Business Spotlight: Primal Glow

SureGlow Stove and Chimney started out in 2020 like most chimney care companies: one guy – owner Derek Bell – working from a truck.

That’s all changed.

“We have an average of probably 300% growth over the last three years, and we quadrupled our business last year from the year before,” Bell says.

This year, the company is poised to smash its records from previous years, according to Bell, who said 2023 revenue hit $2.3 million.

“We’re above forecast right now,” he says. “We’re on track to do probably three times what we did last year.”

Bell says he’s on track to do about $6 million in business this year, and he is looking to bring in five more locations within the next five years, starting with Des Moines, Iowa, and Omaha, Nebraska.

That’s a lot of growth for a company that probably doesn’t sound familiar – but there’s good reason the name SureGlow doesn’t ring a bell. Formerly known as Ozark Stove and Chimney, the company is in the midst of a relaunch with its new name and its logo of a smiling bear huddled by a fire.

Bell’s single truck is now a fleet, all wrapped with the new branding.

“We’ll have 25-30 trucks on the road this fall,” Bell says. “Last year, we had seven or eight.”

Though based in Cassville, the company’s biggest market is in Springfield, Bell says, and its services extend throughout southwest Missouri and northwest Arkansas.

SureGlow offers chimney services, like sweeping, inspections, relining and leak repair. Its technicians also perform masonry repairs, including tuckpointing and brick replacement.

The company sells wood and gas stoves, fireplaces and inserts, specializing in the Pacific Energy brand and offering a forever warranty on its work through its storefront in Cassville and online.

Bell says he just completed his first acquisition, a Kansas City chimney service formerly called Flues Brothers Chimney Service, declining to disclose purchase terms. Its KC office is now the second location for SureGlow. Bell says the office is slated to reopen as a showroom for stoves in the spring.

The company currently operates two warehouses: one in Springfield and the other in Bella Vista, Arkansas.

Asking the experts
Bell says a lot of chimney sweeping and repair companies are one-person operations that get booked out so far, it can be hard to get them on the phone.

To that end, he’s utilizing a customer relationship management platform, ServiceTitan, that is designed for the trades and can provide customers with a quicker response.

A key to SureGlow’s growth was Bell’s decision to hire experts from throughout the country. About a year ago, he hired Darrin Geisinger as executive coordinator. Bell also brought on a marketing director, Kevin Green, from a large solar company, Pure Light Power in Washington state.

With an eye toward promotion, Bell hired a full-time videographer, Tristan Ray, to promote the business. Ray has been at work making two to three commercials per month as well as informational videos to teach the ins and outs of stove maintenance, as well as skills like building a fire and choosing the right wood. Content is posted on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok.

“Within a year, we’ll probably be the go-to source on the internet with wood stoves and all things chimney related,” Bell says.

One of the biggest difference-makers to SureGlow’s success was hiring business consultants, Bell says.

He notes that the entire service industry is a gold mine right now, and private equity firms are coming into the space. Bell is also looking for a piece of the action as he keeps feelers out for acquisition opportunities.

“So many people are hitting retirement age, and they’re one guy in a truck,” he says. “They haven’t positioned themselves. They created a job, but they don’t have a business that they can sell.”

People are leaving skilled trades in droves, he said. Data backs up Bell’s assertion, with Bloomberg reporting the U.S. is expected to be short 550,000 plumbers by 2027, and Bureau of Labor Statistics data saying one in five union electricians is 55 or older, with 30% near retirement. There were 50% more construction openings in February 2024, at 441,000, than a decade earlier.

Bell says he is hiring for multiple positions right now.

“We need field managers, project managers, customer service representatives,” he says. “It’s a huge opportunity for young people.”

SureGlow’s base pay ranges $20 per hour for customer service positions to more than $50 per hour for field managers.

The company offers in-house certification and is willing to train. It also tries to offer the kind of perks that might be appealing to a younger generation of job hunters, Bell says.

The company also has its own rappelling deck, Bell says, used to teach employees to do scaffolding.

Workers also learn to repair flues, install wood stoves and perform basic carpentry.

“You can leave here and go on to just about any construction job site,” he said.

Insurance policy
Bell says he encourages customers to look into wood stoves.

“There’s nothing more primal than a fire,” he says. “Everyone gathers around a fire. Most kids love to have an iPad in their hand, but if you start a fire, they’ll sit there and stare at the fire.”

A stove or fireplace can feel like a luxury, but it also offers peace of mind, he says.

In the ice storm of 2007, the National Weather Service reported that one and a half inches of ice accumulated in Springfield, and the storm left 200,000 southwest Missourians without power in single-digit temperatures.

Not only will a wood stove operate without electricity; it’s also simpler than central heating, Bell notes.

“Things aren’t made anymore for an average person to work on, but a wood stove, you turn the lever left for high, right for low,” he says. “If push comes to shove, you can break the legs off your kitchen table and burn them.”