Smitty's Fireplace Shop

Smitty's Fireplace Shop, Inc. was founded in 1970 when L.E. and Juanita Smith fell in love with Helena. They discovered a need for their masonry contracting business and for a wood-burning stove shop and opened the store where it stands today. There were two thriving businesses, Smitty's Fireplace Shop and L.E. Smith Masonry. L.E. ran the shop and Leland ''Smitty'' Smith, their son, took over the masonry contracting business until 1975. Then Smitty decided to do away with the contracting business and focus solely on the retail shop, selling wood stoves and masonry supplies. Leland?s wife, Sharon worked in the office with Juanita. Within ten years of opening, Smitty's expanded from wood-burning stoves to pellet stoves, and added gas stoves a few years later to their product lines. Smitty's is run today by the brother and sister team of Shawn Smith and Robyn VanHemelryck. They are the grandchildren of L.E. and Juanita Smith. Smitty's has also added a full line of hardscape and landscaping materials, Owens Corning Cultured Stone and natural stone.