Cedar Rapids, Italian firms form fireplace venture

The body is Italian, but the “engine” is pure Cedar Rapids.

Piazzetta Design, a new high-end natural gas fireplace manufactured and marketed by Jopi Inc. of Cedar Rapids, has an exterior of Italian ceramic and stainless steel designed and manufactured by Gruppo Piazzetta of Asolo, Italy.

The firebox, with its elecronically-controlled natural gas burner, is designed by Johnson Gas Appliance of Cedar Rapids and produced at its Even Temp plant in Waco, Neb.

Carlo Piazzetta, chief executive officer of Gruppo Piazzetta, said the seeds for Jopi Inc. were sewn in 1998 when he and Steve O'Donnell, CEO of Johnson Gas, formed a venture to sell wood pellet stoves in the U.S. market.

“Unfortunately, the market wasn't ready and there were logistical problems,” Piazzetta said. “The dollar also was a lot stronger. We decided to dissolve the venture but we stayed in touch.”

When Piazzetta was ready to take Piazzetta Design fireplaces to the U.S. market in 2006, he met with O'Donnell and they decided to form the new joint venture - Jopi Inc.

A see-through Piazzetta Design fireplace with ceramic panels surrounding each opening runs about $15,000. A single opening fireplace surrounded by ceramic and installed in a wall sells for about $8,000.

“A Piazzetta Design fireplace is a piece of art,” O'Donnell said. “It is the focal point of a room with everything else designed around it. We are targeting architects and interior designers because they will know how to sell it.”

O'Donnell said Jopi will initially select about 25 dealers to market Piazzetta Design fireplaces. Each dealer will display the fireplaces in a showroom, which Johnson Gas created on the first floor of its headquarters in northwest Cedar Rapids.

“We had been considering a showroom before the June 2008 flood,” O'Donnell said. “When we were recovering from 12 feet of water in the first floor of our building, we decided to go ahead with the showroom. We're able to show them in an interior setting that compliments the fireplace.”

Johnson Gas, which generates 85 percent of is sales from fireplaces, took a bold step in 1986 when it bought Mendota Hearth, a manufacturer of wood-burning fireplaces.

From 1987 until 1991, Johnson Gas executives saw steady, slow growth in the sales of wood-burning fireplaces. Believing the fireplace of the future would be powered by natural gas, it developed a product considered the “Cadillac” of the fireplace business.

In the mid-1990s, natural gas fireplaces started to gain popularity. Johnson Gas experienced a sharp increase in sales, forcing it to consider another manufacturing location.

Initially it contracted with Mi-T-M Corp. of Peosta to fabricate parts and assemble fireplaces. In 1996, Johnson Gas bought Even Temp Inc. of Waco, Neb., which was making fireplaces for another company.

The 108-year-old Johnson Gas has expanded the Even Temp plant four times. It employs about 40 in Cedar Rapids and 100 in Waco.