Before the pandemic, we were seeing great activity on both internet leads as well as store leads. It seemed like as soon as the pandemic started, internet leads took off. We have always been uber focused on creating, responding to and closing internet leads, as we know most people spend a tremendous amount of…
Gregory Butlerowner Bubba’s Tubs & PoolsMount Pearl, Newfoundland One evening as Gregory Butler contemplated his life, he thought, “I just wish I was in a hot tub somewhere.” That passing thought became the catalyst to opening a hot tub business — in fact, the next day he visited the only other local hot tub store and…
Scott ClarkOwner, The Spa and Sauna Co.5 locations in Nevada and California The pandemic was firmly on our radar in early February when a vendor trip to Cambodia and Vietnam was canceled a week before we were supposed to leave. Of course, at that time the events that have transpired were not really grasped. In…
Scott ClarkOwner, The Spa and Sauna Co.5 locations in Nevada and California We realized during the aftermath of the last recession that we needed to mitigate the effects of an economic downturn. Our business was almost entirely reliant on new spa sales to sustain the business. We had always offered to drain and clean hot…
Scott ClarkOwner, The Spa and Sauna Co.5 locations in Nevada and California We started carrying swim spas seven or eight years ago. Our entry into swim spas started with a request from a customer. One of our elderly spa customers came in and told us her doctor had suggested that exercising in a low-impact environment,…
David Isaacs Owner, Isaacs Pools & Spas; Bullfrog Spas of Tri-Cities Johnson City, Tennessee David Isaacs grew up in the pool and spa industry, eventually taking ownership of the family business, Isaacs Pools & Spas (founded in 1978), in 2016. Isaacs began working full time at the company in 2004 after he finished college and…
Jim OrncePettis Pools & Patio, sales and training managerHilton & East Rochester, New York “Since we operate in the Northeast, we reserve purchasing and product research to the fall and winter. We do the bulk of our buying and product research in the colder months because it is slower, and most of us wear many…
Doug RobinsonOwner, Virginia LeisureChesapeake, Virginia We carry Breezesta patio furniture. Another retailer was carrying it down in south Florida, and my store manager thought we should bring it in. First, we brought in only Adirondack chairs to put out front to gain attention. Most ancillary products were just to get people in the store…
While manufacturer representatives find their jobs very rewarding — as partners in success with the dealers under their care — that doesn’t mean the job comes without challenges. “The hardest part is running into unexpected issues or delays, whether a vendor-related issue or with shipping and freight on product going to our dealers. We can’t…
Brian WasikOwner, Spas of MontanaMissoula & Helena, Montana I have [our reps] come at least a couple times a year and work with my guys — and I time the training during one of our sales, so I get to double up. The rep is someone you talk to quite a bit. You have to…
Compiled by Kim Patterson Any store owner who’s changed locations or added a location knows the process comes with glitches. Sometimes major problems arise, and other times a series of smaller mishaps add up to big frustrations. It can be challenging to anticipate every detail that can go sideways. Here, retailers share their experiences. Coordinating…
Jennifer Gannon Owner, BonaVista Leisurescapes Toronto, Ontario, Canada After 10 years on a busy city street in the heart of Toronto — near the neighborhoods we’ve been serving for decades, with metered street parking out front of our store — we moved a half mile away, one street south of the main road to a…