In 2025, I see community as the most important focus of any specialty fireplace shop. From my perspective, the goal is to cultivate coordinated momentum through relationships with our employees, customers, manufacturers, and industry peers. Given that goal, I believe that focusing on the individual relationships that build community will create long-lasting, profitable hearth businesses well into the future.

First and foremost, providing employment is the most important communal act we do as owners. After all, a business is only as good as the people who work for it. An adaptable business with a team of problem-solvers who believe in the leadership’s vision can do anything. We all know that establishing a reliable pipeline to find awesome employees is a major issue facing our industry. That’s why we need a path forward to find employees and retain great talent into the future. And one powerful way to establish best hiring practices within our industry is by building bridges between our businesses and sharing information.

I know first-hand how powerful these bridges can be. Beyond my parents building The Stove Shop and our great team, I have only grown due to the graces of people like Tim Reed, Daniel Hammer, Matt Reed, Ryann Blake, Gary Smalling, Matt Bradley, Dave Rettinger, and Tim Rethlake. Without them, I would be 20 years behind and completely overwhelmed. Simply put, surrounding myself with a group of passionate business minds has been an important step in developing my confidence as an operator.

But finding great people, both for your team and within our industry, is only the start. We also need to connect with those we serve—because building a community of customers is essential to keeping the lights on. In 2025, we need more clarity on our customers. The question, “Who is our customer?” often defines a business’s focus for the most successful companies. As they always said in my public speaking classes, “Audience is everything.” Knowing our customer is the most crucial lens we have available to improve.

Given that, let’s get clear on our customers by conducting a quick thought exercise: If a specialty retailer installs a manufactured fireplace, who owns the customer? The retailer or the manufacturer? What percentage of the customer is owned by each?

To my mind, the answers depend on who’s educating the customer—and there’s a huge opportunity here for specialty retailers to be the trusted source for reliable information. When we fill the education gap, we serve our customers well while nurturing our relationships with them. That’s why specialty retailers doing the installation are the foundation of this industry’s relationship with end users. Of course, I’m biased—but I’m also a student of history. The Vermont Castings dealer network of old was legendary for a reason. A specialty dealer model works in a hearth industry where every installation is both unique and dangerous.

Yet herein lies a pervasive problem: We often let others fill the education gap. Customers have access to a tremendous amount of wildly incorrect and blatantly dangerous information online. That’s why researching a new fireplace installation online is confusing and leaves most folks with a bunch of useless information. 

So take control of your leads! If you own a small retail shop, create high-quality educational written and video content that serves to provide value without seeking anything in return. If you share knowledge persistently, you can create a powerful brand online that penetrates your market. And if you want help with marketing your specialty hearth shop, I’d be honored to jump on a quick call (feel free to reach out at Patrick@Fireplaceexperts.com).

At the end of the day, our hearth community grows through supporting one another. The pie is big enough for all of us to thrive if we focus on serving our communities. Opportunity is everywhere; don’t overconsume! Instead, invest in the relationships right in front of you. Because when we build strong relationships—with employees, customers, and industry peers—we create businesses that can weather any storm.