Since 1995, Rettinger Fireplace Systems has been trusted with keeping the region’s homes as warm and inviting as the love filling them year-round. The company’s humble beginnings took root in David Sr. and Alexis Rettinger’s basement but soon necessitated a proper headquarters—and it hasn’t stopped growing since.
“We’re building upon what my parents started, rather than trying to figure it all out,” says owner Dave Rettinger Jr. “The first generation has to build every last bit of it; the second generation has a responsibility to take what’s been built and let it transcend to a new level.”
Rettinger and his sister Alyssa Rettinger-Smith are the second generation owners lovingly steering the company toward its 30th year, which will be greeted with a foray into the all-new terrain that they and their team regard as Rettinger’s next chapter: providing high-quality outdoor living options as well as its familiar fireplace options, from the flagship design center it’s building in Berlin with the intention of elevating the region’s quality of life at home.
“We have purchased the building with the intention of operating our warehouse and woodshop out of there, and having a retail store there,” Rettinger begins. “However, as we recognized the need for full-service, outdoor kitchens and firepits, etc., we decided to expand the building and almost doubled its size.”
Sales Director Dan Schmidt has been a part of the Rettinger team for about eight years, though not consecutively. Part of what drew him back was “one heck of a reputation” that the Rettinger team has earned throughout the company’s almost 30 years.
“I had been working direct with the builders when Dave Jr. invited me back to get more involved with the business. From there, he and I have been tackling a new project every year, and we’ve been working side by side to develop what we have today,” Schmidt says, noting that one of those projects is the design center that’s presently set for an invitation-only private opening later in September.
He explains the wisdom guiding how that center has been coming together: “We like to think about the homeowner, the customer, the builder who wants a fireplace: What do they need to get there and for their fireplace to come together? How can we offer that? Part of that meant we were going to need a new facility. It’s been many years in the making, but we’re really excited for the new showroom to finally be open. … The whole world is subscribing to the Amazon model of buying online but a fireplace isn’t just another widget, it’s something you want to make sure is the best possible fit. A fireplace is definitely something customers want to feel the heat of and see those flames and really get the whole experience before they purchase it.”
As Rettinger notes, “We don’t do anything halfway.” That ethos extends to mindfully crafting its design center, diligently fostering an expertise in a new market that rivals its fireplace know-how and carefully growing its staff—“and we weren’t going to stop until we found the best guy we could for our outdoor sales.” That perfect match was Dan Davison, who might be the newest Rettinger team member but brings extensive experience to the role, as well as plenty of enthusiasm for helping his colleagues tap into uncharted territory.
“I’ve been learning what Rettinger’s customer base is like so I can meet their needs,” Davison explains. “At the same time, our goal—and it’s a work in progress—is to have a product for everybody. We’ve also got an eye out to try to find those unique niche pieces that you’re not going to find anywhere else. Whether you’re just looking for an inexpensive grill to have in your backyard or you want a complete, 20-foot outdoor kitchen with all the top-of-the-line appliances, we want to meet your need.”
Selling top-tier brands, whether for the fireplace side of the business or its newer outdoor living component, means that the Rettinger team stands by the items it stocks, fewer headaches and longer product life spans for the customer, and a range of options for everyone, according to Davison. Those options include: high-performance grills by Hestan, Blaze, Broilmaster, Primo and Twin Eagles; cooking units by OFYR; Infratech outdoor heaters; Alfa pizza ovens; and outdoor kitchen fixtures by Stoll and Challenger Designs.
And, given Davison’s experience selling for an outdoor-lifestyle vendor, he knows exactly how to match every customer with the product they’re looking for, right on down to outfitting a Shore house with a marine-grade steel grill made to weather a seaside second home’s salty air.
“You’ve got to find out what’s important to the customer,” he says. “Some people are just buying an appliance because they think it’s gorgeous, that’s what they care about, that’s what they want. Other people want to cook a brisket slow, and they want moist meat and they’re much more concerned about the cooking process, they don’t care what it looks like. We get all kinds of customers living in different locations: For customers coming from the Shore area, they need to know that salt and water kill outdoor appliances, so we’ll find them products that hold up the best in that environment.”
The tangibility of interacting with products and materials up close, as well as being able to ask questions in a one-on-one conversation, is an invaluable bonus that additionally helps customers watch their vision come to life piece by carefully chosen piece.
