Have a question for our panel? Email us at editorial@kendrickcontent.com. Dana Hyde When it was time for Dana to go back to work after being a stay-at-home mom for a few years, her husband, who owned a transport business and was selling refurbished spas on the side, proposed the idea of opening a store. From…
Have a question for our panel? Email us at editorial@kendrickcontent.com. We find our candidates while they are currently working at a job, and we have a positive interaction. I want someone who is actively working and wanting to improve their working environment. I also admire loyalty, so if someone turns me down for a conversation,…
“One short-lived, COVID-induced change I saw was customers willing to give up on quality and choices for whichever hot tub could be delivered the fastest.”
[Our company] had an e-commerce site prior to the pandemic, and then re-launched a new e-commerce site post pandemic. Originally, we did not have prices across all product categories. Now we do. We’ve seen good growth in our chemical and accessories business. Our core categories have also grown; however, those purchases transition to online chat,…
We’ve been trying to quantify what the 2020-21 hot tub sales boom looked like for individual retailers. We will continue to collect that information, but of the 50+ respondents so far, this is what we’ve learned. All Store Average On average, unit sales increased The most reported hot tub units sold in 2020-21 was Retailers…
We try and give our customers [pricing] information as soon as they request it. We do put some pricing information like “starting at $XX” to give them a range. Some of our vendors forbid us to put prices on our website, so we adhere to their policies. However, we have a rapid response time with…
David Townley grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas, and worked at the original Townley Pool & Spa store founded by his mom, Tracye, when he was 10 years old. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1998 and served as a Navy Pilot and Instructor for 13 years. He continues to serve as a…
New normal has been replaced by normal. Our lead times now are months instead of weeks, and managing expectations is the biggest challenge we face. Instead of dream fulfillment, we are working toward dream adjustment. New spa sales will keep rising, even as things open up. The world is really different than before. We will…
Early in the pandemic, we had a difficult time finding terrific candidates for seasonal positions. Our government agencies did amazing things to help support citizens during the pandemic, but the offers they made to students and lower-income earners incentivized people to stay home and collect program subsidies rather than seek employment. So far in 2021,…
At Oregon Hot Tub, we have traditionally run promotions for the benefit of our sales team. A $500 or $1,000 discount does not really make a difference for the consumer as long as they are getting a great value, but a discount or deal makes a big difference to sellers. If they believe it…
Customers stuck at home during the pandemic are buying hot tubs in lieu of vacations. In the past, our hot tub business had mostly been done by custom orders, with the occasional sale of floor models. But when our hot tub manufacturer shut down in March, we were unwittingly prepared: We had placed larger…
With the equipment pack in the backseat and the hot tub strapped to the top of a red, four-door Fiat, 16-year-old Mike Dunn started his career in the hot tub industry in 1979. Dunn’s father acquired a hot tub mold in lieu of rent owed to him by some commercial tenants, and the two of…