At a time when many retail stores are closing or downsizing, it’s rare to see companies expanding into the brick-and-mortar space.
But for Couch Oil Company of Durham, N.C., it was a natural move—and the timing was right.
Starting in 1949 as an oil company and then pivoting into becoming a full-service fuel provider (including propane), the company has made a name for itself in the Durham area over the years.
Now, it’s expanding its reach by setting up a full-fledged showroom to display the grills and indoor and outdoor hearth features it sells, as the company has never had a place to show the product in person before.
This is an easy transition for a company that’s already been selling these products from their offices—as they already have the service aspect of the business built in. But this will give them more space to show how the product might look in someone’s home and diversify their product offerings.
And lucky for them, the building they moved into was previously occupied by a different gas company, which meant there were existing hookups for gas throughout the location.
Named Couch & Co. Fireplace and Patio on the retail side, the company brought on Ray Lopez, who has spent almost two decades in the hearth retail business, to handle the sales expertise in the store. It’s slated to open this month.
Lopez says the store will act as a design center when consumers can come in customize a fireplace in almost any way they can imagine. And he says demand is high because with the pandemic people have been sitting at home staring at their old fireplaces and wanting a new one.
“We’ve got a lot to offer for everybody, it’s just a matter of what they’re after,” Lopez tells Casual News Now.
To cover both seasons, the store will carry indoor fireplaces as well as grills, outdoor fireplaces, and fire pits. However, Lopez says they will keep products from all categories floored year-round because the demand is high all year long.
And while Couch & Co. is going through similar problems as the rest of the industry when it comes to supply chain issues, Lopez says customers have been understanding when it comes to the wait time.
“On my end, it takes me more time to pick and choose what I’m trying to sell to somebody because I have to use three or four different suppliers to fulfill one order,” Lopez explains. “If it’s something that’s local in our warehouse in South Carolina, right now we can have it within two weeks, but certain pieces, like computer chips for the fireplaces, are still hard to get.”
As they prepare for opening, they’ve invested mostly in the digital side of things when it comes to marketing and advertising the store—for example, getting set up with Google My Business, building out a robust website. They plan to have a ribbon-cutting event and are inviting current Couch Oil customers to check the store before it opens.
“We’re being really strategic about knowing our audience and understanding who we want to get in here before we open,” company President Stephen Couch says. “And with knowing that we’re not quite 100% there with construction and that we don’t want people getting frustrated with backlogs and other things, opening the store has kind of been a balanced approach.”