“You certainly need to be able to individualize the customer experience, because their goals are always different,” Davison points out. “People have different budgets. Then you get into use: How much are they going to cook on that grill? Where will they put it? What are they cooking on it? Your entry-level customer has probably been using a brand-name grill from a big box store and is ready to level up, and then there’s the cooking veteran who’s building out their outdoor kitchen. Some have been doing their online research and know exactly what they want, and some are waiting to be introduced to a whole new world of outdoor living where they have no idea yet that the sky’s the limit.”
While offering outdoor living options might be a new frontier for Rettinger, the company is no stranger to branching out. It’s especially been proactive about tapping into ways it can extend added value to its residential and retail clients by connecting them with niche professionals who can masterfully tend to myriad fireplace needs.
“We like to say that we’re the Swiss army knife for the homeowner and also for our general contractors,” Rettinger notes.
To that point, the company has always employed a master craftsman at its in-house woodshop, which is capable of not only bespoke mantel and cabinetry work, but also handling the design and installation part of the process.
“We recognize that the next generation needs to be put in place there, too, so we’ve had a master craftsman apprentice training under him for seven years,” Rettinger explains. “He takes over the shop in January 2025, so rest assured that we’re not going to skip a beat as far as maintaining those quality standards.”
That desire to be the community’s one-stop shop has resulted in services that relieve the homeowner’s or building owner’s burden, too. Three years ago, Rettinger launched a true turnkey offering with its concierge service; a year later, in response to countless client requests, the team introduced chimney sweeping by Chimney Safety Institute of American-certified technicians to complete its suite of services.
“I was a firm believer in developing that side of the business,” Schmidt notes. “It was something our customers needed, and we needed to find that key person. Once we did, we told him who we are, what we deliver and what our clients expect from us, and he’s really helped us grow that side of the business.”
Full-service repairs are also among the benefits of working with Rettinger, as is its overall philosophy of solving problems for its customers. One of those hurdles it preemptively anticipated was committing to American-made products, which was the team’s solution for circumventing the supply-chain issues that never fully resolved themselves even after peak COVID abated. Problem-solving also comes in the form of increasing a building’s efficiency by addressing drafty fireplaces, as Rettinger notes it’s a particular problem in homes built before 2010—but his team has the solutions to correct those issues.
As Rettinger and his sister grew up immersed in dinner-table conversations about their parents’ business and watched them lovingly nurture a company that walks in lockstep with customers from inspiration to installation, he is eager to ensure that the company bearing his family’s name continues to treat everyone who walks through their doors as family, too.
“It isn’t just about the family business, it’s about more than that,” affirms Rettinger. “It’s about all the families that we employ, and all the customers’ families that we serve. I think that’s the benefit of dealing with a family-owned business that’s continued into the second generation: The first generation needs to solve every problem, they deal with every last detail, they know where every stud in the wall is because they built the place, they’re the genius with a million helpers; the second generation has to be structured, they have to introduce systems. I think that that’s what allows the second generation—and hopefully the third generation—of family-owned businesses to go beyond the original offering. For us, that was fireplaces and mantels, and now we can do all these extra things because we have systems to support it.”
Even as the company grows to accommodate new areas of expertise for its clients’ benefits, fireplaces remain its beating heart, just as the hearth is the heart of the home. And the familial warmth it inspires is the only thing that eclipses the performance of a Rettinger project.
“I love to see the ‘after’ photos,” Schmidt says. “The words mean a lot: I love the written reviews, I love to see them online, I love to hear it when a customer stops back in to see me. But when I get to see those family photos in front of the fireplace, pictures of the pets in front of the fireplace, holidays, things like that, it’s a reminder that this is not just a thing you purchase—it’s an experience you’re buying. And getting to see how what we deliver can change the experience of a family in their home, it’s really satisfying. It makes me proud of what I do every day.”
Rettinger Fireplace Systems
Serving South Jersey
(856) 317-6490
RettingerFireplace.com
Click here to subscribe to the free digital editions of South Jersey Magazine
To read the digital edition of South Jersey Magazine, click here.
Published and copyrighted in South Jersey Magazine, Volume 21, Issue 5 (August 2024)
For more info on South Jersey Magazine, click here.
To subscribe to South Jersey Magazine, click here.
To advertise in South Jersey Magazine, click here
