Dealers in Trouble?

So I stopped by my dealer today to drop off the damaged piece of vent pipe for my Harman DVC-500 and check on when my new piece is coming in. He said hopefully within 2 weeks. He said he's had a really difficult time with Harman lately and it seems to be getting worse. Anyway, he said that he wouldn't be surprised that if as early as next year, maybe by March, a lot of dealers will go under because of the problems with the supply of stoves...anybody think this might happen?

If they are diversified, it should be OK for them.

Why would a company that's working 24/7 to keep up go under?

Well if the dealer just sells Harman he is not working 24/7 unless you call answering calls from customers asking when their stove is coming work. I agree if he is diversified than they will be fine.

I believe he means that there will be dealers that go under. I would agree. With the year for coal stoves going as it was, very few stove companies could get material fast enough let alone build the stoves quick enough. In July I was telling my dealers that the stoves that they were ordering would be delivered in Dec. or later. Many of my competitors were saying 6 to 10 weeks, so I lost many orders. Well 6 to 10 weeks have come and gone and they still don't have the stoves from brand X. Leisure Line is shipping stove when we said we would. At the present time I am working on stoves that were ordered in the first week of July. We did not promise dealers something we could not do just to get the order. I feel bad for the consumer that is waiting for 5/6 months for his stove. Thank God oil prices have dropped, but we need to remember that this could happen again at any time, and will.
Jerry

Leisure Line wrote: In July I was telling my dealers that the stoves that they were ordering would be delivered in Dec. or later. Many of my competitors were saying 6 to 10 weeks, so I lost many orders. Well 6 to 10 weeks have come and gone and they still don't have the stoves from brand X. Leisure Line is shipping stove when we said we would. At the present time I am working on stoves that were ordered in the first week of July. We did not promise dealers something we could not do just to get the order. I feel bad for the consumer that is waiting for 5/6 months for his stove. Thank God oil prices have dropped, but we need to remember that this could happen again at any time, and will.
Jerry

Kudo's to Leisure Line & Jerry,

Great to see you folks taking an active interest in a forum such as this and being honest with Joe public and your dealers even at the cost of loosing the sale.

My mother and numerous friends have bought Leisure Line stoves and have been very happy with the product. If you were selling hot water boilers, I would have taken a serious look. I had no choice, invested alot 2 years ago in all new baseboards and controls and then the boiler crapped out. Don't take me wrong, I am sure my Keystoker KA-6 will give me many years of service.

Keep up the great work Jerry & Leisure Line .... Honesty and top quality products will win out in the long run.

Don Wilson

well written Don.

Some dealers will flourish some will perish.
If they are newbie one brand start ups they most likely will get into trouble especially if they are Harman dealers based only on what I read here)
Seems that a lot of these stove companies based expansion plans on huge oil price surges.
but a seasoned observer might think its just a passing blip . Ups and downs happen all the time. What goes up goes down is generally pretty true. Yes huge sums can be made on the upswing but if your waiting on a downswing you lose.
This spring start watching all the local "want ad" papers and see all the heaters that are available that say used one week or month etc. People are to used to turning up the Thermo and filling the oil tank to put up with the chores of burning coal or wood.
Oil in the $60 to $70 range will raise demand a lot ..... so....so much for urgent rush to find an alternative.
We like "easy" and whats easier than doing nothing for heat but pay the oilman?
I have not purchased any oil for 4 years and I still have 1/4 of a tank left.
i should be good till Wall Street tries to teach us another lesson which will be soon.

I'm happy to say that complete stoker units are now being produced at above normal numbers. We are hoping to clean up the orders/backorders before the original estimates.

The early buyers who were expecting their unit in Aug/Sept, when we started ordering castings/machined parts, the delays were extremely longer than any orders over the past years, and it was across the board. The suppliers were moving at a snail's pace, probably because they were swamped with work themselves; it was just unbelievable. But it appears that is in the past at this point.

IMO with heating oil at $2.50 and below they may go out of biz for lack of sales not from to many orders. Maybe $2.50 is a sweet spot that the mfg's can handle.