Hearthlist Digest #62 - Sunday, November 23, 1997
 
Mass Merchants- Hearthlist Digest #59 - 11/20/97
  by Craig Issod <[email protected]>
Re: Wood sauna stoves
  by <[email protected]>
 

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Subject: Mass Merchants- Hearthlist Digest #59 - 11/20/97
From: Craig Issod <[email protected]>
Date: Sat, 22 Nov 1997 17:52:28 -0400
 
>Hearthlist Digest #59 - Thursday, November 20, 1997
 
>Has anyone had any experience with the effect of a Home Quarters or Home
>Depot moving into their marketing area?  We are having a significant amount
>of new building going on in the retail arena, with the non-specialist
>companies that stock stoves and logs.  Can the impact be minimized by
>emphasizing the value of specialist knowledge?  Are they not really
>impacting market share?
 
If anyhting, they may be of benefit to the specialty stores around them. We
have Home Depot, Heckinger, Farm and Home and many others around us. Sure,
the guy who wants to buy gas logs and put them in his old airtight will buy
there...but do you really want that customer.
 
Our sales have held up for almost 20 years, whether we had 20 stores around
us or 2. Your product and installation knowledge, as well as the specialty
products you sell, will give you advantages no mass merchant can have.
Heck, they often cannot answer even the simplest question. It's my feeling
that a lot of the Vent-Free and Gas Log business may slowly move toward
these outlets, while the DV fireplaces, stoves and other more technical
products will remain the domain of the local hearth shop. We regularly sell
fireplace install jobs for $3500 to $5000 and up...this is where a lot of
the business is going. Solve peoples problems, be nice to them and keep
your word (as best you can). Put your attention into your own business, and
you'll prosper.
 
>
>Do any of the manufacturers that supply the industry provide financing with
>inventory, or just-in-time supplying of inventory?
 
Many manufacturers provide dating programs, either financed by themselves
or by a third party.
 
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Craig Issod             HearthNet at http://www.hearth.com
[email protected]    Everything your Hearth Desires
------------------------------------------------------
Buddha says "avoid error"
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Subject: Re: Wood sauna stoves
From: [email protected]
Date: Sun, 23 Nov 1997 08:22:05 -0500 (EST)
 
Does anyone know of a manufacture in the US that would have the small woo=
>d
>stove for a Sauna?? I have a customer who is building a sauna and he want=
>s
>a wood stove. Thanks! Hocking Valley Stoves and Fireplaces
 
A company in Michigan has been making wood sauna heaters for many years; we
have sold them to many of the Finnish people in our area of New England.  The
company is Bruce Mfg Inc, Rt 1, box 25, US45 North, Bruce Crossing, MI 49912.
Phone: 906-827-3906, fax 906-827-3251.  Hope this helps. Wendy Feen, Feen's
Country Living.