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30 NASHVILLELIFESTYLES.COM SPRING/SUMMER 2015

EXPERT advice

Outdoor LivingA brother-and-sister duo keep a long-standing family business alive and thriving.

BY KRISTIN LUNACrystal and Zach Watson

For more than 40 years, the Watson family has served the southeast as a leading propane company, running 13 locations in Alabama and Tennessee under the name Country Gas. Selling grills, logs, and other retail products was always a service they provided, but it wasn’t until April 2004 when siblings Crystal and Zach Watson decided to take the concept behind the company their grandfather, uncles, and father founded in a different direction: focusing on outdoor kitchen and bar equipment and opening Embers Grill and Fireplace Store in Brentwood.

“When we first sta ted doing this, we thought an outdoor kitchen was a built-in grill, but it’s completely changed since establishing a relationship with Alfresco,” Zach says (Alfresco is an outdoor cooking supply company that Embers carries.) “It’s really a truly functional kitchen with refrigerators, ice machines, sinks, dishwashers—basically, anything you can do inside, we can do outside.” Crystal adds that the trend has flou ished as entertaining has become a prominent part of people’s lives.

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While the Watsons get a fair number of homeowners who are building new houses, the bulk of their business comes from existing real estate. “A lot of times with new construction, by the time they get to their backyard, they’re at the end of their budget, so they’re just doing what they can to make do,” Zach says. “Then, a few years down the line is when they really want to expand, so I’d say our biggest projects are really with homes that are already established and are doing a large backyard.”

The customization part of the process is one thing that makes Embers stand out. After figu ing out a client’s needs, the Watsons provide a free service where they draw out a full kitchen design that

can then be given to the builders to plug and play as they deem fit (For another example of their work, see page 72.) When the kitchen is finished an installed, Crystal and Zach take it

one step further: They come over to cook for their clients as a way to demonstrate how all of the new equipment works.

“We never will oversell anyone, but at the same time we do like to open their eyes to things they didn’t even know were a possibility,” Crystal says.

Embers expanded its Cool Springs showroom four years ago and recently added a sleek, state-of-the-art outdoor kitchen that willdoubles as a meeting place.

“We want to take care of the customer from start to finish, says Zach. “Meaning, the selection and the design process, but also when they take the product home. That’s what we can give a customer that they can’t get online. We really do care—we don’t want to just sell them something that they’re not going to enjoy or that’s not going to work functionally. We care that they’re happy.” (Embers, 7114 Moores Ln., #200, Brentwood, 615-309-7738; embersstore.com)

“We really do care—we don’t want to just sell them something that they’re not going to enjoy or that’s not going to work functionally. We care that they’re happy.”

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POOL PARTYThe Embers team designed Lindsay and Jennie Butler’s outdoor kitchen in Franklin with the goal to create a comfortable place where they could cook dinners and entertain around the swimming pool. The set-up includes a bar and two expansive cooking areas, outfitted with flat-screen TVs, a rustic wooded structure, and a cozy outdoor fireplace.

Embers Grill & Fireplace Store, 7114 Moores Ln., #200, Brentwood, 615-309-7738; embersstore.com

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