400+ independent stores. One group behind every one of them.
Unite. Facilitate. Elevate. Since 2000, United Buyers Group® has united independent specialty retailers across the United States and Canada, facilitated the relationship between members, supplier partners and UBG, and elevated both sides of it so everyone reaches their full potential.
Come together. Think ahead. Rise together.
Our annual Summit, by invitation only. All year, you work in your business; once a year, the whole network takes intentional time away from the day-to-day to think, connect, learn from one another and prepare for what comes next. Around forty breakout sessions, general sessions, a full trade show, a golf tournament and a banquet night.
What the Summit isAbout United Buyers Group
UBG is dedicated to the fireplace, BBQ and outdoor living industry, and our core focus is three words: unite, facilitate, elevate. We unite a network of 400+ specialty stores across the United States and Canada. Formed in 2000, UBG has grown into the largest group of its kind representing independent businesses in fireplaces, BBQ and patio furniture.
Our members have three things in common: a showroom, years in the trade, and a reputation in their own market. What they gain is a protected territory, buying power none of them could reach alone, product lines reserved for the group, and a network of owners who tell each other what actually works. Facilitating the triangular relationship between members, supplier partners and UBG creates a synergy in which all three prosper far more than any of them could alone.
Two brands that come with membership
United Buyers Group owns two consumer-facing brands. Members get both. No one outside the network does.
Ambiance® Fireplaces & Grills
Our own brand, available only through the UBG network.
Ambiance is UBG’s privately owned brand of fireplaces, designed with the input of more than 100 veteran fireplace store owners and installers from coast to coast. The result is an exclusive design and engineering, with features you simply cannot find together in any other fireplace — and a line your competitor down the road cannot stock.
Visit ambiancefireplaces.com
We Love Fire®
The most complete information site in our industry — and it sends its leads to our members.
We Love Fire is the best source of knowledge available in North America for homeowners choosing a fireplace, a grill, an outdoor fire pit or a fire table. It answers their questions, inspires them, and then points them to the UBG member nearest to them. Our members are passionate about this business: in nearly everything we do, we set fire in people’s homes, on their decks and in their backyards. Fire warms a room, and it sits at the centre of memories people keep for a lifetime. We are proud to say we love fire.
Visit welovefire.comBuyers University Summit
Once a year, members and supplier partners spend four days together — intentional time away from the day-to-day to think, connect, learn from one another and prepare for what comes next. Around forty breakout sessions, general sessions, a trade show of the lines our members actually sell, a golf tournament, a tailgate BBQ and a banquet night. By invitation only.
It is the one week where a store owner can ask another owner how, why and how much, and get a straight answer. Members bring the reality. Partners bring the expertise. When one contributes, we all rise.
In our members’ words
“UBG is indispensable to everything we do, including our long-term strategy of ever-increasing independence from unreasonable demands of some manufacturers. The impact of best practice sharing among fellow UBG member dealers is huge. This represents strategic leverage that no UBG member dealer could possibly achieve on our own.”
Mark James
Green Energy Concepts, Inc.“Between the extra money in our pockets and the stress relief of not having to worry about ultimatums from our distributor, it has improved my bottom line and my quality of life.”
George Hill
Ultimate Home Comfort, Halifax, NS“Being able to buy at distributor pricing allows me to compete with the big box stores right next to me. Attending Buyers University is one of the most valuable experiences I have each year.”
Phil Neff
Co-owner, SnowBelt Fireplace & Stove, Stevens Point, WITwo ways in
You run a specialty store
The group is still growing, and territories remain open. Tell us about your business and we will come back to you with straight answers.
You manufacture or supply
Reach the best independent hearth, BBQ and outdoor living retailers in North America through one relationship instead of 400.
