When Jeremy Lucovich bought Southwest Spas at the end of 2019, he had never owned a business. More notably, he had never been in a hot tub.
A sales professional, Lucovich had recently lost his job as a regional sales manager for a wire manufacturer when an acquaintance — the owner of Southwest Spas — suggested he buy the Mesa, Arizona, business. Lucovich had an entrepreneurial streak and wanted to stop traveling for work. Within a few months, he went for it.
Great Bay Spa & Sauna has been part of the New England hot tub industry since its earliest days.
Founded in 1976 by three college friends selling wood hot tubs off trailers at ski mountains, the company grew alongside the industry, becoming one of the region’s long-standing Sundance dealers.
When you ask Sean Schaben about the success of Hot Spring Spas of Iowa and the Twin Cities, he starts with his father, Paul Schaben, an Iowa hardware salesman with an arthritic hip who discovered hot tubs in the early 1980s.
When customers walk into a Bachmann’s showroom — whether in Madison or Brookfield, Wisconsin — the first thing they tend to notice is the polish: beautifully staged hot tubs, warm lighting and elegant finishes. But the Bachmann family says the real hallmark of their business is something you can’t photograph — it’s the intentional focus on care, consistency and steady growth that’s carried the company for over 40 years.
As a teenager looking to make extra money, Travis Hogan found himself cleaning pools for a neighbor — and unknowingly taking the first step toward owning one of Tulsa’s most iconic pool and spa businesses.
In just a few short years, Hot Tub Superstore has grown from a single-location venture in Reno, Nevada, to a burgeoning multistate retailer with a bold vision for expansion.
Illinois-based Cada Pools and Spas is preparing to celebrate its 45th anniversary next year. It took a few sticks of dynamite to get the Cada family into the business in the 1960s, says A.J. Cada, the company’s store manager.
It’s been a tumultuous but rewarding few years for Shandi Evertsen, the general manager at Tropical Spas. When she started at the St. George, Utah, hot tub retailer in November 2022, she helped the growing business organize and implement processes.
Tom Tritt and Brett Huston were doing electrical work as a side gig for a local swimming pool company when the owner asked if they’d be interested in buying the business. Along with their wives, twin sisters Rene Huston and Adrianne Morgan, the couples decided to go for it. Twenty years later, in May, they converted Patio Pleasures Pools & Spas to an employee stock ownership plan.
When Craig Ecelbarger started a 10-year franchise agreement for The Recreational Warehouse location in Fort Myers, Florida, his family was looking for a simpler life.
Ron Perkins worked at Seven Seas Pools & Spas in Pennsylvania for about 30 days before he decided he needed total reign.
In the heart of the Canadian prairies, where the winters are harsh and the summers brief, Aqua-Tech stands as a…