Steven Fischer, the second-generation owner of Fox Run Storage Sheds in Washington, New Jersey, has noticed an increase in the popularity of specialty sheds with his customers.
“We have definitely seen an uptick in unique designs and expanded uses in the past two years,” he says.
Sean, his son, has been working alongside his father in the family business since he was 9 years old. Now, nearly 20 years later, Sean is destined to become the third generation of the Fischer clan to own the family-owned entity.
According to the younger Fischer, Fox Run Storage Sheds has customized specialty sheds used as man caves, pool houses, and potting sheds, to name a few. One client transformed the custom potting shed the Fischers built into a nature oasis, he says.
Among the most unusual projects the Fischers built was a farm stand with an opening to a beer tent complete with a roll-up door.
“The future of the shed will be specialized and customized to meet the needs of our ever-growing clientele,” says Dan Forte, sales manager of Brad’s Barns & Gazebos in Kingston, New York.
With a customer service mindset, Forte says he and his team toil to ensure anything they build for customers meets their needs and specifications.
He says he knows of people who transformed the two-story garages his company builds into legal, permitted living spaces. ADUs (auxiliary dwelling units) are useful as income-producing property, extra living space for children, mother-in-law suites, and more.
That concurs with research released by Technavio that says the tiny homes market is also exploding. In its Global Tiny Homes Market 2024-2028 research report, released in December 2024, sales of tiny homes will grow by $4.82 billion between 2024 and 2028.
Of that growth, just over half is predicted in the United States alone, with North America, Europe, South America, the Middle East, and Africa accounting for the remainder of sales.
These are just some of the creative ways customers are using what used to be a simple backyard shed.
WHAT’S NEW IN SPECIALTY SHEDS
Forte notes a growing trend in the shed industry is customers increasingly seeking additional space for outdoor entertainment versus storage equipment.
“People are 100 percent creative,” he says.
There are many ways to dress up a shed, and Sean Fischer says customers are catching on to the wide array of selections available to them for personalizing their shed. He notes that even window designs can beautify a pool house or home office, so they are nearly always part of the plan.
“The potential for what a person can do with a shed is limitless. People are expanding their vision about what can be done in a shed,” says Sean.
Higher-scale interiors, insulation, and even electricals can be installed after the fact, making sheds attractive for a wider array of uses.
He says he appreciates “learning from our customers as to what can be done with a shed. People are incredibly creative, and I enjoy seeing what they do with them.”
Sean says while Fox Run might have considered adding tiny homes to its repertoire of products, it is not economically feasible to do so in New Jersey.
State regulations are “pretty restrictive as to zoning laws,” in the Garden State, he says.
Steven Fischer began his career in the shed industry alongside his father, who began selling sheds in 1991. When Steven took over the business in 2007, he renamed it. He is amazed at the transformation of the industry in those years, he says.
Back when he started working with his father, “there were four different styles of sheds and eight to 10 colors.”
“Now, a shed can be any custom paint or style. It can be whatever. You come up with an idea and we can build it,” he says.
“It (the shed industry) has changed an unbelievable amount since I started.”
CONTINUED GROWTH
Business is brisk at Brad’s Barns & Gazebos, says Forte.
“We have seen a lot of growth and changes in structures,” he says.
For example, the structures they build are more “personalizable” than they once were.
Today, the company sells not only storage sheds, but custom-built sheds, build-on-site structures, one- and two-story garages, horse barns, chicken coops, gazebos, pergolas, pavilions, greenhouses, and even modular log-sided homes.
“If you take the word ‘shed’ out, our most popular specialty item is the custom two-story garage,” says Forte.
The garages are proving so popular that Forte says the company fields more phone calls about them than simple backyard sheds.
WHY THE UPTICK?
Forte says there has been marked growth “across the board for all of our products. Our business has grown across the board since 2020 and beyond.”
He attributes that to Brad’s Barns being in the right place at the right time. Company headquarters are located 90 miles north of Manhattan in the Catskills Mountains.
“A lot of people are moving from New York City to enjoy the Hudson Valley, and that’s helped build our business,” he says.
While he acknowledges an increasing number of homeowners are “paying more attention to their yards,” Brad’s Barns continuing success is due to more than that.
“For us, it’s also the new residents moving here in droves that is helping our business,” he says.
According to Steven Fischer, there is only one word he does not share with customers, regardless of whether they buy a standard shed or something custom-made from him. “’No’ is not an answer in the shed building business,” he says.
