Contractor John Hinkle had been in business since 1981, but he had no idea that in 2002, his business would take a completely different turn. That was the year business partner and friend Debi Bonds began looking for a hot tub for her family but couldn’t find the brand she wanted — so she took action. “I sold five spas from a catalog and used the profits to pay for my own hot tub,” Bonds says. “Once we realized there was a demand for quality hot tubs, we decided to put a store in of our own.”
All About Spas became a subsidiary of Landmark Development until 2007. Bonds and Hinkle knew that if they wanted to continue selling hot tubs, they had to do it right. So after 26 years, they stopped building homes and devoted their company to hot tubs.
“We had just grown to the point where we decided we either had to go forward and get with the program on the spa business or just stagnate where we were,” Hinkle says. “Since we are building contractors, we designed and built this building that we are in right now.”
The contracting background helped them design a 10,000 square foot store that fits all their needs: bathrooms connected to the wet test area, which is big enough for two tubs and has a drainage system in case one of the tubs leaks; high ceilings to display gazebos; and space to display a working swim spa. Further, the company’s building skills allow them to offer even more to customers.
“We have done a lot of full-service projects where we go to our customers’ homes and completely redesign the backyard space,” Bonds says. “We put a plan together and present it to the customer. They can make changes if they wish, and can do it all at once or a little at a time. Sometimes, we build on what they already have, and sometimes we take everything out and start over. Because John is a licensed contractor, we can do as much or as little of the work as the customer wants.”
This approach drives sales on all of its product lines, but in order to capitalize, they need get out of the store.
“I think our best sales are at the [customer’s] kitchen table,” Hinkle says. “They feel comfortable in their own environment; they don’t feel threatened and you don’t have other customers coming and going. You give your full attention when you are over at their house. We love to do that.”
As if that doesn’t speak highly enough of its dedication to customer service, the company also offers free delivery up to 100 miles away. They’re able to do that, Hinkle says, because of the margins on the high-end products they sell. “When a person buys an $8,000 or $9,000 spa, well, it’s kind of embarrassing to say we want another $300 to deliver it to your door. You’ve got to absorb all that.”
“We try very hard to make sure that our customer is happy,” Bonds adds. “Not just because it is the right thing to do, but also it keeps them coming back for additional products.”
So they don’t have to worry about competing with big-box stores, they aim to carry unique and high-end products.
“One thing I think that has also helped us a lot is that people are staying home more instead of taking vacations,” Bonds says. “So their home needs to be an entertaining place. Even in the worst of it all we weren’t suffering too much, but there again we have a multitude of products.”
Another thing that helped them through the last couple of years is a decision Hinkle and Bonds made about their business from the start not to borrow money from their inventory.
“There have been times when we are glad we owned our inventory,” Hinkle says, “and we weren’t pressured to sell something just to make a bank payment.”