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.

Paul built a business selling hardware cabinets to farmers, teaching his kids the value of long days and customer service. Sean remembers it as the foundation for everything that came later: “We always had the ‘There’s always work on the farm,’ type of mentality instilled from a young age,” Sean says. “That’s where we got our work ethic.”

That small-town vision sparked a company that now spans seven locations in Iowa and Minnesota, making the Schaben family one of Watkins Wellness’ top-performing dealers nationwide.

From bolts to hot tubs

The Schaben family’s entrepreneurial roots began with Agri-Bolt, Paul’s original cabinet and hardware company. Sean recalls hauling the stocked hardware cabinet units, setting up at county fairs and learning to work when friends were out fishing or playing ball.

By 1983, Paul added Hot Spring Spas to his lineup. Farmers were skeptical at first, but the family pitched hot tubs as a way to relax after long days in the fields. The message resonated, and by the late 1980s, the family opened their first true retail store in Des Moines.

In the early days, everyone did everything. “We didn’t have a service team or delivery crew,” Sean explains. “We had to take care of every customer ourselves.”

It was a hands-on approach that built strong relationships and a reputation for helping customers long after the sale.

Expanding the reach

In 2004, the Schabens saw opportunity in Minnesota’s Twin Cities, taking over two retail locations that were struggling. “There really wasn’t a whole lot to work with,” Sean says. “Their book of business wasn’t as fruitful as ours was. But we thought at the time that the Minneapolis market was the largest untapped market in the industry. So that was part of the reason why we took on that challenge.”

They rebuilt those stores with the Iowa playbook: focus on service, invest in employees and build long-term customer loyalty. Growing to a metro market required adjustments. In Iowa, customers were used to waiting a few days for service, but in the cities, expectations were faster, and the company had to build capacity quickly to keep pace.

Today, the company operates three Minnesota showrooms plus a warehouse, in addition to its Iowa locations in Carroll, Okoboji, Des Moines/Clive and Ankeny.

Weathering storms

Like many in the industry, the Schabens felt the sting of the 2008 recession. “We lost a lot of money in the Twin Cities,” Sean describes it bluntly. “We were a fledgling company trying to make things go. And it was our customers down in Iowa that kept our doors open.”

Then came COVID-19 — the opposite challenge. “Instead of selling hot tubs, you were selling timeframes,” Sean says. Customers were willing to wait eight months or more, as long as they had a spot reserved.

A collective culture

Sean is quick to emphasize that the business is not about one person. “We’ve always been more of a collective business,” he says. “We don’t like beating our chest. We’ve been pretty modest over the years.”

That humility, coupled with long-time staff and loyal customers, has been a through line from the early days to today. “Everybody’s included,” Sean says. “Everybody has a voice.”

It’s also a true family business. Sean and his brother Thad run Hot Spring Spas of Iowa and the Twin Cities alongside their brother Ryan, with the memory of their late sister, Rani Jane, continuing to motivate them as they move the business forward.

Hot Spring Spas of Iowa and the Twin Cities

Sean, Thad and Ryan Schaben

Carroll, Okoboji, Des Moines/Clive and Ankeny, Iowa; Plymouth, Woodbury and Burnsville, Minnesota, + warehouse