The store has a new design and products aimed at year-round sales.

The store has a new design and products aimed at year-round sales.
By SEAN BARRON
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
BOARDMAN -- Since going into business for himself, Rick Szmara has become a man for all seasons.
After attending Youngstown State University for two years in the late 1970s, Szmara spent the next 24 years in the medical equipment and supply business.
He worked for the former Attlee Health Co. of Cleveland, selling medical supplies, intravenous lines, laundry and cleaning supplies and other products to area nursing homes.
Eventually, Szmara learned, he would have to move to Cleveland to be closer to his job with Attlee.
Instead, Szmara decided he wanted to have his own business. First, he looked into buying a Dairy Queen franchise but decided against it. Then he sought help from Eranco, a Liberty-based business broker.
The company lists businesses that are for sale, and it put him in touch with Sylvia Lewis, the 26-year owner of Lewis Grill & amp; Fireplace.
"She wanted to retire. I was looking for a business and it was local, close by and the right price," Szmara said.
Made some changes
He bought the business last October and recently changed the name to The Hearth & amp; Patio Shop.
Szmara has changed the look of the shop and taken it from being a seasonal business to a year-round one by expanding its product line.
The Hearth & amp; Patio Shop specializes in selling, servicing and installing in homes direct-vent, vent-free, electrical and standard wood-burning fireplaces, as well as stand-alone screens, log holders and other accessories.
Vent-free fireplaces burn 100 percent of the gas that comes through them, and advanced technology allows them to send all of the heat into the home instead of much of it up a chimney, Szmara explained. Many fireplaces can be set up anywhere in the home.
For the summer season, his business also sells a variety of barbecue grills and recently, he introduced an array of wrought-iron and cast-aluminum casual furniture for indoor or outdoor use.
The business also sells and fills propane tanks.
Learning the business
Szmara said he and his one employee, John Niski, have taken courses on how to install and vent wood and gas fireplaces, pellet stoves and other devices, as well as classes that cover electrical work and gas and zoning codes.
Szmara said he plans to increase sales by selling to home remodelers and other contractors.
He added that he wants to "create a furniture store and homelike feeling." He praised his wife, Kathy, a registered nurse at Caprice Health Care Center, for helping him select many of the styles and making other changes.
"I'm learning as I'm going," he said. "My wife gives me ideas and I depend on her a lot."