|
Fireplaces and patio heaters are just some of the many products that DESAmanufactures and markets
By
SHARON SANDERS
 |
| Darin Klein, director of marketing DESA Hearth Division |
DESA is a privately held, multidivisional company that designs, manufactures and markets a wide variety of heating and home-improvement products and tools throughout the world. The company sells everything from power saws and specialty lighting to patio heaters and traditional hearth products. Darin Klein, director of marketing for DESA’s Hearth Division, recently sat down with Patio & Hearth Products Report to explain how the company is leveraging its strengths and using its diversity as a competitive advantage.
PHPR: DESA makes so much more than hearth products. Why is the company so diversified, and how does that benefit customers?
A: Like many companies, much of our diversity is a result of acquisitions over the years as different businesses opportunities were presented to us. As a company, DESA is a key supplier to many small and large businesses. We were named supplier of the year for Lowe’s a few years back. Our diversity helps make our customers’ businesses more efficient because they can buy all of their products from us instead of dealing with multiple manufacturers.
PHPR: What types of hearth products do you offer?
A: DESA offers full lines of zero-clearance wood-burning fireplaces, as well as direct-vent, b-vent and vent-free gas fireplaces. We make all of our own wood-burning and direct-vent chimneys and components, as well as all the typical accessories, such as glass doors and heat-circulating fans. We also offer a variety of electric fireplaces, and we’re spending quite a bit of effort on our high-end fireplace-furnishing products such as mantels, glass doors and facings. We are also one of the largest vented and vent-free gas-log manufacturers in North America.
 |
| Design Dynamics is DESA’s specialty hearth brand. |
PHPR: What are DESA’s strengths in the marketplace?
A: First and foremost is the fact that DESA is the only company to operate successfully in all classes of trade in the hearth industry. We sell to new construction, wholesale distribution, specialty hearth, dealer-direct and home-center channels. When business is down in one area, our diversity gives us the option to refocus our efforts on growing those areas with the most profit potential. In addition, we pride ourselves on being a just-in-time manufacturer, which means we build product to order and don’t keep inventory on hand. This keeps us competitive and enables us to ship orders within a five-day lead time at fill rates very near 100 percent.
PHPR: What are some of your latest hearth-product innovations?
A: Our most exciting innovation is our patented line of Mosaic Masonry fireplaces. They are our large, certified masonry-style fireplaces with real firebrick lining systems. They are easier to install and more cost effective than traditional masonry fireplaces and they look exactly the same. We’re just completing a major extension for this product line that includes indoor and outdoor wood-burning and vented and vent-free gas models, as well as some new brick patterns and colors (ivory/beige and terra cotta/red combinations). We’ve also just released a new line of electric fireplaces that use LED lighting technology. The advantages of LED technology are that it uses 75 percent less electricity than our competitors’ versions, and the light bulbs never have to be changed.
 |
| Mosaic Masonry™ fireplace |
PHPR: How does DESA ensure consistent performance and aesthetics in its hearth offerings?
A: We hold ourselves to a high set of standards because our customers demand quality. All of our engineers are in-house (as opposed to consultants), which creates a close working relationship that allows our team members to be pretty honest with each other when we think something’s not quite right. We also have an extensive product-development process that ensures we are making products that meet our target customers’ needs from aesthetic and functional points of view. Our just-in-time manufacturing system gives us the ability to be nimble and adaptable and allows us to improve our quality continually. After a product is released, our quality-assurance team conducts ongoing assembly-line audits and testing.
PHPR: What DESA hearth products have been most popular with consumers in 2007?
A: Without a doubt, it is our Mosaic Masonry fireplaces. There is a huge demand for this product with our high-end customers because they can get the look of a masonry fireplace for a fraction of the cost. Sales are up dramatically, even in the difficult new-construction market.
PHPR: What are some of the new trends in hearth products?
A: There has been a lot of buzz around what I would call alternative designs that primarily originated in Europe. These include creative, nontraditional chassis designs with ribbon burners and stones, glass or other cast figures in fireplaces, as opposed to logs. To me, they’re a little more about art than hearth, but they have their place. On the flip side, I personally think that most people are still attracted to the good old-fashioned masonry fireplaces that have been in homes for hundreds of years. In the luxury market, masonry fireplaces give people the traditional look and feel they are after, and tall is the trend.
PHPR: How can retailers merchandise hearth products more effectively on their showroom floors?
A: Quality over quantity is the key. Your showroom should be a place people really feel good. Display products tastefully in a clean, comfortable setting and give customers plenty of space to stand back and appreciate them. Most people aren’t necessarily good designers, but they know what they want when they see it. Make the decision easy for customers by taking out as much guesswork as possible. If a person can relate to what he or she sees and imagine it in his or her own home, you’ve got the sale.
PHPR: How has the housing slump affected the industry as a whole?
A: It obviously has been very hard on the industry, and it has been harder on some manufacturers than others. The ones who compete for the more affordable, volume builder business have been the hardest hit. I think new-housing business is down close to 40 percent in some areas. That’s a pretty tough fact of life if you’re in that business.
PHPR: How has business been for DESA in 2007?
A: It’s been a little bit of a mixed bag. We are certainly facing some of the same challenges the rest of the industry is, but we’ve had some real bright spots, too. We are working hard to adapt to the challenges, as well as the opportunities, in the market. Our operations team is doing a great job of managing manufacturing and production in the tough times.
PHPR: What is the biggest challenge (and most exciting opportunity) that DESA faces?
A: I’d say it is advancing technology in the hearth industry that exceeds customers’ expectations. I’m not talking about just the next logical step, but about looking way into the future. We need to make fireplaces do things they’ve never done before, and do it in a practical and conscientious way. There are a lot of award-winning products out there that you’ve never seen in the real world. They are nice for a lobby wall, but they don’t do a lot for the bottom line. In the end, it is the next big idea that keeps me excited. If we didn’t have that to look forward to, I think we would all do something else.
PHPR September/October 2007
|
