When Rich Hiner and his wife, Debbie, moved to Denver, Hiner took a job selling hot tubs. He assured his wife that he would soon find a “real” job — but that was in 1983. Now the Hiners work side by side at the store, which they purchased in 2005.
“So, I’m still looking for a real job,” Hiner laughs, “but you know I still love the hot tub business.” As it seems for many in the hot tub industry, once he got in, he never could find a good reason to leave.
“[People] seem to somehow gravitate back to the industry even if they leave for a time,” Hiner says. “It is a great industry. There are, of course, all the health benefits that we are able to provide for customers, but really the lifestyle benefits and what it does for families is just such a great part of what we do and makes it a great industry to be in.”
Great, but not easy. Hiner says he is constantly trying to find ways to improve his business.
“As an owner, I think that you are always trying to figure out what you can do better in every single area,” Hiner says. “Every day I look at everything that we do and how can we do it better, how can we perform better, how can we take care of our customers better. This is so cliché, but we take care of our customers. That is what we do. The reality is that during this downturn of the last few years, if we hadn’t taken great care of our customers, I’m not sure that we would have survived. They are the ones that have kept us in business; they supported us during that time.”
Also helping them during the recession were key relationships with manufacturers.
“The other part of it is being partners with great suppliers in our industry,” Hiner says. “That is a huge factor for us that the products we sell are so well-backed, specifically by Watkins Manufacturing.” Besides the hot tub manufacturer, Hiner says brands like Weber and SilkBalance have also been incredibly supportive.
That support came in handy in 2010, when Hiner made the decision to move one of his stores into a new location.
“[It was] a scary thing to do at that particular time,” Hiner says. “There was a lot of discussion about whether we should be trying something like that in the economic conditions. But you know, even when the economy is difficult there are positive things that you can do and difficult decisions you have to make to keep moving forward. That is what we have tried to do through the bad economy — deal with it, but keep moving forward at the same time.”
International Hot Tub’s online presence has also been improving. Hiner hired a full-time, in-house marketing person to tackle the Internet marketing challenge.
“I am afraid that the Internet will be a never-ending process because it continuously changes,” Hiner says. “Every time you think you’ve got one area figured out, Google changes it.” Since it is not his cup of tea, he had no problem handing it over to someone else. “Most [hot tub retailers] are in these positions because of our sales background, and I think generally that serves us well. But there are other areas of expertise that you need to bring in people smarter than you to run.”