One nice thing about our industry is that we get to sell and promote products that are made in Canada. In fact, almost 80% of what Friendly Fires sells and installs is made in Canada. In our industry, Canadian-made product is simply better quality and often comes with superior after-sales support. Some of the best […]
A successful business nowadays must be best of breed in many categories including finding great employees (the most important), product (high quality), its processes (must be efficient), aware of rules and regulations (getting more complicated and onerous everyday), traditional marketing / branding – and now – social media. 5 years ago a marketing plan consisted of […]
Last Friday, the Hearth Patio & BBQ Association (HPBA) held their annual trade show and conference in Salt Lake City. The HPBA has thousands of members and is an association that represents retailers, distributors and manufacturers in the fireplace and BBQ industry. The annual conference has a trade show, education sessions, as well as an […]
According to the Government, hydro prices are rising 40%+ in the next 5 years. Can you image any company raising prices that amount? How abut paying $50,000 for a Honda Accord? $3 for a cup of Tim Hortons coffee? $1.50 for gasoline (forget that last example… we will probably be paying that amount anyways…). Unfortunately, […]
When the first frost appears, our wood burning customers are often the only ones smiling ear to ear (see picture on the right from a new Friendly Fires customer). Speaking of wood, one interesting trend this season is the popularity of wood and pellet burning appliances. The Hearth Patio & BBQ Association just released new […]
Where did summer go? That is probably a question that many of you are asking right about now… The good news for us is that at Friendly Fires transitions from a busy BBQ / Charcoal / Outdoor fireplace focus to indoor stoves and fireplaces (not that BBQ season is over….) and getting a few solar […]
Summer has finally arrived – and time for another seasonal update. What’s new with the Team at Friendly Fires? We’ve been trying out some new products. Our Kingston team has been cooking on an outdoor wood fired pizza oven with incredible success. Food is so amazing we sometimes wonder why there isn’t one in every […]
What a great year for our outdoor category this year. Our BBQ class and competition schedule is complete. We have some great returning Chefs (Brian Henry) who are prepared to wow our barbecue students (weekend warriors). And, in keeping with our tradition of having local butchers show off their skills – a new butcher shop […]
What a great feeling when snow begins to melt and our grills surface from all the snow (except for those die-hard BBQers that BBQ all year of course). This is such a fun time of year. Butchers are busier selling BBQ foods…. Big Box Stores really start pushing their outdoor (foreign built & supported) products…. […]
A few neat happenings at Friendly Fires. Firstly, our Kingston Showroom has just received a makeover to improve and modernize displays as well as allow us to display the full line of Friendly Fires’ outdoor products. It has not been easy for our team or our customers – so we greatly appreciate everyone’s patience […]
One element of the Friendly Fires culture is to ‘eat our own dog food.’ In other words, we encourage our amazing team to use the products we sell in our showrooms and at their homes. By using the products we sell, we can better support our customers and ensure we are recommending the right solutions […]
To Screen or Not To Screen: That Is The Question. Fireplace safety has increased in importance recently. Unfortunately, there have been too many incidents of children hands touching hot glass – and as such – new regulations are apparently currently in the works. Some manufacturers have been proactive and have made screens standard on their […]
Year end has arrived and its always great to take some time to reflect on the past 12 months and plan for the year ahead. From a business standpoint, Friendly Fires had another successful year. Thank you. It is great to be successful in such a challenging environment. We really have the best customers in […]
As per our last post, giving back to the community is an important part of the Friendly Fires culture. We want to ensure that our team members who go above and beyond in giving back are properly recognized for their efforts. For the holidays, our very own Jason Lichter organizes a fundraising effort to raise […]
An important part of the Friendly Fires culture is to give back to the community. This week, we were recognized as the official winner of the workplace challenge of the Loving Spoonful / GAR. Loving Spoonful is a charitable organization in Kingston that collects healthy food for those who can not necessarily afford it. What […]
Update: January 2018 – due to the popularity of this post we’ve created a video discussing this issue, please have a look here: https://friendlyfires.ca/ipi-vs-millivolt-pilot-light-systems/ IPI – the technical term used in the fireplace industry for ‘Intermitent Pilot Ignition’ (also called electronic ignition) is supposed to benefit end users with additional features and functionality – namely […]
As you view this website, you may (or may not) be noticing the different logos and looks that Friendly Fires is currently using. Essentially, there is our original ‘waving flame’ logo – still present on a few of our old signage (copy is in this post). In 2004, we updated to our ‘happy house’ look. […]
Thanks for checking into our Blog. There is much to talk about… so this is a great place to share some personal information that hopefully – will be of interest to you. Welcome!
