AAPI-owned luxury glass celebrates 40 years, closes shop

By Irfan Shariff
NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY

Tish Oye

Tish Oye is ready to retire.

After decades as the face of Glassworks, Inc., and one of the “only Asian-woman owners of a glass company,” she is liquidating everything—from art pieces and glass samples, tools, equipment, and furniture. “It’s time,” she said.

Oye is no artist—at least, in the design sense—but she is a creative dynamo in business operations. She purchased Glassworks in 1999 from Steve Shahbaghlian, whom she continued to employ as director of design. Oye and Shahbaglian later married.

Glassworks originally focused on leaded stained glass pieces, but Oye transitioned the firm into an oven-based model. These glass ovens reach over 1,200 degrees Fahrenheit and the process of assembly happens before firing in the oven, similar to ceramic pottery.

“We were one of the first,” she said. “Glass is really deceptive. It’s so heavy and dense and looks like it shouldn’t weigh anything. It doesn’t take up a lot of visual space.”

“I think it’s perfect,” she believes. Glassworks has provided architectural glass across the globe, from Japan to Panama, but mostly on the East and West Coasts. “It mimics the water.”

Oye, a third-generation Japanese American (sansei), was born in Philadelphia. Her father, who was originally from the Seattle-area, served in the famed 442nd Regimental Combat Team, which was made almost entirely of Japanese Americans. These soldiers fought for the U.S. in World War II while their families were intercarcerated. Afterward he moved East, like many other Japanese Americans, she said.

As a college student, Oye worked at a glass company during the summers. She finds this a bit ironic: “Then I ended up in glass.”

Oye began her career as a social worker and helped nonprofits with their financial planning. Her knack for business led her to get an MBA, where she wrote her thesis on Shahbaghlian and his stained glass company.

“At the end of it, he asked, ‘Would you like to purchase it?’” she recalls. And, she did.

“We have a good partnership,” she said.

“Our design community will truly miss them,” said Jerry Lee, executive director of the MG2 Foundation, the giving arm of architecture firm MG2. Lee knows Oye both professionally and personally. “Glassworks has been generous in donating their artwork to many nonprofits…I have bought some beautiful art glass in past auctions.”

She will donate whatever is left after liquidation to nonprofits.

Oye is an active member of the Seattle Betsuin Buddhist Temple and hopes to devote more of her time there after retiring. She also plans to travel more.

As a member of the Washington Glass Association, she noticed that “99% of owners were men” and that’s where she found her advantage: “You can forget these guys, but you can’t forget me.”

“That’s how I got the SBA loan. As a female minority, I felt that it has been more of an advantage,” she said. “I’ve run across very few Asian Americans in the build industry.”

“If you want to start a business, don’t hesitate. There are people to help you,” she advises.

Oye is a people person and will miss forming relationships, both professional and personal. This was the highlight of her career, she said.

“My favorite piece of glass is always the last one we’ve done,” she said. Last week, she shipped the last piece to California. Another project on the Avenue A Hotel in Bellevue was also recently completed. “We sometimes ship it and never see the end.”

Glassworks is holding its liquidations sale on Aug. 7 and 8. For more information, visit https://www.glassworksinc.com.