Its been a very slow start to the stove sales season

[elkimmeg]

Its been a very slow start to the stove sales season.. I have done only 2 wood stove installations inspections so far. Last year I did a dozen before the first week in Sept.

I talked to the largest retailer in my area, he owns 3 stores and sales are non-existent. The only good week was tax-free weekend about a month back. Sales are at a trickle rate..
Even sales of gas stoves are way below, because so few new housing starts.
PE is even offering $200 off sale

One wood supplier has only delivered 5 cords of wood so far. Last year at this time,, he was approaching 75 cords.

It’s still a bit early, but preliminary indications, have wood dealers and stove retailers very concerned

 

[11 Bravo]

Ya think it'll be the first cold snap or flake of snow to get things going ? Or just that it has been so hot/warm through the country that nobody is thinking of winter yet ?

 

[jtp10181]

Over here in WI our retail side of the store has been rockin pretty good for a couple of weeks. The guy who does retail previews shares an office with me and he's got piles of jobs going out.

 

[R&D Guy]

It's global warming. It would be best to get in the business of inspecting air conditioners Elk. ;-) I'm sure it will pick up shortly.

 

[nshif]

I did my part, bought my Quad the 1st week of Sept

 

[elkimmeg]

I agree the weather is a factor 95 here yesterday and the day before. I do inspect central AC units. It amazes me , that every home needs Central Ac these days

Somehow us old timers in New England, got by with a few fans and a window unit or two, For the dozen times a year, we might need it.

It also has been incredibly dry here.. Front page todays Boston Globe, The Charles River is so low, that at the flow monitoring station in Dover, it is close to its record low level for the past 75 years. Leaves from trees are plain drying up and starting to fall Lawns are burnt out everywhere they are not sprinkled

 

[mtalea]

Hell it was so hot and humid here yesterday, I saw a tree chasing a dog...Now thats hot!

 

[Robbie]

I'm certain not many people are thinking of cold yet....at least in the south east.......it's still mid 90s here in Tenn.,

It's so hot and dry here the trees are showing signs of stress, leaves wilting and falling etc......the grass has been brown and dead for a couple months now.

Just wait until the first cold blast and see what happens.......people will be scrambling to get wood and stoves installed I think.

Robbie

 

[BrotherBart]

If everybody's year has been like ours and people we know there are going to be a lot of old stoves "doing it one more time".

Every small business I know of is gagging this year.

 

[Dunadan]

I know last year I didn't buy my wood until late September, and I've already got it all in, so in my mind I'm ahead of the game.

Upstate NY temps are slowly dropping. We've had some nights in the 50s, so in my mind, it's only a matter of time.

 

[jpl1nh]

One thing for certain though, everyone views oil/gas prices as extremely expensive and its typical to hear people complain about the lack of affordability of heating your home. There may be a substantial upfront cost to a stove-hearth,chimney installation, but there is no question that the pay-back is certain within at most a few years, and that is at current oil/gas prices. I don't believe those fossil fuel prices are going anywhere but up in the future. Wood especially has great economic value to many, many potential customers. Can't believe at least in the longer term and bigger picture the future for the great stove products on the market today is anything but good. Short term economic conditions may bite into sales now, but they'll come around.

 

[nshif]

Wow so different out here on the other ocean. Not even thinking about winter, covering wood, etc. The only thing Ive done is top off the propane tank ( summer prices ) and order the stove. ( lead time and installation time ) We should have at least another month or better before the weather turns. On the other hand we have to live in one of the most expensive states going.

 

[kinsmanstoves]

I spent the last four days at a small community fair n/w Pa. I had three pellet stoves on display with one running, Breckwell p-2000. I had a lot of people ask very good questions on the stoves. I did not make a stove sale at the fair. I did have a lot of people tell me they would be in for pellets. I was hoping for a couple sales. I hope to get a lot of walk in sales from the fair. Eric

 

[got wood?]

I was speaking with my chimney sweep just yesterday and he said on tax-free day (couple weeks back), his company sold 83 stoves in 2 days! Not bad! (Massachusetts)

 

[BrotherBart]

I was speaking with my chimney sweep just yesterday and he said on tax-free day (couple weeks back), his company sold 83 stoves in 2 days! Not bad! (Massachusetts)

They were all sold to people in Elk's town but nobody is getting a permit because they have heard stories about the inspections. :coolgrin:

 

[nshif]

BB
OUCH! very funny
But on the other hand I would love to have Elk Inspect my install. I would sleep better knowing I was protected at least as well as a nuck reactor. As he says "better safe....

