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KIM KEPCHAR: Charlottesville is a great town just because
there's so much natural beauty in the area.
JONATHAN SCHNYER: We live right at the edge of the Blue
Ridge Mountains.
So there's a lot of wood available.
It's a perfect area for a fireplace contractor.
We own Wooden Sun.
We basically install, service, and sell wood stoves,
fireplaces, gas, wood.
We are very passionate about warming
people's homes with wood.
KIM KEPCHAR: I have always been interested in fire.
It started out as a kid.
During the summer evenings, we'd go out, and have fires,
and sit around the campfire.
JONATHAN SCHNYER: Once someone burns with wood, they tend not
to go back to conventional heating, because you feel the
radiant heat on your body.
And nothing feels like that.
KIM KEPCHAR: There are not that many
stove shops in Virginia.
And so a lot of people just look on the internet saying,
wood stoves, Virginia.
JONATHAN SCHNYER: We knew right away
that we needed a website.
KIM KEPCHAR: We find that eight out of ten, nine out of
ten people say, we found you on the internet.
And that gives them our story.
And they can get comfortable with us before
actually coming in.
They see shots of our store, they see what stoves we have,
they see what we're about.
JONATHAN SCHNYER: We've been best friends for 25 years.
Kim and my personal story is a big part of what we do.
We're a family business.
My daughter works for me.
I think when you look at the website, you really understand
Wooden Sun isn't just about selling appliances.
We're about the service, establishing a lifetime
relationship with a customer.
KIM KEPCHAR: Obviously, you need a customer base.
But you need the customer base to find you.
And the internet is just the fastest way
to do it right now.
I can't imagine not having an online presence, particularly
in this sort of business.
JONATHAN SCHNYER: It means that we can be a big player in
the market, ahead of our time, so to speak.