A year-round open house

A backyard installation of Unilock and Semco modular units welcomed landscapers and homeowners at Empaco Equipment Corporation in Richfield, Ohio. The company held an open house to show off the new products in action, complete with pizza baked in the outdoor brick oven, served at a stone countertop.

“We’re trying to increase sales and make it easy for homeowners and landscapers to see the product before they purchase it,” says Greg Schrank, sales manager. “Instead of seeing it in a magazine, you can actually walk on it, step on it and feel it.”

About 40 people came to the open house event during the afternoon, which should be the first of several similar events each year, according to Schrank. Landscapers are invited to bring homeowners along to give them a chance to see how a backyard gathering would look, whether it’s during one of the open house events or in a showing scheduled with the staff.

Empaco will continue to add on to the installation with Unilock and Semco pieces and change out the modular pieces for new ones as they become available. The outdoor show room took a “sizeable” investment, says Schrank, “but the beauty of it is the display isn’t going anywhere. It’s an investment to increase business year after year after year. It will be open anytime people want to come by and see it.”