There is a REMOTE possibility that a different company MAY make a few of certain JUCA models beginning in 2006.

After we stopped all advertising in 1981, we went for 16 years with enough orders to keep us occupied. Without any advertising, we have never been exactly sure of where those buyers actually came from, but we have always assumed that they were friends or neighbors of people who already had JUCAs. Since they had already seen one working, and were apparently very impressed, they generally had few questions, and they would usually order the exact same kind of unit that the person they knew had earlier bought. We were keeping busy and we were providing our units for the people who somehow found us.

Then, in early 1997, we created a web-site, not really to sell any products (which everyone at the time said was impossible anyway), but rather to provide a lot of extra information for people who already had JUCAs but weren't getting everything out of them that they could, and for their friends and neighbors, like before. There was no intention or expectation that we'd ever sell even one unit through the internet, except in assisting that earlier mode that had always worked so well for us.

Well, for whatever reasons, our web-site created TOO MUCH interest! In the Fall of 1998 and 1999, we also had an assortment of complications that greatly reduced our production capability. By the Fall of 2000, we had removed nearly all of the references to our phone or our physical address, and a number of other things, to try to reduce the number of inquiries. We even told the Better Business Bureau that we were closed, because we figured that a lot of people (should) check there before considering making a fairly large purchase, and we thought that would 'scare away' a lot of potential customers. Those things helped a little, but the Internet is incredibly huge, and enormous numbers of people still continue to explore the JUCA site.

For the past several years, there have consistently been about ten thousand people visit the JUCA web-site every week! And many of them apparently like what they see! And we LIKE being a small company, which custom-builds each and every product, which is extremely time-consuming. From 1973 on, we had always enjoyed knowing that the extremely high efficiency and high performance JUCA units all went to (generally rural) people who really NEEDED to save on their heating bills. But the presence on the Internet changed all that. We soon noticed that more than half of the custom-built JUCAs being made were clearly not remotely going to be used to save the owners money on heating bills. We found it very frustrating to spend the limited available production time in building custom-built units that would rarely be used, while people who actually NEEDED to save money by burning wood were delayed in doing so.

We eventually added some text to our Production Schedule info to tell people that we would give very low scheduling priority to units going to (a) very southerly climates [where JUCA's great heating ability is not needed]; (b) people who needed a custom firebox to match some specific mantel (for aesthetic purposes alone); (c) apparently very wealthy people who were building incredibly huge and expensive homes and who apparently wouldn't need to save on their heating bills and would probably rarely use a JUCA for more than having a pretty fire!; (d) people who just wanted a shiny new toy [to brag to neighbors about]. In addition, with very large numbers of people visiting the JUCA web-site, it began to be clear that it was very unlikely that we could possibly build enough JUCAs for so many diverse potential customers! We found it necessary to stop even discussing potential orders entirely on a dozen of our model lines, including the very popular L-8 Fireplace Insert, for at least two years, and now MUCH longer. These things helped, but it seems that some potential JUCA buyers find this 'rarity' to be even MORE desirable, and want one even more!

No, don't get us wrong! We appreciate the compliment of so many people wanting our products. It's just that we were once a fairly big company (briefly 4th largest woodstove manufacturer in the US, long ago), and we like being small a WHOLE lot better.

For a more complete description of all these things, and the 'whys', see the link above. But the result is, that we see it necessary to try a much more drastic step. In an effort at trying to follow our pre-internet mode (where we did not advertise at all for 16 years!), we next tried ONLY accepting orders from people who already have JUCAs or their friends or neighbors who could specifically identify them. Our records show many thousands of the earlier JUCA buyers, and we intend to check that list related to any new potential order.

Is this goofy, or WHAT?

It's even goofier what the response was! We got very large numbers of attempted orders who would make a vague reference to "John Smith" or some other name, who allegedly owned a JUCA. Such people must not have noticed that we consider ethics to be a big thing! Outright lying is definitely not a way to impress us!

The same effect happened regarding at least 700 e-mails we received that requested getting a JUCA. These e-mails were surprisingly similar. Usually, at least one of the family had cancer. The father had lost his job and his unemployment was running out. They generally had between six and ten children. But in every case, all of their worldly cares would have been solved if they could JUST get a JUCA!

The troublesome thing is that one or two of those 700+ notes might have actually been true! But it seemed that EVERYONE was making up tragic tales, in order to "cut in line" to get a JUCA.

Is all this not the weirdest thing you have ever heard? Even we agree! But, between 1999 and 2002, we did everything we could think of to limit the interest in and demand for the JUCA units, and nothing worked. In some cases, it's clear that the effect has been opposite! Sensing a 'rare' product, some people become even more aggressive at wanting one! Ah, human nature!

The only remaining alternative that we can think of is to entirely remove the JUCA site from the Internet. That should certainly do it. But we think that our site includes a LOT of informative material in its 1,000 pages, and we think that that information should remain available, as a public service. Given these current circumstances, a number of people have sent in e-mail notes to thank us for presenting so much honest information on wood burning and related subjects. Many have said that they felt more prepared to go into a local fireplace shop to discuss some competing product, and they appreciated the info.

So, apologies to the many people who are going to be angry at us because we cannot provide products for them. We tried a lot of approaches in those three years, and the Internet just seems too big!

You have just attempted to interact with one of the most unusual companies anywhere! But our hearts are good!

There is one additional reason that we want to leave the JUCA site up on the Internet. Here we have a product where we have had to turn away over $4 million of business in each of the last several years! We still have hope that such people might be able to get a JUCA. But only if some OTHER manufacturer comes along and wants to join forces with us! Even though this seems like a good idea, we have already been approached by eight such prospective manufacturers. In every case so far, once they have fully been taught the complex construction procedures, they have all just disappeared! Each of them had apparently decided that they were too complicated to build! This actually was a GOOD thing for most of JUCA's existence, because it always kept competitors from ever starting to build and sell JUCA-clones. But now it is a big problem!

Here is a footnote: On an entirely different subject, if you are a really curious person, you might go to the very bottom of the main JUCA presentation page to a link there, and then go down near the bottom of next page, to explore a number of links there. Eventually, you can discover another important reason why JUCA is not driven to become a giant manufacturing company!

The JUCA Home Page is at: http://mb-soft.com/juca/index.html