Novus Glass

Novus Glass holds a unique place in the auto glass industry: they literally invented windshield repair. Before Novus came along in 1972, a rock chip in your windshield meant one thing — full replacement. There was no technology to repair damaged glass in place. Novus founder Gerald Keinert developed the process of injecting clear resin into chips and cracks to restore structural integrity and optical clarity without removing the windshield. It was a genuine breakthrough that transformed the industry.

The impact of that invention is difficult to overstate. Windshield repair has saved consumers billions of dollars over the past five decades. It has kept millions of tons of glass out of landfills. It has reduced the carbon footprint of the auto glass industry by eliminating millions of unnecessary replacements. And it has created an entire category of business — the windshield repair franchise — that did not exist before Novus.

Novus scaled their innovation through a franchise model that now operates in over 30 countries. The franchise approach allowed them to spread quickly while maintaining local ownership and accountability. Each Novus franchisee is a small business owner embedded in their community, which creates a level of customer care and local reputation management that large corporate operations often struggle to replicate.

Today, Novus offers both repair and full replacement services, but their repair heritage remains their calling card. They trained the industry on when a windshield can be repaired versus when it must be replaced, and their repair-first philosophy continues to save customers money and reduce waste. Sometimes the most profitable innovation is figuring out how not to replace something.