ARTHUR — With spring comes rebirth. Yoder Gazebos in Arthur is going through its own rebirth.
Yoder Gazebos is in the process of moving to a new site – the family farm, located two miles north of Cooks Mills on County Road 1700N, said owner John Schrock. The full address is 2885 E County Road 1700N, Arcola.
“We actually moved to this farm (as a family) in 2009,” he said. The business has been at its soon-to-be “old” location south of Arthur since 1996. “We decided we wanted to bring the business home. We can spend more time with the family and we can also better serve our customers more efficiently and in a more timely fashion.”
Since the move is ongoing, progressing day by day, customers are asked to call the office voice mail at 217-543-3624 and check the greeting to find out Yoder Gazebos’ latest hours and other information this spring.
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“We plan on keeping our voice mail updated with that information,” Schrock noted.
Beyond the name, the business offers a variety of items. Some products offered by Yoder Gazebos are pergolas, pavilions, decks, stoves, chimneys, boilers, and — of course — gazebos. All these products the business makes while trying to help build community and help the environment.
“Gazebos, pergolas, pavilions, and decks are family gathering spots,” said Schrock. “Stoves, chimneys, boilers, alternative heating solutions let people become more energy independent.”
Schrock has owned Yoder Gazebos since 1999. Schrock’s cousin Paul Yoder started the business in the early 1990s.
“With the recession and the high-energy prices, we just did a lot more with the stoves and the boilers” starting a few years ago, Schrock said. “We started stocking and pushing that more in about 2003.
“We may be providing more products also in the future.”
Yoder Gazebos remains a family business. Schrock has a few part-time employees, but most of his staff are his and his wife’s four children.
Schrock feels he and his family bring product knowledge and a depth of experience to their products.
He says that Yoder Gazebos is a “family-based business for families.” The change in location will enhance that.
“With our children being older…this was another way, by moving the business home, of also providing work for more of the family at home because they can help if the business is at home.
“We’re excited about the move,” Schrock said.
Good customer service is part of the foundation of Yoder Gazebos, too.
“We deal with the customer one on one and we find solutions to what they want, whether it be a gazebo or a boiler, and we do installation as well,” Schrock said.
He also appreciates being part of the community.
“We believe that, being a local business, having products for the local people helps the local economy very much,” Schrock said. “A lot of our products have been geared toward having products that are usable for our Amish customers.
“We appreciate the many contacts that we have made over the years we’ve been in business,” he added. “We feel very blessed with all the customers we’ve had whose lives we’ve been a part of. We thank every one of them for patronizing our business over the last 15 years plus.”
