Stevlin’s building sold at last

The Stevlin’s Hardware store on Port Washington’s west side, which has been for sale for years, was sold Friday to Chimney Concepts.

Larry and Stacey Berg, who live in Port, own and operate Chimney Concepts in Cedarburg, a fireplace showroom and chimney restoration firm that Stacey Berg said is bursting at the seams.

“This is huge for us,” she said. “It’s the perfect building for us and our needs.

“It’s massive. It’s like looking at a blank slate.”

The couple expect to have about 40 displays in the building, she said.

“It’s probably going to be one of the largest fireplace showrooms in the area,” Berg said. “This is very exciting for us. This is the perfect location, the perfect opportunity for us. We’re really looking forward to servicing the Port Washington area.”

The Stevlin’s building is 15,000 square feet on three acres of land, she said, and it has an attached warehouse. 

About 6,000 square feet of the building will be used for a showroom with the remainder of the space used for offices and a staff area, including a training center for employees, Berg said, noting the business holds hands-on training sessions two days a week for its employees.

Having an attached warehouse is also a big thing for the couple, she said, noting that currently their warehouse is in a separate building.

They also wanted to be closer to the freeway, Berg said. Their current location is about five miles from I-43, but the Stevlin’s building is just a hop, skip and jump from the interstate. 

Freeway access is important, since the company’s customers hail from southern locations such as Milwaukee, Mequon, Cedarburg and Grafton to northern spots such as Sheboygan and Green Bay, Berg said.

“We pretty much go everywhere,” she said, noting they have customers who live as far away as Chicago.

Having a unique business on the edge of the city is a good thing for the community, Berg said, noting it will not only allow the company to better serve the area but also draw more people to Port.

The Bergs have been in business for more than 20 years, starting Chimney Concepts as a fireplace restoration firm that did everything from tuckpointing to cleaning and masonry. About 15 years into the business, she said, they opened the Fire Factory showroom.

“In the beginning, it was just my husband and I,” Berg said, but today they have more than 30 employees, most of whom live in northern Ozaukee County. “We’ve tripled in size since we opened.”

During the pandemic, she said, they shut down the showroom but the service end of the business helped them continue operations.

And now, she said, business is booming.

“Home renovations are really big right now,” Berg said. “Everyone has the time. They’ve got some money. It’s kind of wild.”

Berg said she and her husband have been contemplating a move for some time. They looked at purchasing their current building but realized it was too small for their needs.

“It has no room for growth,” she said. “We’re just out of space completely.” 

They initially considered buying land near I-43 in Grafton, but “Stevlin’s has been sitting there calling to us,” Berg said.

They started negotiating with the owners of Stevlin’s in September and reached an agreement.

“They’ve been so great,” Berg said, noting they allowed the couple to begin moving things in and doing renovations even before the sale was completed.

The couple will shut down their current location on Thursday, Dec. 23, and reopen in the Stevlin’s building on Jan. 17, Berg said, with a grand opening sometime after that date.

They will keep their phones and email up and running in the interim, she said.

“It’s going to happen really fast,” Berg said.

The couple is revamping the interior of the building, and they’ve redone all the flooring, installing polished concrete floors. They also plan to repaint the building when weather permits.

And with room to grow, Berg said, the couple plan to someday expand into outdoor fire features such as firepits and grills.

“We’re very excited,” she said.