In an area where disposable income goes up and down depending on the oil industry, East Texas Spas has fared better than many industry counterparts. But the challenges that they face are long-term, like heat and a lack of category recognition.
“When you get into the bigger areas, I think hot tubs have a little bit more maturity as far as people know what they are, what they do and what the value is therapy-wise for you,” Randall Glaske, owner of East Texas Spas, says. “When you get to more rural areas, it’s taken a little longer to catch up, that it can be something other than a trough to water the cattle. The awareness has really gone up in the last 10 years, but I can remember in the 80s or early 90s, people didn’t really understand the value of a hot tub in east Texas…We’ve had to create that idea in people’s minds and over time it sets hold that there is a value, it’s not a gimmick.”
Glaske added hot tubs to his garden room building business in 1985. Growing hot tub sales matched his growing passion for the product, and in 1999, he dropped the building part of his business and started selling only hot tubs. He attributes their 25-plus-year longevity to their zeal for the product.
“I think the difference is to have a passion for what we do, you have to enjoy it,” he says. “If we were selling something we didn’t believe in, then it would be a job and we wouldn’t be here as long. The bottom line is you do what you believe in.”