We welcomed our first customers today to our new showroom to view all our products they had only travelled from Hucknall to come and see us.
They had done the usual of looking in local fireplace shops and online to find the best deal and came directly to us to view our Fireplaces after phoning us earlier in the week.
As they arrived I had literally just switched off the Hoover after cleaning right through for this Sundays Official opening so it was all look very clean and shiny for the first guests.
After showing them The Celtic, Pembroke, Barcelona and Edinburgh in all the finishes we have in stock they eventually chose the Celtic Full Polish Gas Package at £490 with a tiled hearth instead of the Granite one.
After checking earlier in the week whether they could take it away with them we loaded there car and off they drove back to Hucknall so the floor fitter can put hearth down and continue with the oak floor they were laying.
As I have said in previous posts no other company keeps so many fireplaces in stock ready to take away we really do offer one of the best services in fact THE BEST Service to be found in any online or High Street shop and to top all this we are one of the most competitive with our pricing too so why shop elsewhere.
So if you do want to come and visit us we do visits by appointment only so you are guaranteed a personal uninterrupted service where you can ask as many questions as you like to make sure you get the perfect fireplace for your home
Archive for July, 2009
First customers to our showroom buy Celtic Fireplace Package
Friday, July 31st, 2009Six years online selling Gallery Fireplaces
Thursday, July 30th, 2009Next Week it is 6years since Cast Fireplaces started selling our Fireplaces online we started from a small workshop on a farm at Heage after I had left a Large Furniture and Antique Warehouse in Belper.
This Space we had now seems so small with no Pallet truck Forklift and even back then it was full of fireplaces from floor to ceiling with no room to move.
I always knew what I wanted to do with them and started selling them online and was one of the very first companies to put them on Ebay to see how they went and from Day 1 we were busy so we had our own website built and have never looked back from then. We now really don’t bother with Ebay its full of cheap copies and inferior products.
I had a little Ford Fiesta Van that lasted 2 months before we bought a larger van which was a Nissan Vanette Cargo which was twice the size but all the mileage soon had its toll on this van and it was eventually part exchanged for our 1st New Vauxhall Movano van.
This was sign written with large picture and writing and straight away we had orders for our fireplaces, as this was a driving advertisement. We still have all our vans Sign written so customers can see us coming and people know who we are.
The Range of Gallery fireplaces we still offer and a lot has changed since then with the introduction of our Limestone Fireplaces which are very popular and seem to have replaced Wooden surrounds as the choice of the Modern fireplace surround.
We now have 1700 sq ft of Factory and Showroom 2 vans, a full time delivery driver, a full time timber surround manufacturer and me and my wife Rhian. So as you can see things have grown but we have not lost that personal touch and you are always a valued customer of ours not just an invoice number.
We are a genuine Family Business and all work very closely together to make sure you the customer get the best possible friendly service at the best prices to be found online and we hope you enjoy your shopping experience with us
New Fireplace Showroom is Complete at Last
Wednesday, July 29th, 2009Hooray the shout was today at around 4.30 pm when the fitters had just put in the last display in our new showroom.
It seems to have taken weeks and the only thing left to do is carry one more Stoves into place and then all displays are ready for people to visit It is the Firefox 12 Stove but im out delivering to Gloucester tommorow so luckily it wont be me.
We already have appointments booked for Sunday which we are going to use as our Opening Day as all the point of sales leaflets and promotion banners are still to arrive from the printers,
everything seems to take so long they have been ordered for 10 days now.
Im sure all this hard work will pay great dividends as we do have some exiting new packages we have put together which we will be featuring in our article section once there all ready and we have stock made to despatch so keep your eyes out for all these items.
Also the upgraded website will be ready in around 4 weeks with our even easier to use sections so this will also make a huge difference to our ordering system so in between upgardes there will be new items added now i have a little more time in the Office agian but everything will be in place at the start of the Heating Season.
Just one more thing we will again start to offer some JIG Fireplaces as a main part of our range on our webiste and in our showroom as we have had the Rep come to see us today and we have got some good deals to offer our customers
Electric Fireplace sales are on the rise this month
Tuesday, July 28th, 2009As we head towards the end of the month of July which is supposed to be one of our quieter months I am working out which packages have sold best for our features ive noticed a huge amount of electric fireplaces that we have sold this month. Electric Fireplaces are normally used when people have faulty chimneys and don’t want to line them or when an effect is just required without a heat output. They are not as realistic as a gas or solid fuel fire however they are certainly better than nothing.
