When Life Gives You Cigarettes . . .

One man’s sun room is another man’s smoking shelter. So discovered Albert Miller, whose business took off when he hung a sign that read “Smoking shelter” on one of his slow-selling insulated sun rooms. Miller’s inspiration came about three years ago when he drove by the Veterans Administration Hospital in Allen Park. There he saw a group of smokers, huddled inside a bus shelter.

He decided to market his sun rooms as smoking shelters, and business turned around for Duo-Gard Industries Inc., which Miller founded 10 years ago to make and sell energy-saving window insulation.

Miller has sold hundreds of smoking shelters in 43 states to customers such as PPG Industries Inc., General Motors Corp., the University of Louisville and hospitals. Shelters come in 45 sizes, ranging from 4 feet by 4 feet for about $1,400 to 12 feet by 25 feet for about $9,800. Depending on options, installation costs add from $1,500 to $3,000 to the package. Options include lights, heat, benches and fans.