About A&J Wholesale, Inc

A & J Wholesale, Inc was established in December 1989 by owners Jay & Joyce Slaton. The company began in San Diego, CA and has grown into a coast-to-coast operation. As a result of the popularity of our web site we now go by the name “Gigantic Mirrors”. We primarily service the health and fitness industry. However, we also service other large facilities such as horse arenas, karate studios, dance studios, physical therapy offices, etc.

Our superior customer service and quality products are the reasons for our continued success. Our commitment is to you, our customers! That is why we offer a 5 year guarantee on all of our mirrors and a lifetime warranty on all of our installations. With Gigantic Mirrors, you can rest assured that the job will be done right and that our prices are the lowest in the nation.

All orders must be placed 4-6 weeks in advance. Scheduled delivery dates and times may vary. We require a 50% deposit, at the time you place your order. The balance is due on the day we call you to schedule your delivery appointment. Your deposit will be refunded in full if you need to cancel your order. However, your deposit WILL BE FORFEITED if you have a confirmed appointment time and; (1) you do not show up (2) we cannot get into the building where the mirrors are going (3) or they are no walls or a safe space where the mirrors are to be installed. There are no returns or exchanges. All mirrors and installation are to be inspected by the customer at the time of installation/delivery, before the delivery team leaves the location. The office staff places your order, indicating to the installation team what materials are needed at the job site. The office staff is not responsible for instruction the team on HOW and WHERE your mirrors are to be installed. YOU MUST BE PRESENT AT THE JOB SITE AT YOUR APPOINTMENT TIME. ANYONE ACTING AS YOUR AGENT IS RESPONSIBLE FOR INSTRUCTING THE TEAM HOW AND WHERE THE MIRRORS ARE GOING. Once the mirrors are installed, there will be a fee to remove and re-install  There is and 8% handling charge added to all orders. This is an industry standard charge that includes a fuel charge, as well as a delivery charge.

UNBREAKABLE & GLASSLESS MIRRORS?

*$50 per sheet additional if you require type 2 commercial safety backing and is only available for mirrors that we install.

Businesses that use large mirrors need to know that ANY mirror that is not real glass is very short lived . Any mirror that is not real glass, scratches and distorts extremely easily. Even a soft diaper will scratch them so badly over a very short time that they are useless for what they were intended. These expensive, but temporary mirrors go by many names on the internet such as safety mirror, glassless mirror, shatterproof mirror, unbreakable mirror, mylar mirror, not-mylar mirror, plastic mirror, acrylic mirror and stainless steel mirror. You’ll write a big check for these, and then write another one a year later when you can’t see yourself anymore and end up buying real glass mirrors. Real mirror IS SAFE when installed properly (glued and screwed to the wall). You can completely smash them, and all the pieces will stay on the wall until safely removed. Some customers in the past have requested safety backed mirror. Safety mirror backing refers to wardrobe mirrored doors, because a person can go THROUGH THEM. Safety mirror in wardrobe doors have to have type II safety backing (vinyl fiberglass coated), we DO NOT sell wardrobe mirror doors. We sell large mirrors for mirrored walls ie. gyms, dance studios, ballet, ballroom, yoga studios, martial arts, horse or dressage arenas and of coarse mirrored walls for elegant living rooms . All of our mirrors are “glued and screwed” to the wall, you can break them, but you can’t go through them. If one of our mirrors ever breaks the glue keeps all pieces on the wall. Of the 100,000 plus mirrors we’ve installed over the past 25 years, maybe a dozen have broken from impact and There was NEVER an injury. Having said all that, we will for an additional $50 per 72″ x100″ sheet, install them with safety mirror backing. Be warned that OSHA has determined that safety mirror backing should not be used on mirrored walls because the glue will NOT stick to it, making them NOT SAFE and we will never recommend it!

Occasionally we have run into building inspectors who have told our customers they need to have “tempered mirror or safety mirrors ” for their gym walls , these inspectors are MISINFORMED about their own code , that law refers to ” windows ” mounted less than 24″ from the floor ( because you can go through them . There is NO SUCH ANIMAL as “tempered mirror” the process distorts the glass. And type II safety backing on mirrored walls has been condemned by OSHA as “unsafe”. Every building code in the United States has an addendum in the back of the building code excluding those rules from mirrored walls as long as the mirrors are glued and screwed to a solid surface.

