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Tucson-based Flame Connection finds that a focus on customer service helps keep sales steady in slow economy.
Written By KIMBERLY RODGERS
Photography By KENN JENSEN
With Tucson’s temperate climate, casual year-round lifestyleand growing population, it’s easy to understand why Flame Connection is a perfect retail fit for this southern Arizona city. With a population of approximately 1 million, Tucson relies on this premier independent business for all its barbecue, hearth and outdoor-kitchen needs.
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| Flame Connection's highly recognizable truck is just one form of promotion that the retailer uses to market itself in the Tucson area. |
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| Left to right: Mike Evertson, sales and business development; Christian Hale, operations and service manager; Colin Keating, general manager; and Rob Wilson, sales and business development, have all helped make Flame Connection one of the largest independent barbecue retailers in Tucson. |
Operating from a 5,500–square-foot building that includes a 3,500–square-foot showroom, Flame Connection is Tucson’s longest-established full-service grill company and is locally owned and operated. The original business was founded in 1988 and was purchased and renamed Flame Connection about seven years ago.
“We’re one of the top independent barbecue retailers in the Tucson area,” Colin Keating, general manager, says. He adds that since it has been under the banner of Flame Connection, the business has progressed in a very positive direction. “We’ve been on a constant growth schedule, with about a 20-percent increase per year,” he says.
Like many areas of the country, Tucson has felt the effects of the downturn in the housing market. While Flame Connection didn’t experience growth in 2007, sales did remain steady from the previous year. “We didn’t lose sales, and we were happy about that, but it’s not necessarily where we wanted to be,” Keating says. He sees a different outlook for 2008. “Since the beginning of the year, we have already seen a change in some areas of growth,” he says. “We’re very optimistic about what the future is going to hold for us.”
A Hot Market
Tucson still has a large influx of people moving to the city, fueled by its mild climate and attractive housing market. Many transplants from Southern California (fed up with the Golden State’s high cost of living and traffic congestion) are driving this surge.
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| Flame Connection offers full turnkey service in planning, sales and installations of outdoor kitchens. It carreis a wide range of high-end grills and accessories. |
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| In addition to offering high-end grills and barbecue accessories, Flame Connection also carries an expansive line of fireplaces and stoves. |
According to a 2005 U.S. Census Bureau report, Arizona’s population is projected as doubling by the year 2030, and it will retain its title as the second–fastest-growing state in the nation (behind Nevada). “One of the big benefits of doing business in Tucson and Arizona is that people are always moving here, which represents a good, positive growth sign for us,” Keating says.
Like many large cities, Tucson has its share of big-box stores. Flame Connection, however, has been able to rise above its competition by concentrating its expertise in only flame-related products; by having a friendly and knowledgeable sales staff; by offering high-end, high-quality products; and by providing complete turnkey service, including delivery, assembly, installation and testing of every grill and hearth product it sells. Flame Connection also offers complete on-site service for grill maintenance and repair, and is Southern Arizona’s largest supplier of barbecue parts and maintenance items.
Flame Connection provides planning, sales and installation of outdoor kitchens, which are growing in popularity among Tucson homeowners. Keating says that Flame Connection can provide service for all types of jobs, from simply working with the customer’s own contractor to supply products to providing a full turnkey application. “We can build the island, supply the equipment and work with our contacts to coordinate utilities and any masonry work,” he says.
According to Keating, in the past few years, more customers have been requesting complete installation service for outdoor kitchens. “People are looking for someone to do an entire project for them, so they just have one point of contact,” he says. The retailer carries a range of high-end grills, including its flagship line, Alfresco, along with Viking, Fire Magic, Vermont Castings, Beefeater and Kalamazoo.
The other important part of Flame Connection’s business is its hearth market, which represents about half of its sales. Keating says that the company works with many local builders who are installing fireplaces for new construction or remodeling projects. “We also work with homeowners who want to add hearth products,” he says.
As with its outdoor kitchens, Flame Connection can provide full turnkey service for any hearth product. “A homeowner can go from a blank wall to adding a fireplace, all through us,” Keating says. Since Tucson’s mild climate is perfect for year-round alfresco entertaining, outdoor fireplaces have also become hot sellers for Flame Connection. It offers lines from several upscale hearth manufacturers, including Isokern, Mason-Lite, Regency, Fmi, Town & Country and Montigo.
Promotion Pays
Flame Connection employs many different marketing strategies, including consistent advertising in Tucson Lifestyle, a regional magazine for the area’s affluent residents. In addition to advertising in telephone directories, the company places ads in local newspapers to communicate sales or promotions. Flame Connection also participates in local home-and-garden shows to showcase the store and its unique products.
Keating relies heavily on his staff of 11, including his sales team, to promote Flame Connection. “We have some people who handle inside and outside sales and are really aggressive about networking with local contractors,” Keating says.
Down the road, Flame Connection might expand to a second location within Tucson or might open another site to serve growing markets closer to the Arizona–Mexico border. The retailer has also discovered that new condominium developments on Mexico’s Gulf of California coast, where many Tucson residents vacation, are another source of business.
No matter how big it grows, Flame Connection will never lose sight of its key objective. “We’re very customer-service oriented,” Keating says. “Service is the key to providing the whole experience for our customers. You can always buy a product at a price point anywhere, but having people there for follow-through, to answer questions and to guide you to what you are actually looking for, is very beneficial.”
PHPR May/June 2008
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