Fireplace Fashions serves a burning need

Polar vortexes have a way of paralyzing businesses that count on people going out when they don't have to go out — think restaurants, theaters and the like.

On the other hand, bone-chilling arctic chill creates a boom for other workplaces — think Rochester Gas & Electric, for instance, or maternity wards nine months down the road.

Add Fireplace Fashions to that latter list. The Irondequoit business became pretty appealing to a lot of people shivering through sub-zero temperatures.

"On January 6th, we couldn't answer the phone fast enough," said Jim Rehbach, manager of the store at 1936 Hudson Ave.

Fireplace Fashions has been selling and installing "hearth systems" since 1957. The company's product line includes gas, electric and "open" fireplaces, gas, wood- and pellet-burning stoves, mantels and "all the accessories to maintain them and make them look good," Rehbach said.

Fireplace Fashions grew from an earlier business, the Irondequoit Garden Center, which was founded on the same site during the Depression. Melvin and Beatrice Smallridge started the garden center and later added the fireplace business.

The place has been run by family members and longtime friends since its inception. The Smallridges passed the reins to their daughter, Gloria, and her husband, Chuck Lewis. They closed the garden center in 1995 and renovated to concentrate on the fireplace end, Rehbach said.

"It was all in the same place," Rehbach said. "There was a greenhouse, and now it's a showroom. The owners were at the point where they didn't want to work eight days a week anymore."

Chuck and Gloria's son, Dan, is now the company's vice president. The president and general manager, Mike Miller, was married to Chuck and Gloria's daughter, Kristie, who passed away in 2008.

Miller and Kristie dated while they were in high school, Rehbach said, and Miller started working at the family businesses in the 1970s. Rehbach started in 1973, when he was a student at Irondequoit High, working in the greenhouse and the garden store. His uncle, Bob Rehbach, was the longtime manager of the garden store.

"My uncle dragged me in," the nephew said. "He retired, for the third time, in 2000."

Fireplaces now are the main attraction. This particularly wicked winter has spurred customer interest, Rehbach said.

"It's definitely a business influenced by the weather," he said.

The hectic time for Fireplace Fashions is from August — as summer is winding down — through spring, Rehbach said. The rest of the year is busy with homebuilders and people who are renovating their homes, he said.

Fireplace Fashions is certified by the National Fireplace Institute, Rehbach said, and all of the sales and installation staff are nationally trained.

"We do all the installation work ourselves," he said. "There are no subcontractors."

The business has expanded to fire pits and outdoor fireplaces — brick and stone with a hearth, with the same look as the inside version. The outdoor fireplaces come in wood-burning or gas-powered varieties.

"It's one of the biggest changes in our industry," Rehbach said.

Fireplace Fashions' long roots in the community give the company an expertise and alternative that customers can't get in big-box stores, Rehbach said.

"It's because of the family-friendly feel we share with all of our customers," he said. "We do our best to give our customers the best service."

Alan Morrell is a Rochester-based freelance writer.

Fireplace Fashions

Founded: 1957

Location: 1936 Hudson Ave., Irondequoit

Executives: Mike Miller, president and general manager; Dan Lewis, vice president; Tina Hamman, secretary-treasurer

Employees: 18

Website:www.fireplacefashions.com