We have recently order the new ELO fire which allows the heat when used to be blown over the bars which means you don’t have to remove the ash pan cover to benefit from this, they also come with a remote controller they only cost an extra £35 than the standard electric fire we offer so im sure it will be a good seller.
We have already sold 1 to a customer without them even being on our website he had seen it in his local shop and ordered one from us for his existing fire when buying a new fireplace for another room so he was a happy man telling me we had saved him over £100 on just the electric insert itself.
So with this in mind if you do see some new items we don’t show on our website please contact us it is normally something we can source at a price that will beat the high street shops every time.
Finally some of the Gremlins have been ironed out from our site but the article section is still running a little slower than normal but we will be up to speed in no time at all and at least our ordering system is back up and running online thanks again for all your patience whilst we have been dealing with this.
Fireplace Gremlins are working to slow our website down
Monday, July 27th, 2009We do apologise to anyone who tried to use our website over the weekend we had maintenance work on Saturday happening and then the website was down all day Sunday which is not ideal but the work had to be done to improve the running of the Site. So if you do see any Gremlins whilst visiting us please ignore them the Gremlin Catcher is on their case
It is up and running again this morning although certain sections are running slower than usual but our hosts are working on it as I write this article.
This little Blip has reminded me how much we rely on technology and computers to run our business and how when things go wrong people do result to using the Phone.
We have had more telephone orders for our Fireplaces over the weekend and only 1 website order by someone who must have waited ages for pages to load right in the middle of maintenance work on Saturday, Mr Edwards you deserve an award I loaded an article on Saturday and it took me nearly and hour and a half to finally get it done.
So please bear with us today we expect to have it all sorted by the end of the day and if you do wish to order just give us a ring we do like to speak to our customers and always confirm order details by phone to make sure you have ordered the right Fireplace and finish and finally to check that they all fit together if you order individual items. Over the years we have saved customers time and money by doing this and always recommend buying a full fireplace package if it works out cheaper and as Bob Hoskins used to say its good to talk
What is a Cast Iron Fire Brick for my Fireplace
Saturday, July 25th, 2009Replacement of firebrick in the back of many of our fireplaces is a simple job we often get asked the question whether that plate should move up and down. This little plate is where the majority of the heat is concentrated when burning solid fuel (real fire) so on some of our fireplaces it is replaceable so it can be easily changed if it becomes damaged.
In all our years of selling fireplaces we have sold about 10 of these Cast Iron Firebricks and two of those were to the same customer.
If the fireplace has been properly back filled this firebrick should not need to be replacing as all the heat is then pushed forward into the room.
The bricks we have replaced were all because the customer or their fitters had not packed enough backfill in or left air pockets behind so the firebrick plate simply warped.
Back filling is another part I will elaborate on in another post and how to check it’s done correctly but please remember fireplace installation is not a DIY project and we strongly recommend having your fireplace installed by a qualified professional.
If you do need any advice or if your fitter wants to clarify something just contact us we are here to help you get good honest correct advice
Gas Fireplaces on the rise again due to steady prices
Thursday, July 23rd, 2009With the prices of our gas supplies remaining at a consistent level without the price hikes we have seen in recent years we are now seeing more movement again towards the use of gas inserts again. When we were suffering energy companies rising prices every 6 months it really struck fear into people using a gas fire as part of there fireplace and we saw a huge surge towards solid fuel as an alternative source in the winter however now the sales of stoves is not as mad as it was before Christmas but that is normal as the fireplace trade is exceptionally busy in the winter months.
With this return to gas sales we have increased our stock of gas hearths and gas inserts for all our fireplaces so we are sure we can have a constant supply from the manufacturers so we never run short of anything.
We do have a section on our website for Fires and Frets where you can buy these gas fires and frets as individual items if you just wish to replace your Gas Fireplace for something more modern or more realistic.
As usual we still offer all our packages for gas use so you can choose any package we offer and select the gas option and be assure it will fit the item you have ordered.
