Five Star Awnings
Five Star Awnings has been fabricating custom awnings, canopies, and enclosures across New York City since 1989. A father-daughter operation built on 35 years of word-of-mouth reputation, they handle everything in-house out of their Ridgewood, Queens facility: design, permitting, fabrication, and installation.
Key outcomes for Five Star Awnings:
Translated 35 years of word-of-mouth credibility into a digital presence that actually matches the company's reputation
Positioned Five Star to compete for high-end retail, restaurant, and luxury residential clients by showcasing licensing, insurance, and compliance credentials that set them apart
Built a clear content strategy across six distinct product lines, giving architects, contractors, and property owners a fast path to the information they need
Challenge: The Cobbler's Kids Had No Shoes
Five Star Awnings does work for roughly 45% of New York City's awning market. Their phone rings from referrals alone. But their website told a completely different story.
The existing site was outdated, not mobile-friendly, and failed to communicate the depth of what the company actually does. For a business moving into high-end restaurants, luxury apartment buildings, and architect-driven projects, first impressions matter. The website was making the wrong one.
The real challenge wasn't just aesthetics. Five Star had recently expanded into DOT-approved street dining structures, seasonal storage services, and complex permitting work for landmark buildings. None of it was represented online. Meanwhile, their most powerful differentiator was invisible to prospects checking them out for the first time: full New York State Labor Law insurance coverage, a rarity that gives high-end clients real protection.
Approach: Listen First, Build Second
We started with what we always do. A deep strategy kickoff with founder Joe Hartwig and the Five Star team.
Joe walked us through 35 years of building a business from a garage with no fax machine to a company that outfitted every McDonald's in New York City. We learned how the sales cycle works, what keeps property managers and architects coming back, and why the insurance and licensing story matters so much for landing premium projects.
From there, we developed a strategic brief and site structure that organized six product categories, a detailed process page, and a credentials section designed to do the heavy lifting that Joe does in person. The goal: establish trust fast.
Solution: Let the Work Speak
We built a clean, modern Webflow site that finally matches the quality of Five Star's craftsmanship.
The homepage leads with what matters: product offerings, licensing and insurance credentials, a streamlined process overview, and client testimonials. Each product line, from commercial awnings to street dining structures, gets its own dedicated section with clear descriptions that speak to the specific audiences looking for them.
The credentials section puts Five Star's DOB and DOT licensing, SST certification, and Labor Law coverage front and center. For the architects and building managers evaluating vendors, this is the section that closes the deal. It's no longer buried in conversation.
A filterable project gallery lets visitors browse completed work by solution type, while the process page walks prospects through exactly what working with Five Star looks like from consultation to installation. The contact page puts a name and a face on the experience. Reach out to Flo, not a form in the void.
