Photos: 2014© Julli Anna Photography. www.julliannaphotography.com

Wyoming is known for its wide-open spaces, not for its waterways. Yet Lennie Kosirog, co-owner and president of Porter’s Mountain View Supply, uses the analogy of rowing a boat to emphasize the secret to the success of his two hearth, barbecue and spa stores in Riverton and Casper.

“Do you remember the old song ‘Row, Row, Row Your Boat?’” he asks. “I really believe in that. It’s your boat, your store, and not anyone else’s. You put the key in the door every day. So if you row, row, row your boat – your store – gently down the stream, you’ll get there; you’ll be successful.”

As with most successful retailers, it’s Kosirog’s attention to customer service that makes his journey down that stream both successful and profitable.

“Our motto is ‘Service After the Sale,’” says Leo, Lennie’s 28-year-old son, vice president and co-owner. “We’re very much into pleasing our customers and taking care of our employees – and our vendors. It’s like following the Golden Rule.”

That philosophy must be working, because Porter’s is now a multi-million dollar business that has been growing steadily at four to five percent each year right through the downturn, even in this sparsely populated state (576,000 in 2012).

Porter’s carries 10 brands of hearth products.

What began with one store and three employees has grown to two stores and 29 employees. Porter’s has become one of Wyoming’s largest retailers of wood, gas and pellet stoves, hot tubs and spas, grills and television satellite dishes.

Lennie Kosirog never planned to be a hearth, barbecue and spa retailer in the wilds of Wyoming. He’s a graduate pharmacist, originally from Chicago where his family owns and operates one of the few remaining, independently owned pharmacies in Chicago. Lennie had his choice of pharmacy schools at Drake University and the University of Wyoming.

“I decided on Wyoming,” he says. “When I got here, I stayed. I just fell in love with it, and by 1980 I was here permanently.”

Back then Wyoming had a population of less than 400,000, and Lennie couldn’t find full-time employment. He began installing satellite dishes while still struggling for a living, but needed a business partner. Local businessman Porter Chopping stepped up.

His operation, Porter’s Mountain View Supply, began in 1978 selling carpeting, plumbing and electrical products. Lennie brought his satellite dish business into the company. One day, manufacturers’ representative Jerry Pasley, who was selling Travis, Austroflamm and Sundance Spas at the time, walked into Porter’s and convinced Lennie to take on wood stoves.

The Sundance Spas showroom display.

Porter’s was then offering wood stoves, along with its carpets, spas, satellite dishes and even cell phones, all from its 2,000 sq. ft. store in Riverton, a town with a population of 6,000 back then and about 11,000 today.

Another milestone for Lennie was his marriage in 1980 to Gwen, a Laramie, Wyoming, native, who now is another co-owner and very active in the company as warehouse and purchasing manager.

Lennie’s benefactor, Porter Chopping, passed away in 1998, and Lennie and Gwen took over Porter’s Mountain View Supply. Since then son Leo and Bill Stange also have become co-owners.

Business was good from the start, says Lennie, and by 2000 more room was needed. He purchased the auto parts store next door, which provided 10,000 sq. ft. of space. He dropped the carpet business and expanded the stove, spa and satellite ventures. Sales the next year were so strong that Lennie added a 25,000 sq. ft. warehouse.

“Things continued to get better,” he says, “so in 2004 we added our 12,000 sq. ft. store in Casper.”

The success of Porter’s is amazing considering that Wyoming is home to so few people; fewer, in fact, than most major metro areas in North America. But as Leo explains, the whole state is “local,” referring to the fact that people from all over Wyoming shop in Casper and to a lesser extent Riverton.

Like a small island in the middle of the Wind River Shoshone/Arapaho Indian reservation, Riverton is home to oil fields, tribal and casino workers, a more rural, blue collar population than Casper. Porter’s counts its market areas as within a 180-mile radius of both Riverton and Casper.