So if you do need any more help choosing a fire option please contact us we are always here to help
Busy day unloading fireplaces at our factory
Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009Well what a morning I have had we have just finished unloading all the new fireplaces for the showroom there now all over our normally well organised factory where we keep all the fireplaces in stock so mayhem for loading all the vans till after the weekend. Forklifts are they not the best invention ever for lifting heavy items.
The Carpet fitter is working away so I thought I will grab a cup of tea and have ten minutes then I thought well why not do some work as well and write this article.
Our other van is due at 2.00pm to start loading our North run and I’ve gone and buried half of it so that will take a little longer than normal still at least some stock will disappear onto the van so I wont have to move it again.
So here I am surrounded by Cast iron fireplaces writing this blog on my laptop listening to carpet fitters singing can my day get any better.
I am really looking forward to getting these fireplaces installed so I can some time back in the office listing all the new items we have planned for our website I have a file with over 80 new products ready to be listed on our site not including all the companion sets etc that we intend to feature so please keep checking back to see if we have any items that could be of interest to you.
Don’t forget we only sell fireplaces and fireplace related products so you can always rely on a service that is totally dedicated to these products.
Right I am off to finish wrapping up all these gas inserts and bar sets for Thursdays delivery to the North of England then maybe I can get some lunch (even the joiners Doner Kebab pot noodle he has left looks tasty).
Fireplaces arrive for new showroom and its ready for new displays
Tuesday, July 21st, 2009The First of our fireplaces has arrived to day for our new fireplace showroom and as I started to write this article the phone rang and it was the decorator to say its all done and we can start fitting them in the morning after the Carpet fitter has finished laying the new floor which is great news and we hope to be finished before the end of the Month which I had set in my mind as a deadline and was hoping to push for.
We have a delivery coming tomorrow as normal for a Wednesday and on this delivery is a lot of Fireplaces we don’t keep in stock ready for our brand new displays such as the Modern Suites and the Jura Stone products. I am really excited about getting this little project finished as then our customers have something to look at again all set up instead of items in crates and boxes.
We have still been having customers our large stock to view and take items away and I thank those who have visited for their patience in me hastily arranging items for them to view I know its not been ideal but almost everyone who has visited has ordered or taken something away to think about so even through this turmoil we still have been doing a good job.
Another bit of good news is today I have visited our website designers and approved the new tweaks we are doing to the site to make it easier for you to choose items along with a few new fireplace categories and products which I have yet to announce so keep checking back to see the changes over the next few weeks.
On returning to the office I have dealt with a nice little pile of orders Rhian has been taking all day and have arranged deliveries for one of our vans for Thursday to the Sunny North of England after today’s delivery around Lancaster, Bolton and Manchester. We are heading to Newcastle and Morpeth and the right hand side of the Country on Thursday so there is no rest for Stuart at the moment as he drives our sign written van advertising our fireplaces up and down the motorways so if you see him give him a pip I am sure he will wave he really is one of the most friendly people I’ve ever met always has a smile on his face and is so laid back nothing bothers him even an hours delay on the motorway (see customers comments about our friendly delivery man).
Right I’m off now to do some invoices left over from earlier today
Fireplace Feedback and Customer Gallery Sections
Friday, July 24th, 2009All the Articles I seem to be writing seem to mention the new showroom in some way I am sure this project is taking over my working life. I am pleased to tell you the fireplaces have started to be installed and looking at the speed they are going in we should be able to open it for the end of next week a few days earlier than planned however that’s enough showroom talk I promise I wont mention it again till its completed.
Customer Feedback on our products and service is very important to us and it tells us if how we can improve our service so we have a Comments section on our website so customers can see what others are saying about us all these comments are genuine reports our customers have written for us and we can supply customers emails if you wish to contact them yourself to see what they have to say about us.
We do appreciate all feedback given to us and we do listen to what customers say about us or our website.
We also have a customer gallery section that showcases fireplace products supplied by ourselves in place in peoples homes to give others an idea of what can be done.
This section is growing slowly but I really do enjoy seeing the finished product in place and in use in homes all over the UK.
So if we have supplied a stove or fireplace for you and want to leave us some feedback or send us a photo just email us your comments and we will add them to our website
Tags: comments, Feedback, Gallery
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