Detroit Free Press

Hawking wares on the web grows to billion-dollar business

March 27, 1998

BY MIKE BRENNAN
Free Press Business Writer

Until a year ago, entrepreneur Paul Faaborg didn't see much reason to surf the Web. To him, the Internet was nothing more than a slick way for kids to play computer games and for perverts to push pornography.

Then Faaborg, president of the Iron Works in Stockbridge, decided to let his two
twentysomething sons help him sell his expensive outdoor gas grills. The home models are based on designs he used to make restaurant equipment for 15 years.

"My sons told me, technology-wise, we were behind the eight ball," Faaborg said. "I knew nothing about the Internet, but I decided to give it a try."

There's no looking back now for Faaborg. Internet sales for Iron Works (www.ironworks-gasgrills.com) are on fire. Since March 1997, Faaborg has booked more than $500,000 in grill orders, he said. He expects to double Internet sales by next March.

Iron Works is another traditional retailer riding the gold rush on the Web. Worldwide Internet retailing, dubbed E-tail, totaled $600 million in '96 and more than tripled to $2 billion in '97, researchers said.

By 2000, merchants like Iron Works are expected to crack the $50-billion barrier, making E-tail a threat to some merchants who don't hawk their wares on the Web.

It's clear Faaborg's products have struck a responsive chord among some of the world's high rollers.

"I've sold grills on the Internet to the head of radiology at the Mayo Clinic, the president of Nordstroms and the CFO at American Express," Faaborg said. "These guys don't have the time to look for merchandise that interests them and aren't satisfied with what they're finding in local stores."

But he's also found the Internet lets him sell more grills to folks who want one a cut-above those typically found at specialty and department stores. Jim Nielsen of Brighton heard about the Iron Works from a Brighton dealer, checked out the
company's Web site, then fired off an E-mail inquiry. A half hour later, Faaborg called Nielsen and closed the deal.

"I've used the Internet before and sometimes I would wait a day or a week for someone to reply," Nielsen said. "Paul phoned me. I was impressed. I drove out the following Saturday and picked one up."

Fast responses blended with a sprinkle of Faaborg's grill advice mixed with a dash of his family recipes have become a winning business formula, he said. "We get 4,000 E-mails a month," he said. "We close 10 percent of the people who write us with phone calls. That's 15- to 20-percent of the people who visit our site. The Internet has become a marvelous sales tool."

Business writer Mike Brennan covers computers and the Internet for the Free Press. He can be reached through E-mail at brennan@det-freepress.com or at 1-313-223-4410.