Korean window film manufacturer Nexfil will soon celebrate the one-year anniversary of its Gardena, Calif., distribution plant. The company has headquarters in Icheon City, South Korea, and two manufacturing facilities—one in Icheon City and one in Yongin City—that produce around the clock. Although it has been operating as an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) in the United States for several years, it only officially opened its branch in Gardena in April 2009, to distribute its products.

All of its film products are manufactured in South Korea, and the company is expanding its U.S. facility to accommodate growing demand.

According to S.W. Choi, Nexfil USA president, “We are in the expansion process again, adding additional warehousing capabilities and personnel in Gardena to accommodate our rapid growth.”

As the company begins to expand in the States, management is looking for ways to further increase its presence.

“We most certainly would like to add manufacturing capabilities here as we continue to expand our presence in the U.S. market. It would give us great pleasure to be able to contribute to job growth in the U.S.,” says Choi. Also on tap are plans for additional distribution centers. “Along with our desire to bring some of our manufacturing processes to the U.S., we would like to open another warehousing facility that would be centrally located in the U.S., in order to better service the Midwest and East Coast,” Choi adds.

Still, Choi acknowledges that it has been challenging to break into this new market.

“The biggest challenge has been getting people to accept us and try our products, even though a lot of people have already been using our products under a different name,” Choi says, explaining that some of their nano-ceramic films have been purchased by other manufacturers in the United States and re-labeled under the names of those companies, though he declined to disclose those names.

He also notes, “The U.S. market is definitely the toughest compared to other countries. The tinter is very demanding here, and homogenous products that worked on a global scale had to be modified to accommodate the unique style of the tinters in the U.S.”

But as the company’s foothold in the market here stands strong, Choi says he’s looking forward to the future growth.