 |
Sharing a Passion for Outdoor Cooking Canada's cold climate doesn't stop barbecue aficionados from flocking to Barbecue Country for grills and accessory items.
Written By Kimberly Rodgers
Photography by Andy Vasconcellos
As their children grew older, Paul and Sara Pietrowski decided to build a new home in the Richmond, Va., countryside, and they knew that they wanted to include an outdoor kitchen in the plans. Their search for a source to help them build their dream outdoor kitchen, however, proved fruitless. “We could not find anybody who knew anything about them,” Paul Pietrowski says.
On a trip to Arizona in 2004, the couple saw a newspaper advertisement for an outdoor-kitchen company in Scottsdale and paid the store a visit. “They had exactly what we were looking for,” Pietrowski says. The owner encouraged Paul and Sara to open their own outdoor-kitchen company. “He told us if there was no one doing this in our area, we should really think about opening a store, because outdoor kitchens were the hottest trend,” he adds.
 |
| From right: Paul and Sara Pietrowski, co-owners of Outdoor Kitchen Creations, and their son, Matt. |
 |
From a simple island with one grill to more elaborate designs with multiple islands and components, Outdoor Kitchen Creations can create the perfect outdoor room for any budget. |
Quite content, at that time, to work for his employer of 26 years, Pietrowski was not intending to open a new business. Upon returning to Richmond, however, the couple still could not locate anyone in the area who specialized in designing and building outdoor kitchens. “That led me to do some research and due diligence on what it would actually take to get into the business,” Pietrowski says.
On April 1, 2005, Paul and Sara founded Outdoor Kitchen Creations. “We started off by just putting three kitchens in an upscale outdoor mall,” Pietrowski says. They placed signs on the displays while both Paul and Sara continued to work for their employers. “We just wanted to see what would happen, and we figured that if it didn't work, we could sell the kitchens. We were out there when time allowed us, between our jobs, answering questions and flipping through catalogs in the wind—really, with no place of business.”
In just four days, the Pietrowskis realized that they would need a dedicated location due to an enthusiastic response. A 600–square-foot space in the same mall became the company's first place of business. Paul, still not ready to leave his job, came in on nights and weekends, while Sara worked in the new location during the day. By September 2005, the company outgrew the space, and it moved to its current 2,000–square-foot location in Richmond's West End. By mid-2006, Paul had left his employer to devote himself fully to the company.
Today, Outdoor Kitchen Creations offers complete planning, design, and installation of outdoor kitchens and rooms, along with selling a large selection of grills, components, firepits, fireplaces, outdoor televisions, and casual furniture. Three complete kitchens, along with a host of other products, are displayed in the company's design-center showroom.
Outdoor Kitchen Creations offers a range of products and services to meet the varying needs of its customers. The company will work with homeowners or contractors by providing plans or selling individual products for an outdoor room. More often, Outdoor Kitchen Creations coordinates and completes the entire outdoor-room project, from drawing plans, fabricating islands, and coordinating installation to providing the final touch with furniture. The company partners with local contractors to coordinate services like stonework and utility connections.
Paul Pietrowski, who obtained his contractor's license, says that customers (especially in the higher income brackets) are increasingly requesting complete turnkey services when creating an outdoor-living space. He points out that as customers move up to a higher-priced home, they desire a customized outdoor environment that blends with the overall design of the home.
 |
| More homeowners are combining slow-cooking methods, such as the popular Big Green Egg, with a gas grill. |
 |
Providing the final touch for the outdoor room, Outdoor Kitchen Creations also offers furniture by Tropitone. |
The size and scope of projects can range from the installation of a single built-in grill in a small island to the creation of settings that feature large-scale, granite-topped islands with multiple grills and workstations, along with fireplaces, wet bars, televisions, mood lighting, and pergolas.
Pietrowski visits each site to tailor the outdoor room to the customer's exact specifications. He says that he has an advantage over other retailers or contractors, who are often unfamiliar with all the aspects of creating an outdoor space. “To be successful, you have to go out to the location and interview the customer correctly about the outdoor area and how he or she plans to use it.” He continues, “While we have our retail license, we are like a design boutique and a more project-oriented company. Our jobs are more consultative than retail.”
Outdoor Kitchen Creations offers products from a range of manufacturers, including grills from Lynx and Fire Magic, products from Cal Flame, furniture from Tropitone and Woodard, firepit tables from California Outdoor Concepts, LCD televisions from SunBrite, and cabinetry from Atlantis Outdoor Kitchens.
For higher-end projects, Lynx and Fire Magic are very popular with customers. “They have a great total offering, and the grills can be configured in different ways—with side, searing, or infrared burners—along with matching components such as doors, drawers, and cocktail stations,” Pietrowski says. Many homeowners are also combining a slow-cooking method, such as the Big Green Egg, with a gas grill. For those who want a midrange line, the company offers products from KitchenAid.
Outdoor Kitchen Creations also helps customers or contractors who are simply looking for components, from a grill to a small accessory. Pietrowski says, “I want people to think of us first for whatever they need, even if it's just a door for an island.” Offering homeowners the opportunity to purchase add-on items (including complete furniture groupings) not only increases the company's market share, but ultimately guides the homeowner to build the right kitchen.
The Pietrowskis continue to keep various kitchens up (at intermittent times throughout the year) at outdoor malls in the Richmond area, including the high-end Short Pump Town Center, which draws 9 million visitors yearly. The displays have proved to be a viable marketing tool for the company.
“People are walking around with their kids, and the spontaneity of seeing the kitchens draws their attention toward coming to visit us at our showroom,” Pietrowski says. While mall rental space is not inexpensive, he adds, “It's a very good way to get in front of a lot of people, versus having to rely on newspaper advertising to bring them into our showroom.”
Maintaining and enhancing contacts with contractors and vendors is also important for the company. “We want them to think about bringing us into their jobs, so our advertising is going toward the contractor—such as a landscaper or a stone company—rather than the individual homeowner,” Pietrowski says. The company also optimizes its presence on the Internet and participates in local home shows.
A recent survey conducted by Better Homes and Gardens shows that while homeowners are downsizing the overall square footage of their homes, they continue to build outdoor kitchens to maximize the space that they do have.
Pietrowski sees this happening in his own business. “The outdoor area is the least expensive area to develop in a home,” he says. “Depending on the market, an indoor-room addition could cost approximately $150 to $200 a square foot. Outdoors, you can create a deluxe area, including pavers, concrete, and furnishings, at about $60 a square foot. You can have more fun, entertain more people, and create better-tasting food for less money.”
Although the couple did not plan to start an outdoor-kitchen company, Pietrowski attributes much of their success to their love of houses and their own desire for an outdoor kitchen. He says, “We wanted an outdoor kitchen, versus just wanting to get into a business. We have a real interest in the category; otherwise, we would have not been successful.”
PHPR May/June 2009
|
|
