Yesterday afternoon I saw someone driving home with a new Vermont Castings on their landscape trailer. I remember a couple of months ago seeing a lot of activity on posts about Vermont Casting's corporate financial situation, parts availablility now & in the future, etc. There's also been a lot of talk about people having a difficult time finding the stove they want in stock at their local dealers, and long waits for ordered stoves. And as we all know, oil and other fuels have gotten a lot more expensive in the past couple of years, the recent drop at the pumps notwithstanding. So, I'm kind of wondering if the increased interest in wood burning, which has made some popular brands hard to come by in some areas, has lead to increased sales of Vermont Casting stoves that otherwise might have sat on the showroom floor due to their currently poor reputation. Anyone pick one up recently despite a reservation or two about the company? Any VC dealers, or others in the industry, hearing anything about this? If VC is moving stoves because that's what's available, that's good for the folks who work at the factories that make them, as well as their dealers.
Vermont Castings benefiting from oil prices / stove shortage?
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Strangely silent, although I suspect they are selling core product - meaning the stoves that were ready to go.
The board here is fairly indicative of what people are considering and buying - I think we would see a lot more VC threads if people were buying them......
Consider...that if dealers are unhappy with the warranty situation and/or past actions....they will not promote the brand big - BUT, on the other hand you cannot sell from a empty cart, and with Jotul and others being behind the eight ball, VC is probably moving some product.
It would stand to reason that they did not have full intention of ramping up this year because of the relatively late purchase of the company. Maybe they are getting their plans in order and intend to fully launch at the HPBA show this year. I suspect we would have had more press releases and promo if they really wanted to hit hard and heavy this winter.
The board here is fairly indicative of what people are considering and buying - I think we would see a lot more VC threads if people were buying them......
Consider...that if dealers are unhappy with the warranty situation and/or past actions....they will not promote the brand big - BUT, on the other hand you cannot sell from a empty cart, and with Jotul and others being behind the eight ball, VC is probably moving some product.
It would stand to reason that they did not have full intention of ramping up this year because of the relatively late purchase of the company. Maybe they are getting their plans in order and intend to fully launch at the HPBA show this year. I suspect we would have had more press releases and promo if they really wanted to hit hard and heavy this winter.
Good point about this website being indicative about what folks are purchasing. I suspect VC will continue to make some sales based on their long repuation as a maker of nice stoves, and customers that are totally unaware of recent problems. I was not a Hearth regular until after I bought my Jotul. I only bought the Jotul because I'm a fairly impulsive buyer, and felt that I got a good deal on a pretty stove that was the right size for my application before I made it down to the VC dealer. I would have had no problem buying a VC, because the stoves look nice, and I remember growing up knowing many folks who had good luck with them. If I was shopping this year instead of last, it sounds like I would have to wait longer for the stove and the install, which would have given me reason to see if VC was in stock and ready for install. Hence my curiosity and this post.
If I had to guess I would say anyone and everyone that makes a pellet stove or woodstove right now is probably doing OK . . . shoot, the other day I was at my local general store and there was a hand-made ad from some guy in Monroe building his own steel woodstoves and the ad had an area where it had the phone number of the place attached to the sheet so folks could tear it off and bring the phone number home -- a large number of these pull tab/phone numbers were missing.
If I had to guess I might think Vermont Castings is doing OK . . . thanks largely in part to the high demand for any alternative heating source right now. While Craig makes an excellent point about VC dealers not pushing the product and perhaps suggesting alternatives, I would also guess that some less honorable dealers might want to simply sell whatever product they have on hand in their store.
Add to this the fact that while folks here at hearth.com most likely are the AR-types who like to research the heck out of things before buying anything (i.e. I even researched toaster ovens a few years back before making the purchase), there are many folks whose idea of research is to think back to what they used to heat with back in the 1980s or ask their friends and family members what they heated with back when they were heating with wood . . . and in many cases I would suspect that VC's well deserved reputation for a great woodstove back then will pop up again and again . . . which is why some folks may go to their local dealer specifically looking for a VC stove based on their "trusted" recommendations . . . without knowing the full scoop on VC.
I say this since I was talking with my friend who grew up with a VC in his home as a kid and he was asking me why I didn't buy a VC since he would love to have one in these in his house now . . . he seemed a bit surprised when I told him that VC was apparently having some "issues" of late and wasn't quite the same company as it was when his father purchased and used a stove back in the '80s.
If I had to guess I might think Vermont Castings is doing OK . . . thanks largely in part to the high demand for any alternative heating source right now. While Craig makes an excellent point about VC dealers not pushing the product and perhaps suggesting alternatives, I would also guess that some less honorable dealers might want to simply sell whatever product they have on hand in their store.
Add to this the fact that while folks here at hearth.com most likely are the AR-types who like to research the heck out of things before buying anything (i.e. I even researched toaster ovens a few years back before making the purchase), there are many folks whose idea of research is to think back to what they used to heat with back in the 1980s or ask their friends and family members what they heated with back when they were heating with wood . . . and in many cases I would suspect that VC's well deserved reputation for a great woodstove back then will pop up again and again . . . which is why some folks may go to their local dealer specifically looking for a VC stove based on their "trusted" recommendations . . . without knowing the full scoop on VC.
I say this since I was talking with my friend who grew up with a VC in his home as a kid and he was asking me why I didn't buy a VC since he would love to have one in these in his house now . . . he seemed a bit surprised when I told him that VC was apparently having some "issues" of late and wasn't quite the same company as it was when his father purchased and used a stove back in the '80s.
According to the VC rep we sat down with last week, they are moving a good amount of stoves. They have all four boilers fired and are concentrating on classic black stoves. The enamels are going to have long lead times unless you find a dealer that has your model in stock.
For what its worth, I ordered my enamel Jotul Oslo in mid-September and received a phone call that it was ready for delivery on September 30th.
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