Here is my short version of the origins of The Stove Shop.
The Middle East turmoil of the mid 1970's caused a spike in home heating oil prices. My father Theodore J. Ryan took action by installing a woodburning stove to keep our family warm and to reduce dependence on oil. He liked the wood stove idea so much that starting on March 17, 1977, St. Patrick's Day, he began selling Efel and Waterford stoves out of a former dairy farm building owned by Russell Showalter, calling the business The Stove Shop.
As demand increased, The Stove Shop added more stove lines such as Nashua, Garrison, Morso, Jotul, Atlanta, Elm, Schooner, Better 'n Bens, Russo, Citation, Godin, Alaska, and others I've forgotten. In 1978, I graduated from Drexel University and came on board as a part timer, never suspecting that a three-decade career in stove retail awaited. In 1981 our little family business was thriving.
My dad entered into an agreement with Vermont Castings, then a mail-order company, and for the next two years The Stove Shop was the exclusive authorized Vermont Castings dealer for Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware. Customers from a hundred miles away drove to Phoenixville in their pickup trucks to get their Vermont Castings stove. Many of those stoves are still in use today.
We retained an advertising agency, Boyd Tamney Cross, which is when I met my wife-to-be Cynthia Mellon, who was a graphic designer for the agency. We married in 1983, opened a second store in Medford Lakes, NJ and after three years sold it and moved back to Pennsylvania, to refocus our efforts in Phoenixville. In 1986 my dad retired and I took the reins.
The growth area in the hearth business became gas fireplaces and pellet stoves. We expanded to meet the demands of the boomers of the 1990's. We continue to grow and change with the marketplace, trying to keep current with new products in the hearth industry. Today, in addition to Vermont Castings, we represent American-made manufacturers Majestic, Harman and Quadrafire. I enjoy my notoriety as the local stove and fireplace expert. It is gratifying when my customers from thirty years ago bring their grown-up children in to purchase a stove for their new home.
In closing, I thank my wife and family for their support. I thank our employees for their dedication and commitment to the mission of The Stove Shop, which is to help people stay warm and save money.
Our success results from a lot of hard work from each individual. To our customers who have placed their confidence in The Stove Shop by their purchase of a stove, we thank you for your trust. We hope to continue to serve you well for many years to come.
Liam Ryan
The Stove Shop
Phoenixville PA
Spring 2011