Casper is more urban, if there is such a thing in Wyoming, with a rapidly growing population of about 60,000. A low unemployment rate of 4.2 percent in Wyoming has helped Porter’s through the recession.

“Wyoming didn’t suffer much during the last bust,” says Lennie. “Everybody stayed working, and our business has steadily improved even during the slow times. So we increased in employees and trucks and branched out more into selling a service. If we sold it, we’re there to take care of it.”

Illustrating the difference between the Riverton and Casper local markets, the hearth product in those two stores varies considerably. Riverton, being more rural, has a much stronger wood market that accounts for 35 percent of that store’s hearth sales, while in Casper, only 20 percent of hearth sales are wood-burning products.

A line-up of hearth products.

Gas hearth products are tops in Casper with 50 percent of sales, while gas appliances in Riverton represent only 40 percent. Pellets total 25 percent of sales in Riverton and 20 percent in Casper. Perhaps a bit surprisingly, in Casper contemporary gas products are half of that store’s gas products sales.

“Casper is much more modern on the gas side,” says Leo. “You couldn’t sell a linear fireplace in Riverton if you tried, and, believe me, we’ve tried!”

True to their word about servicing their products and keeping customers happy, company employees handle all service and installations. They are all NFI certified, which Porter’s pays for, including continuing education. Key service employees are also certified as Master Hearth Professionals.

“We have quality assurance programs in place to check on our installations,” says Lennie.  

The Kosirogs spend their time and effort taking care of their own business rather than worrying about the competition. In Riverton, where Porter’s has been a fixture for almost 36 years, the company has little competition. The Casper store, in that fast growing community, has more competition, but not enough to bother Lennie and Leo.

“Specialty stores don’t concern us because they are good for our industry,” says Lennie. The Kosirogs even plan their exhibits at home shows and the state fair right next to their competition.

“Competition like that is always good,” he says. “But we’re not a fan of the Big Box stores in the hearth business because they don’t know what they’re doing. They don’t do service, and I don’t think they are good for our industry.” Big Box stores in Porter’s sales areas include Menard’s, Home Depot and Sutherlands.

Unlike builder business in many metropolitan markets, new home construction is not a major part of Porter’s business. In the Riverton market, home building slowed down quite a bit during the recession, and today involves mostly custom homes. Casper is a larger, much different market, rated as one of America’s fastest-growing towns.

“Although most of what we do is for custom homes, Casper now has a lot of spec homes,” says Lennie. “We do a lot of business with big contractors from out of the state.”

Lennie adds, with tongue in cheek, “Builders are pretty competitive guys. We don’t take them out to dinner together anymore because they get into fights! So we take them a box of donuts so there is no chance of them getting into a party mood together.”

The Kosirogs admit that much of the design of their two showrooms came from ideas seen in other dealer showrooms.

“When we’re driving around on vacation, we visit other dealers, and find ideas that we like for our showrooms,” Leo admits, “and we’ve even stolen ideas from stories on other dealers in Hearth & Home magazine.”

Hunting trophies are on display.

He says the real uniqueness of Porter’s showrooms, especially in the Riverton store, is all the dead and stuffed animals on the walls.

“In this area, we’re all hunters and fishermen,” he says, “so we hang our trophies on our showroom walls after we’ve run out of room at home.” Included are bears, mountain rams, cougars and several moose, including a Boone & Crocket 155-score moose in the Riverton store.

Porter’s Riverton store started with just one building but has evolved into four with two now joined together. Fireplaces, grills and spas all are displayed in separate rooms. Fireplace inserts are featured on their own wall, and freestanding stoves are grouped in island displays, each featuring four stoves.

Seasonal products are displayed near the front of the stores. Some grills may be displayed outside, and a large tent is occasionally used to display product outside during Wyoming’s very short summer.

It used to be in retail that advertising consistently included Yellow Pages, newspaper and radio, with some TV spots. Not anymore. Those old advertising favorites have gone by the wayside in favor of social media, especially with the more successful retailers such as Porter’s. Young son Leo is leading the Porter’s charge, which is typical of today’s younger retail generation.

