“Solo Brands exists to create good moments and lasting memories through outdoor activities,” CEO John Merris shared.
While the company doesn’t report revenues of its individual brands, Solo Stoves is the engine pulling Solo Brand’s train.Solo Stoves is so much more than just firepits but it got its start there. Solo Stove was founded by brothers Spencer and Jeff Jan in 2011 selling ultra-light portable stoves so backpackers could quickly set up camp and boil water in under ten minutes using only sticks and leaves readily available campside.
“The brothers were friends with the founders of Clarus. They ostensibly wanted advice from me on setting up a sales organization, so I thought I’d give them an hour of free sales advice. But what they were really wanting was someone to help the company grow. Nine days later, I started as CEO and the company’s seventh employee,” he said.
And this year, it’s continued to introduce new products like a tower patio heater that burns wood pellets, a tabletop pizza oven powered by gas or a Pi Fire pizza oven accessory that goes on top of its firepit models. Oprah picked that innovation as one of her best holiday gift ideas this year. “When Weber and Traeger went public, they said about 80 million households own a grill. We figure if you have a grill, you can probably add a Solo Stove too. Now with Mesa, we bumped that up because we can add people living in apartments and smaller spaces,” Merris continued. “We’ve only penetrated one and a half to 2% of our total market.”