SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – A staple in the South Lake Tahoe community since 1972, South Shore Glass has been filling the glass and door needs of customers throughout the Lake Tahoe Basin. Started by Bill Russell on Oct. 1, 1972, the business was sold by Bill’s son and daughter-in-law, Steve and Donna Russell, on Oct. 1, 2025.
Their long and successful journey in South Lake Tahoe has been centered around excellent customer service, something that has put generations of Russells into some of the largest and most expensive glass and door projects in the region. It was also the small jobs that endeared the Russells to the community.
Bill bought the business in South Lake Tahoe after operating another successful glass company in Klamath Falls, Oregon, before making the move to Tahoe. The move to Tahoe almost didn’t happen as Bill and the family were originally headed to Fort Collins, Colorado, to buy a glass shop. They ended up in South Lake Tahoe instead and purchased Alpine Glass, and have operated in the same building ever since.
“He was an amazing self-made man,” Steve says of his dad. “He was fearless.”
Bill gave Steve and his brothers, Alan and Gary, five percent of the business when they were in high school. During his senior year at South Tahoe High, Steve would go to school in the morning and have work experience at the store in the afternoon before graduation in 1973.
Bill was one of ten kids (and three were sets of twins, with Bill being from one set). Steve was brought up in the business, and his and Donna’s kids learned the business from the inside as well. Bill did sell South Shore Glass once when his wife was ill in 1980, but the new owner didn’t work out, and Steve came in after a year and took over the business, paid off that short-term owner’s debts, and has been busy ever since.
Alan left the business after developing highly sought-after bidding software that is in high demand in the glass and construction business. Alan still works on the technical aspects at South Shore Glass & Door.
Donna and Steve met at Sierra Baptist Church in South Lake Tahoe (now it is known as Sierra Community Church). She was 15 and he was 18. Donna Buckman became Donna Russell in 1977. They have three kids, Stephanie, Justin and Brittney, and seven grandchildren.
Retirement will give them more time to be with family, enjoy trips to the coast, take the trailer out, visit grandkids in the Bay Area, and next spring, a cruise down the Rhine River. They also have season tickets to the Tahoe Night Monsters and can’t wait for the new season this weekend.
“We’re going to see what it’s like not being married to the shop,” said Donna.
Since they were an essential business during the pandemic, the Russells were working endless hours as people were home and working on homes, and new remote workers came to town and remodeled their new houses. Donna said it was a blessing to be busy when many businesses had to close, but they worked every day. Steve said business has been crazy ever since, fondly nicknaming the shop “the monster” as he said requests for glass and doors far exceeded the number of jobs they could take, and they could never catch up with so much need.
They both said they’ll miss the customers and employees the most. A large number of the clients they have seen have undergone multiple remodels over the decades. There are many memorable homes they’ve worked on displayed on a slide show in the store, Steve said their product is on dozens of homes in Glenbrook, at a Disney star’s home in Mammoth, the homes at Hyatt Vacation resort in Incline Village, the Steyer house in Glenbrook where President Biden stayed, the Dreyfus estate, the Sunnyside Resort and multiple other locations. Some home projects have had over $450k in glass installed.
The new owner is Albert Liao, who moved from the Los Angeles area to purchase South Shore Glass & Door. The energetic new owner has been absorbing everything the Russells can share as they stay on for 30 days (but Steve says he’ll always be available to help). Albert, who earned his master’s in business from Yale, has been around several different industries, from automobile assembly lines to Apple, and has owned other businesses, all centralized around customer service.
“It’s about solving the customer’s problems,” said Albert. He uses Steve Jobs’ philosophy – what separates dreamers from doers is the willingness to take action.
Steve said he wants Albert to succeed and is mentoring him this month. There are enough jobs already to keep the new owner busy through February, and if the past is any example, they will continue to move forward quickly.
“I’m so happy to be here,” said Albert. “South Lake Tahoe is such a great place.”
You can still catch the Russells in-house until Nov. 1 for those wanting to say goodbye.
“It’s been a good business,” said the Russells. “It’s been a blessing.”