“Google Ad Words is what we’re doing the most right now, and Facebook,” Leo explains. “We might put in an occasional radio spot or perhaps a newspaper ad when we have something special going on, but that is pretty limited.”

Porter’s advertising expenditures now total about 2.3 percent of the company’s gross sales, breaking out to 1.1 percent in Riverton and 3.1 percent in the larger and more competitive metropolitan Casper. “When we opened the Casper location, we were up as high as five percent, but we’re back to 2.3 percent overall now,” says Leo.

Barbecues represent 10 percent of Porter’s business.

Unlike most metropolitan retailers, Porter’s puts a lot of stock in its sales efforts at the Wyoming state fair. Besides sponsoring kids and their livestock, Porter’s ramps up its sales efforts with a large 30-by-30 ft. tent filled with as many as 30 stoves.

“We make a pretty big presence there and work it for 10 days,” says Lennie. “It’s an important way for us to keep our name out there because if you live in Wyoming, you’re going to go to the fair.” Another secret to Porter’s’ success is word of mouth.

“One of the things about being in small, slow communities is that it is all word of mouth,” says Lennie. “You can spend a lot of money on marketing, but when you are in a town of 11,000, those people talk to one another.”

Lead management is another strong sales tool for Porter’s, especially lately as more consumers shop on the Internet.

“I cannot stress lead management enough with more people putting their names on our website and more consumer leads coming from our manufacturers,” Lennie stresses. “When we get a lead, we follow up on it. I mean, we follow up on it until some people tell us to quit calling. But many thank us for the follow-up.

“It’s extremely important to continue to gather names and follow up on people who are interested in your products, many of whom are shopping you even when your doors are closed. It’s an opportunity that we don’t ignore, and it has helped our sales tremendously.”  

Looking toward the future, Leo points out a growing concern in our mature hearth industry.

“You need a succession plan for your business,” Leo says. “I’m 30 years away from retirement, but I’m already asking who will take over after me. I look at a lot of hearth businesses, and 20 years from now I question whether a lot of the ‘mom and pop’ shops will still be here. The industry is aging, and we need to plan early to see where it all goes.”

Porter’s Mountain View Supply, Riverton, Wyoming.

Store Name: Porter’s Mountain View Supply

Addresses: 750 East Sunset, Riverton, Wyoming 82501, and 3861 Denis Drive, Casper, Wyoming 82604.

Phones: Riverton – (307) 856-6993 and
(800) 794-6993; Casper – (307) 234-7727 and (888) 334-7727.
Faxes: Riverton – (307) 856-6969; Casper, (307) 234-7731.

E-mail: sales@portersmvs.com.

Web Site: www.portersmvs.com.

Owners: Lennie Kosirog, Gwen Kosirog, Leo Kosirog and Bill Stange.

Key People: Bobbi Goodman, Riverton office manager; Marty Post, Riverton technician; Teneil Sullivan, Casper store manager; Tad Davidson, spa manager; Richard Degraw, Casper installations.

Year Established: 1978.

Number of Employees: 29.

Gross Annual Sales: N/A.

% of Annual Gross Sales by Category:
Hearth – 30%
Spas – 30%
Electronics, Satellites – 20%
Barbecue – 10%
Other – 10%

Square Footage: Riverton, 10,000 showroom, 25,000 warehouse; Casper, 12,000 showroom.

Lines Carried:
Hearth – Blaze King, Lopi, Avalon, Fireplace Xtrordinair, Heatilator, Heat & Glo, Quadrafire, Harman, HearthStone, Lennox.
Barbecue – Bradley Smoker, Green Mountain Grill, Good One BBQ, Big Green Egg, Teton Grills, Black Olive, 3 Little Pigs, Milt’s Gourmet Pellets, Weber

Spas: Sundance Spas.

% of Annual Gross Sales for Advertising: 2.3%.