There are not many companies that can tout moving from a humble start with online crowdfunding to a having successful product in the custom installation channel in less than one year, but MantelMount certainly can.
Brian Newville, a mechanical engineer/inventor, hated the viewing angle of his flat panel TV over his fireplace. So he took matters into his own hands and designed a manual TV mount that can cantilever down in front of the fireplace or high on the wall to a lower viewing angle. Newville built 100 units using his own money, which quickly sold out. So, in late 2014 he launched a Kickstarter campaign seeking to raise $25,000. The campaign ended up earning over $100,000. With that money, Newville built 500 more units and sold those out quickly also.
So, MantelMount was officially launched as a company on January, 2015 and “we have not looked back,” comments Chuck Geiling, president. The Vista, Calif.,-based company is “exceeding sales goals substantially” and now has had to move to a larger office with additional warehouse space to meet demand.
The product has just three central components: the wall bracket, center arm and TV bracket. Additionally, when the TV is lowered, the homeowner will not see the unattractive wall bracket because the MantelMount comes with paintable wall covers to hide the wall bracket and hardware. Also, the two functional rubber grips that the homeowner uses to shift the cantilever down also act as heat sensor to alert the homeowner of any residual fireplace heat that might affect the TV. When the rubber grips reach 110 degrees, they turn bright pink.
“It’s the same technology used for a rubber duck in the bathtub for children to protect them from being scalded,” notes Geiling.
The company currently sells direct to consumers and dealer direct with plans to expand into other sales channels later this year. MantelMount is a $399 heavy-duty mount for 48- to 80-inch TVs up to 115 pounds sold direct to consumers and dealer direct.
The company made its debut at CEDIA Expo in Dallas last fall and Geiling says the response was terrific.
“It was nonstop talking to folks. We really drive home our customer service,” he notes, adding that the staff routinely takes calls on weekends and will do “whatever it takes to exceed our customers’ expectations.”
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