Steve & Kathy Smitha started
Top Hat Chimney Sweeps in Michigan City, Indiana in April of 1978 after
reading about sweeping in "Mother Earth News" magazine. The business
grew and over 30 years ago moved to Plymouth with the Smitha family.
Over the years the Smithas have initiated innovative ideas into the
business: "Sweep and Scan", including
video scanning with chimney cleaning;
stainless steel chimney relining; "Forward Scheduling", the process
of making appointments for the following year; and maybe most
importantly, "Sweep for Life", the idea of being the chimney sweep you
trust and depend on for all your chimney safety needs.
News for Top Hat's 30th Anniversary; Zeb (son) is coming into the business with plans of taking the reins
in the future. No, Steve and Kathy are not retiring anytime soon but
they do need to plan for the future. Zeb will bring in new and fresh
ideas. Services they have not been able to offer for a long time are in
the works. Zeb was raised with Top Hat and has helped Steve off and on
since he was a toddler. He spent 4 years in the U.S. Air Force and is
currently finishing 2 years of active reserve. He tried other jobs and
has decided that Top Hat is the way he wants to go. Steve and Kathy will
slowly allow Zeb to become more of the front person and they will go to
advisory positions while still serving their regular customers.
