The Vesta Excellence in Retailing Awards were established in 2013 to honor those on the frontlines who are instrumental in moving the industry forward. Two awards were to be presented: Hearth Retailer of the Year, and Outdoor Room Retailer of the Year.

This year only retailers in the Hearth category received enough nominations to fulfill initial requirements. All nominations must come from HPBA members; and nominees must be members of the HPBA.

We regret there is no Outdoor Room Retailer of the Year award this year.

As part of the requirements for being in the Vesta Excellence in Retailing program, we asked the four finalists for Hearth Retailer of the Year to provide us with Store Images and a Store Profile.

What follows is the Store Profile document prepared by Dean Michanczyk (Ma-high-a-check).

Dean’s is located in an old brick building that once housed a forge.

Visual Merchandising Layout

We opened up a downstairs entrance to our main showroom (we have several) this past summer, and created more dramatic displays showcasing our cast-iron wood-burners and gas fireplaces – both traditional and contemporary – along with a new designer/architect section. This now creates more of a “wow” factor for our customers when they come through that entrance.

As they walk up three stairs into our main showroom, customers stare into a (Travis) wood-burning Flush Hybrid Fireplace Insert – it’s burning. From our deck entrance into the main showroom, customers look into an operating Tulikivi Boulder Fireplace that is built into our front counter.

In fact, we have over 75 burning models of wood, pellet and gas stoves and fireplaces (each with its own section) positioned throughout our showrooms. This allows our customers to make a much more educated choice of which hearth product would better suit their needs. Of course, the higher-priced, more desirable products are toward the front showrooms.

At rear is the Tulikivi Boulder Fireplace.

Visual Merchandising Displays

Because of the sheer weight of our hearth product displays, we can keep giving a fresh look to our displays by merchandising around them. We not only want to sell the stove or fireplace, we want the customer to see (and buy) the accessories that go with those products.

We want to be able to show a wide variety of hearth products to our customers, but in a tasteful fashion. We use angles, instead of straight rows, to keep changing the customer’s line of sight, along with different colors of granite beneath them and changing the positioning of different stove colors in a timely fashion.

Fireplaces or inserts that require faces need to be changed, at least in part, every couple of weeks. Merchandising also changes depending on the time of year; the least popular stoves get repositioned in the spring and summer months to make more display room for our smokers and barbecue accessories. The whole idea of merchandising is to draw old as well as new customers back into our ever-changing store.

Marketing/Promotions

Print Ads – We use them sparingly to reach local spots too small for cable TV.

Radio – N/A    

TV – We were very successful with cable years ago, and have since spread out more into network TV for a bigger reach.

Direct Mail – Our best source of new customers is from our old customers. Direct mail to our existing customers is going to increase.

Website – We have recently hired an in-house person to handle all our IT and website, so changes can be made on a daily basis.

Dean’s is a major retailer of Travis Industries’ products.

Describe all special promotions you have done in the past year

Along with manufacturer-sponsored promotions, we have many of our own. Trade-ins have always been huge promotions for us, for wood and pellet especially. As we all know, hearth products have dramatically improved in the last 35 years, but the consumer doesn’t always know that – until they come into our showroom and see these new products in operation.

Rather than discounting heavily in the spring and summer, we’ll offer higher trade-in allowances. Some people will not give up that old junk stove unless they feel they have received something for it – perceived value! We even do this with zero-clearance wood and gas fireplaces; there are tens of thousands of “builder boxes” out there that people want to replace.

As far as our smokers, we try to mix those cooking demonstrations in with our hearth promotions – the more people around, the better! There’s strength and excitement in numbers.

There are approximately 245 hearth products on display at Dean’s.

Design Services

Special appointments are always available; many of the products that we’ve carried for years require special attention with the consumer – not only with design, but especially with the installation. We have to make sure that what that customer wants done, can be done. That is why we depend heavily on cross-training all our people. Many times I feel design services and installation are one and the same.

We have to be able to control both design and installation in-house with our own people. True, there may be different employees to take care of all phases of those two topics, but it’s critically important for everyone to work together from start to finish, and even afterwards, for follow-up.

