could never make a stained glass project," Godfrey said. She explained that stained glass is an art people can be taught.

Future plans: "To offer more classes and workshops," she said. She has a beginner class that started Saturday and runs Saturdays through Jan. 22. The class is from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. for the eight weeks, with the exception of Christmas and New Year's Day, which both fall on Saturdays. Godfrey said she supplies all the glass and tools needed for the class.
-- Roni Gehlke