Walking into Fellers Food Service Equipment LLC is like walking into a culinary candy store. Seemingly endless rows of wire racks greet the eye with gadgets galore. From various sized woks to glassware, immersion circulators, waffle irons, knives, spatulas, storage bins and cake frosting tips, the more than 14,000-square-foot showroom on West Grand Street houses over 6,000 stock keeping units.
General Manager Christian Peterson says that’s just a drop in the bucket. The restaurant supply store has access to more than 250,000 SKUs.
In addition to everyday supplies, such as plastic trays and forks, Fellers also sells a full line of kitchen equipment – commercial ranges, refrigerators, grill tops and bartender stations – and that’s on top of a corner of the warehouse dedicated to used equipment and older machine parts.
While the showroom provides a large amount of eye candy, Peterson says Fellers’ sales are roughly split between three departments: retail, outside sales and kitchen design. Declining to disclose annual revenues, Peterson says business is up “considerably” since a figure of $8.2 million reported in 2004. That’s thanks in part to the company’s recent partnership with another homegrown culinary business – Springfield Grocer Co., dba SGC Foodservice.
A “strategic partnership,” as Peterson termed it, Fellers Fixtures Inc. took on its new moniker in 2015 and expanded the showroom to include a commercial test kitchen where chefs can test SGC Foodservice products for clients using Fellers’ equipment.
Fellers co-owner and President David Peck partially retired earlier this year, leaving company ownership split between Peck, Carl Fellers, son of founders Howard and Phyllis Fellers, and SGC Foodservice. Peterson declined to elaborate on the partnership, referring questions to SGC owner and President Jeff Tynes, who could not be reached for comment.
Peterson rattles off a deep client pool, including Big Cedar Lodge, Top of the Rock, Hotel Vandivort, Nixa Public Schools and Black Sheep Burgers and Shakes.
“Odds are, we’ve helped someone serve you food at some point,” he says.
Deep roots
In operation 72 years in Springfield, Fellers always has been connected to the restaurant business. But the husband-and-wife team started with furniture, not dishes.
“They started building and rehabbing restaurant booths,” Peterson says. “They took on some used equipment and quickly realized it was more profitable.”
Originally on Booneville Avenue downtown, son Carl moved the business in 1985 to its present location. In December 2005, Fellers added 13,200 square feet to the West Grand site, bringing the showroom to its current size and the entire facility to 54,000 square feet.
Fast-forward 12 years and Peterson says retail shoppers have changed.
“Our biggest competition is the internet,” he says. “Food Network has created a menagerie of people who want that gadget or want to make it in the food industry.
“But it’s hard work. Restaurant owners are the most hardworking people I know.”
21st century design
These days, Peterson says Fellers’ bread and butter is kitchen design for restaurants, churches and schools.
When the $13 million Hotel Vandivort opened to guests in July 2015, it relied on Fellers to outfit the kitchen. Now, as the boutique hotel expands offerings at its restaurant, The Order, General Manager J.P. Roberts says it’s again leaning on Fellers for a remodel.
“They know their stuff; they get it,” says Roberts, who declined to disclose the costs for the 8-10 week kitchen renovation. “There is a level of intelligence there you don’t find anywhere else.”
Peterson says the majority of a Fellers’ designer’s time is spent listening.
“We don’t just want to know what equipment they need, but how they will use it,” he says. “A fryer for example could be $695 or $10,000.”
Often working with architectural firms on the blueprint process, Fellers’ designers also consider efficiency in their layouts, something Farmers Gastropub owner Andy Hampshire relies on.
“I need a lot of saute space. I have 16 burners for a 90-seat restaurant,” the executive chef says. “The reason I can do that is because Fellers got me a high-efficiency grill … and that gives me burner space.”
Peterson says efficiency is a factor in just about every appliance, noting restaurants can spend upwards of $6,000 on a gas bill. Installing a grill that’s 80 percent energy efficient, compared with 17 percent, can impact the bottom line.
Hampshire purchased the gastropub in 2015, but has a long history with Fellers as executive chef at Big Cedar Lodge and Branson’s Hilton Convention Center.
“We used them for everything when opening Top of the Rock,” he says. “They have an attention to detail.”
Going forward, Peterson says precision will only increase. Fellers doubled its sales staff last year and plans to double it again in 2018.
“Everybody eats,” he says. “We can help with that.”
