Recalibrate the Right Way
This issue, we look at where retailers focus their energy when the easy answers aren’t there.
Hidden Revenue
Rising costs. Tightening margins. Quieter showrooms.
Retailers’ instincts may tell them to chase more customers, but examining business operations can reveal a more immediate opportunity: increasing revenue from existing customers.
Cold Tubs: Hype Cycle or Staying Power?
Cold plunging in lakes and oceans has long appealed to athletes and wellness enthusiasts, but those experiences aren’t always accessible or practical. When cold tubs for the home were introduced, they sparked a new category, with all the celebrity and influencer hype, and sales surged.
Beyond the Brand
Change usually starts before anyone says it out loud.
A product line shifts. A strategy evolves. A partnership ends — but expectations don’t.
Great Bay Spa & Sauna
Great Bay Spa & Sauna has been part of the New England hot tub industry since its earliest days.
Founded in 1976 by three college friends selling wood hot tubs off trailers at ski mountains, the company grew alongside the industry, becoming one of the region’s long-standing Sundance dealers.
Monetize Your Customer List
You already have one of the most valuable marketing assets in your business — and there’s a good chance you’re not using it.
Watkins Wellness: Refining the Brand Story
Watkins Wellness has restructured how its entry-level hot tubs are positioned, bringing the Freeflow line into the Hot Spring brand to create a more unified showroom story for dealers.
Dynasty Spas: Finding the Middle Ground
For many backyard buyers, the decision between a pool and a swim spa doesn’t always end with a purchase — it often stalls somewhere in the middle.
Think Inside the Box
The U.S. sauna market is no longer niche. “In America and the West, sauna is coming out of its infancy and exploding,” says Arash Amini, CEO of Amini’s, with locations in Missouri, Oklahoma and Kansas.
The Visual Language of Luxury Spas
“Less is more” is the mantra of upscale retail businesses that attract high-income customers. Years ago, I ghostwrote the visual standards manual for Saks Fifth Avenue. When I ran into their visual team at a trade show, their corporate director of visual merchandising told me that almost everything I wrote is still used 30 years later. Standards don’t change, but the merchandise and fixtures do.
Unlocking Hidden Revenue
For many hot tub retailers, success has traditionally been measured by spa sales. But experienced dealers know long-term stability isn’t just about selling more units; it’s about maximizing the value of every customer after the sale.
Engineering the Industry
Many people in the hot tub industry come to it through family businesses or early career opportunities.
Others, like Angelo Pugliese, who recently retired as senior engineer for Custom Molded Products in Atlanta, had a different path. “I needed a job!” he says with a laugh.