GYM & FITNESS MIRRORS for WORKOUTS

Weightlifting in a home gym or professional gym everyone needs to check their form while doing their workout, that’s where fitness mirrors come in. Our recommendation is to install gym mirrors above the outlet level (usually 16-22″ from the floor). At that height you’ll be able to see about a foot below your feet and a foot above your head any distance from the mirror (the mirror doesn’t have to be on the floor to see your feet). A front and side gym mirror is recommended for best results. This height also works well while standing on a treadmill or stairclimber, a workout mirror In front of you is better than staring at a wall and it helps with balance. Try to avoid having your new gym mirrors mounted directly across from each other in a small room, mirror reflecting mirror creates an unpleasant tunnel effect.

KARATE / TAE KWON DO MIRRORS for MARTIAL ARTS

Form is especially important in this category for martial arts studio mirrors. Whether your practicing Karate, Tae Kwon Do, or any of the other martial arts, mirrors are essential to the Dojo. Most martial arts studios only do 25-35′ of mirrored walls, that’s really all they need for class sizes of 15-20 students. The karate mirrors should again be mounted 16-22″ off the floor (we prefer 16″) with so many small children taking up the sport, they need to see their feet as well as the adults. However, the lower the karate mirror, the more likely it is to get kicked. Try to mirror the wall farthest from the kicking, tumbling, and throwing. We frame all our martial arts mirrors with a chrome frame, but we recommend an additional wooden frame (2″x4″) to protect the edge of the mirror, which is the most vulnerable to breakage. You can add the wood frame after we leave, if you feel your students are a little on the wild side.

YOGA / BALLET and DANCE MIRRORS

Where ballet mirrors and dance mirrors would also be mounted 16-22″ from the floor, yoga mirrors and Pilates mirrors need to be mounted on the floor , because these are activities done while laying down . Your eyes are closer to the floor so the yoga mirrors need to be closer to the floor. Keep in mind though , our ballet mirrors are 6′x8 ‘ , if we mount them on the floor 6′ high and 8′ wide they may not work well if your yoga studio also teaches dance or ballet , the mirrors wont be high enough . You may want to have them installed 6′ wide and 8′ tall. It would take more mirrors to fill the space (more $$$) , but it works well for all activities.

The other major factor to consider with ballet mirrors is the ballet barre. In the past glass shops have drilled holes in the mirrors to mount the ballet barre, this is very expensive and ends up over time with chips and cracks in the mirror from stress . The simplest way is to either use a floor mounted barre or mount a wood strip the entire length of the ballet barre about 4-6″ wide ( glued and screwed ) to the wall at your preferred distance from the floor , mount your ballet barre brackets to that , then we’ll mount your new ballet mirrors above and below that strip of wood , this way drastically cutting the chances of accidental breakage from weak spots in the mirror and saving you hundreds of dollars in drilling charges and breakage later.

DRESSAGE MIRRORS for EQUESTRIAN (HORSE) ARENAS

Our installers have done hundreds, if not thousands of dressage mirrors and unlike dance studios, these are never alike or easy. There are so many variables ie. inside, outside, heated, new building, old building, metal or wood construction, extreme weather (Minnesota) or salty air (Florida). Because of all the uncontrollable factors, the only thing we guarantee on our horse arena jobs is that it will look great when we leave. Buildings that big , move all the time and could give a wavy look to the mirrors over time. All commercial mirrors are rated visually distortion free at a distance of 12′, but if your wall settles or the lumber warps , a 1/4″ bend in the mirror may not change the image close up , but at the other end of the arena you may end up looking like a sumo wrestler riding a wiener dog. And with weather exposure, black spots may appear after a few years (rare, but possible). We use the best mirror on the market 30 year rating by the manufacturer, there is no better mirror. To be perfectly honest, we have a 95% absolutely thrilled customer rate, and then there’s the 5% that lived right on the ocean (salty air) or had an arena built when Moses was a kid (sagging and leaning) and over time ,the beautiful dressage mirrors we installed became distorted or foggy from salt air or damage to the silver from constantly being rained on, a huge waste of perfectly good cash. So think about it carefully and if you have concerns, feel free to call one of our installers and we’ll talk you through the preparations for the wall. We love the business, but we love satisfied customers more. For more details, please see our Dressage Mirror Area page.