American Fire Glass was started in 2005 out of CEO Matt Doll’s garage. But 20 years later, the company has evolved and grown to a point where the brand name no longer represented the company’s services.
That’s why the business recently rebranded to American Fire Products, a name that aligns with the flame guards, firepit burners, fire glass and other fire-related products the company makes.
“About 10 years ago, we started introducing more products into our mix, and within the last 36 months, fire glass actually makes up only 30% of our business,” Doll said. “So 70% of our business is coming from the burners, firepits and electronic ignition systems. But we were still being viewed as just a glass company, and it felt like that was holding us back. We realized that to help this business continue for another 20 years, we needed to change that narrative. We actually bought the domain name about 13 years ago with the goal of one day growing to this point.”
Doll said the company also is starting to focus on higher-end luxury products. It evaluated its customer base and eliminated some that weren’t representing the brand as well as they could. They upgraded to better materials and increased prices, reframing themselves as a high-end brand.
“We’re not racing to the bottom or chasing cheap Amazon sales,” Doll said. “We want our products to be sold in stores right next to $10,000 firepits. The people who are using our products are building nice, multifamily projects there. It’s going in hotels and into nice homes that are redoing the backyard. These people are spending thousands of dollars remodeling their yard, and they’re putting in a firepit with an electronic ignition system and all of our parts and components, and then topping it off with our fire glass.”
The company highlighted its new branding for the first time at the recent HPBA Expo, and Doll said the new name led to many meaningful conversations. A large part of the company’s buyer base is made up of builders and contractors, and that has been a successful part of the business in addition to its casual retail store buyers.
The company manufactures in the U.S., Mexico, Indonesia and China, and because of the uncertainty of the tariff situation, Doll said they have put all production on hold. Everything that they had scheduled for Q2 is already finished, so they are putting shipping and delivery of any of the goods on pause to see what happens with the tariffs.
“The tariffs make it hard for us to maintain growth if we don’t implement a significant price increase,” Doll said. “However, we are growing our market share in the industry because a handful of our competitors have closed up shop and completely gone out of business. With the changes in the economy combined with the tariffs, we are organically gaining market share right now, and that’s helping us stay strong.”
The company also supplies products on an OEM basis to many firepit manufacturers, and its volume to them is up this year versus what it was last year, Doll said.
“We have some companies in the industry that sell firepits that are still doing very well, and I see some other people that are not,” he said. The volume of product we’re supplying to some people is almost shocking at this point. But there doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to it. One company that we supply has doubled its volume from last year, and another one is down 90%.”
Home-buying is down, which means fewer outdoor spaces that need furnishing, and Doll said that presents challenges for the casual industry.
“Those companies focused on building a strong brand and a good reputation, and providing a truly quality product will be the ones who are going to come out on top when the market gets better,” he said. “Those of us who have been able to make it through will see much bigger benefits than those racing to the bottom to chase every dollar they can.”