 

[kd460]

Here in Michigan we are taking it on the chin pretty hard. If Puerto Rico becomes a state, then we won't be last in current economic growth! Otherwise things are really ugly. I live in a fairly small town. Last year we had 3 fireplace shops in my town and one in the next town 10 miles down the road. This year 3 are out of business. What a shame. 5 years ago our county was the fastest growing in the state and one of the fastest growing in the country. Now nothing! 3 or 4 houses in our sub have never been lived in and my sub is about 8 years old, and those homes are about 4-5 years old. Sitting vacant, still for sale.

Hopefully things will pick up when the first cold snap hits, however the smart ones have bought or are buying now. KD

 

[maplegirl]

We're doing our part. Picked up our new stove from the dealer yesterday!

Hey Elk, what do you look for when you inspect? I want to make sure we're safe.

Do you install and/or inspect in Holbrook?

 

[GVA]

Could this be another volunteer install guy's????????

 

[BrotherBart]

Could this be another volunteer install guy's????????

Cutting holes in roofs ain't a volunteer install gig guys. Elk needs to contract this one start to finish.

 

[elkimmeg]

I was speaking with my chimney sweep just yesterday and he said on tax-free day (couple weeks back), his company sold 83 stoves in 2 days! Not bad! (Massachusetts)

They were all sold to people in Elk's town but nobody is getting a permit because they have heard stories about the inspections. :coolgrin:

Well Lets see ,I drop a dime to the local town Bb lives in and tell them there has been a lot of activity at a certain residence, in Va. New stoves installed ,new re linings being done
They might want to check to see if permits were pulled. I know they probably don't care about the inspection but added revenue from fees always look good on the balance sheet

Then again an inspection there might a have found the defective stove before a lot of angst happened

BB I'm smiling and there will be payback When you least expect it..

 

[elkimmeg]

Could this be another volunteer install guy's????????

I'd have to think about that. I do business with a lumber supply outfit in her town Brooks
I would need some pictures of the roof and inside location before I got involved I would have to judge the difficulty's involved before any commitment

We still have to help Cath and some other not posted yet situations that have come up.

 

[BrotherBart]

I was speaking with my chimney sweep just yesterday and he said on tax-free day (couple weeks back), his company sold 83 stoves in 2 days! Not bad! (Massachusetts)

They were all sold to people in Elk's town but nobody is getting a permit because they have heard stories about the inspections. :coolgrin:

Well Lets see ,I drop a dime to the local town Bb lives in and tell them there has been a lot of activity at a certain residence, in Va. New stoves installed ,new re linings being done
They might want to check to see if permits were pulled. I know they probably don't care about the inspection but added revenue from fees always look good on the balance sheet

Then again an inspection there might a have found the defective stove before a lot of angst happened

BB I'm smiling and there will be payback When you least expect it..

Inspector's name is Bill Harris. He really liked the liner and stove installs last year and asked a lot of questions about stainless liners. Seems he didn't know a lot about them. Told him about hearth.com where I found out about them myself. When I replaced the Sierra he didn't even want to come out to see the Englander replacement.

He was surprised that anybody in this county pulled permits for installations. I kinda thought it was funny too since in 1985 when I originally installed stoves in the place I couldn't get the inspectors, the fire department or the insurance company to even drop by to take a look. Seems they thought that since the house had the fireplace and basement flue included in the occupancy inspection that it wasn't an event. I guess they didn't think a barrel stove would be in the basement for years and years. Now they only have fireplace relines on the permit requirements.

As to the defective stove, if I didn't see it doing the burn-in on the driveway there ain't an inspector on the planet that would have caught it. It only showed up around six hundred degrees.

 

[jjbaer]

I was speaking with my chimney sweep just yesterday and he said on tax-free day (couple weeks back), his company sold 83 stoves in 2 days! Not bad! (Massachusetts)

Looks like "higher taxes" are counterproductive..... ;-)

 

[Gibbonboy]

Everything is slow around here. I've been talking to some contractor friends, nobody has more than a month of work lined up. No one is sure what they'll do this winter, gonna be a lot of poached deer in these parts. I was talking to the plumber that I used to work for, he just roughed in his first new house this year about a month ago, usually he'll be scheduled to do 4 or 5 in March, and more through the summer. He also said that he's had more trouble than ever with people sticking him with bills, guess nobody has "discretionary funds" available now.

The scary side of this is: have people just gotten accustomed to high oil/gas prices, and just plan on "sucking it up"? I'll burn tires for heat before I pay 2-something a gallon for dirty #2 fuel oil or propane! Guess I'm cheap or old-fashioned, maybe both- but I just can't get past paying more than 69 cents a gallon for heating oil. Heck, I'm so cheap I quit burning coal and switched to wood!

Our economy is hurting, but no one will admit it. We are very close to having lots of people starving and/or freezing this winter. Actually, we're one bad day at the stock market away from a big crash and subsequent depression. Glad I can at least keep my family warm, no matter what.