Spas and More in St. Louis had always been a top dealer for Master Spas, but it just couldn’t quite crack the top 10. “We’ve been No. 12, No. 14, No. 15,” says store owner Michael Lahay. But this year he will be included on the company’s APEX trip to Cabo San Lucas in Mexico that honors Master Spas’ top 10 dealerships. Lahay says it was opening the company’s second location in an outlet mall that catapulted them the top.
Lahay, a 20-year industry veteran, says the company’s original warehouse/distribution location worked logistically for them for years, but he knew if they were going to grow they needed a high-visibility location. A new outlet mall in the affluent suburb of Chesterfield presented the perfect opportunity. Besides being across the street from one of the most successful strip malls in the country, the outlet mall came after them hard and they got a good deal on space.
Even though it is located in an outlet mall, the store isn’t a discount center. Lahay uses the 7,500 square feet to show 30 spas, five or six swim spas and infrared saunas.
“Master Spa makes four lines of tubs with over 45 models,” Lahay says. “It’s difficult to try to show somebody what the differences are with only one spas or two spas in a line in the showroom. Now customers can see them, sit in them and visualize every price point in their own backyard.”
The new location presents benefits and challenges. Spas and More gets the advantage of mall advertising and foot traffic, but the downside is having to be open during mall hours. So even though people aren’t typically looking for hot tub products on Black Friday, the store was open at midnight anyway. Lahay says they did some chemicals and accessories promotions for existing customers that did OK, but it wasn’t a boon.
To capitalize on the visibility and walk-in traffic, Lahay brought in top-notch sales professionals from other industries. “That allows us to train them the way we want to so they don’t develop bad habits,” he says. “Over 90 percent of the people we sold the first month or two were not people who came to see us, they came to the mall. They had been contemplating spas over the last couple of years but never walked into a situation where they could see so much diversity of the product. Plus, talking with our people gave it the personal touch.”