The Life in Business: Fireplace & Home Center
Jeffrey Mermel, founder and owner of the Fireplace & Home Center in Historic Downtown Hilo, says he learned about fireplaces or wood stoves back in 1979 when his fiancé, Sally, owner of The Most Irresistible Shop in Hilo, suggested he get a woodstove for his house in Volcano Village, where “I was trying to get her to move. She thought it would keep our house cozy and dry.”
After researching products, they ordered two woodstoves. It cost about the same amount to ship two as one, he says, so they put the second one up for sale in Sally’s gift shop.They then realized someone had to be on hand to help customers with technical questions and so Jeffrey, who was an artist at the time, found himself becoming a retailer.
They started carrying other brands of fireplaces and stoves, needing more display space, and soon The Fireplace & Home Center was born as a separate business. It is still located side by side with The Most Irresistible Shop in Hilo, sharing the same common doorway.
Over the 32 years since its founding in 1979, the Fireplace & Home Center has grown to carry all the major brands of stoves and fireplaces: Jotul, Heat & Glo, Morso, Heatilator and more. With customers across all the Hawaiian Islands they have found that “it isn’t just folks up in the mountains that want stoves and fireplaces. People get them to take the chill off, get rid of dampness when the rains come, and many just for the sheer joy of a cozy, crackling fire.”
Mermel says, “Nowadays, people also are turning to electric fireplaces and even ethanol, a biofuel that requires no chimney system.”
The specialty retailer also carries traditional Finnish saunas and the newer, infrared style of sauna, plus charcoal grills and smokers by Big Green Egg— a popular grill donated to many Big Island fundraisers.
The downtown Hilo showroom has more than 30 displays, arranged for the homeowner to visualize just how it would appear in their home. The sales staff are all highly trained to assist the customer in planning, design, installation and especially service after the purchase, says Mermel.
256 Kamehameha Ave., downtown Hilo
808.961.5646
1.800.760.5646
www.fireplacehawaii.com