Installation Services

Most of our installation services are done in-house. As everyone in the hearth business knows, it’s difficult to even sell a hearth product unless you know how to install it. I’m very proud of the knowledge that my whole staff can provide to our customers.

Now that we control our own website, we will post hundreds of images of installations that my people have accomplished – the custom work that they have done is incredible. It’s about time we started showing customers what we can do for them.

We can provide not only the basic installation services such as venting, but also custom metal (panels) work, framing as well as masonry work such as chimney repointing and fireplace re-facing with our Eldorado stone. About the only thing we can’t do is provide gas hookups or LP gas because of licensing in the state of Connecticut, but we are in negotiations now to add that to our business.

Employee Training

Training is an ongoing program; it never stops! Dean’s Stove & Spa is only as good as the people that work within it, so the new people are trained by the more experienced people. This has been the most difficult part of our business – to get to where it is now. We will double our installation and service staff in 2015, because we now have the right people and processes in place to warrant that.

All of our employees are held accountable for their actions as well as those of their apprentices. They are simply teaching new employees as they were taught (and still are) by myself and others who have been with us 10 years or more. We also use NFI training as well as manufacturer-offered training.

We now have people who will soak up knowledge from whomever will give it. Having over 75 burning models in house and fixing old, traded-in wood, pellet and gas stoves, also provides a wealth of hands-on experience. While they will always learn more from dealing directly with the customer, this way the employee will not be using the customer as a guinea pig.

Customers of Dean’s frequently pause to have lunch at the company’s restaurant next door.

Customer Services

By having knowledgeable, cross-trained salespeople, and fitting the customer with the correct hearth product that matches their needs, we have very few returns. Also because everyone, and I mean everyone, is cross-trained, they know they can fix any issue the consumer might be having. We have 10 phone lines to handle the 45,000-plus customers of Dean’s Stove & Spa. Many times, from October-January, all 10 lines are full. Most of these calls could be avoided by proper consumer operation and maintenance of their stove.

In the last few years, we’ve offered customers classes for wood, pellet and gas after regular store hours. That works very well for the people that can take advantage of them, but many cannot. So since we now will control our own website, we will put up our own training videos (and password protect them) so that our customers can view them online. As far as scheduling, we have brought on a logistics expert, who ran logistics for businesses far bigger than ours. He is helping us get on a new service computer program that will allow us to confirm appointments well in advance via text or email.

Now that we have enough trained people, we will also have a post-installation and service program that will allow us to stay in close contact with our customers. There will always be consumer issues; with an over-45,000 customer base, that is a business in itself. By the end of 2015, all our techs will have tablets that can update consumer information right into our computer system from the road. Customer service will be constantly updated.

Financial Management

Gross Margin – 45% – 50%

Net Income (Profit) Before Taxes – More than 10%

Dean’s has over 75 units on display.

Store Name: Dean’s Stove & Spa

Location: 120 West Main St., Plantsville, Connecticut

Owners: Dean and Eileen Michanczyk

Key Executives: Dean Michanczyk, Lisa Fahey, Tracey Rubin, Rob Michanczyk, Dean Colter

Year Established: 1979

Website: www.Deansstove.com

E-mail: dean@deansstove.com

Phone: (860) 621-5311

Number of Stores: 1

Number of Employees: 34
Full-time: 18
Part-time: 16

Square Footage:
Showroom: 12,000
Warehouse: 37,000
Outside Area: 5,300

Brands Carried:
Patio: Regency & Bernard Dalsin Fire Tables, Tempest Torch, Blue Rhino
Barbecue: Big Green Egg, Kamado Joe, Challenger Carts, Solaire by Rasmussen
Hearth: Fireplace Xtrordinair, Lopi, Avalon, DaVinci, Ortal, Ravelli, Blaze King, Hampton, HearthStone, SBI, PSG, Security Chimneys, Lennox/Iron Strike, Tulikivi, Hargrove
Other: Fountains, Artesian Spas, Spa Accessories, Eldorado Stone

Advertising % of Gross Revenues: 3% Advertising: Radio 0, Newspapers 8%, Magazines 5%, TV 79%, Direct Mail 8%