Photography by Chris Hultner
Randy Dumont, owner of Emerald Springs Pools & Spas, began his career in the hot tub industry in California, then journeyed east to Oklahoma to open his own store. In 1998, the company Dumont was associated with wanted to open a location in Springfield, Mo., or Oklahoma City. The great Okie state won out, and Dumont opened his doors two months later in January 1999.
Dumont’s location on historic Route 66 has been reimagined multiple times. When the company started, it inhabited a 6,000-square-foot space next to a dirt lot. In 2003, its landlord built onto the space with plans for Emerald to move in.
“He built it in a way that if we ever move out, he can split it into four stores,” Dumont says. While they didn’t design it together, Dumont had a lot of say in some of the finishing touches that made it work for his business. Dumont kept his hot tubs in the old part of the store and turned the new, 6,000-square-foot space into an above-ground pool showroom. When the recession hit the region in 2009, he’d grown tired of the above-ground pool business: “They would just sit for half a year and didn’t make any money,” he says. In need of a downsize, it got rid of most of its pools and moved all of its hot tubs and product into the new side of the building, leaving the old side vacant for a couple of years.
It was during this time that Dumont saw his used hot tub business take off. “We had a ton of people calling to ask if we would buy their old hot tub,” Dumont says. “We sold three used ones to every new one, and that kept us in business.”
What really turned the tide for Emerald Springs, however, was when the company started selling Hot Spring Spas about two years ago.
“As soon as we started carrying Hot Spring, we just kind of took off,” Dumont says. “It took our store to a new level.”
Emerald Springs won Hot Springs’ award for the best new dealer in 2013 and took over both sides of the building again. It also changed up the look and feel of the showroom. “Six months ago, it looked completely different,” Dumont says. It went from having pool toys hanging from the ceiling to a clean, more sophisticated style.