The New Product Prowl Looking for a new product line to carry in your retail store? The IPSPE is the perfect place to investigate new companies and products. The international pool | spa | patio expo is a great place to find new product lines to carry in your retail store. Many hot tub retailers have turned to backyard and health products to help maintain revenue when spa sales are slow, ...

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year Ease holiday stress by finding Christmas decorations for your retail store now. With the Christmas season less than six months away, it is time to start preparing your retail store for all of the hoopla. Obviously, this doesn’t mean decorating now, but it does mean you should start the preparations. Setting up shop for the holiday season takes time ...

Online Resources for Events Scour the Internet no longer; a selection of resources for putting on your next event are outlined below. For your next home show or fair, look no further than the Internet to find products for displays, giveaways and attracting customers. Using web resources is a popular way to discover unique items that will help grab the passerby attention. Many of these ...

Clean and Green Backyards Make your store the destination for eco-friendly outdoor products by adding some of these interesting backyard accessories. Updating or expanding the product lines that are available in your store can be a challenging task, especially with people becoming more concerned about environmental impacts. Many consumers are looking for alternative products that lessen their ...

Business on the Go Applications for the iPhone and BlackBerry are changing the way retailers conduct business away from the store. By Timothy Colwell It wasn’t long ago when a laptop was one of the only ways you could conduct business on the road. But now, instead of lugging a five-pound computer around, much of what you would do on your laptop you can now do on your cell ...

Software Solutions The initial investment into spa business software may save money in the end. “One of my favorite customers always says, ‘My desk is clear and I go home earlier,’” remarks Corey Holton, vice president of product development at Evosus, Inc. The company created an all-in-one business management software for the pool and spa industry that has ...

Cover, Lift, Protect – Repeat The Covana, a hot tub cover and gazebo, is at the forefront of innovative add-ons. Sterling Leisure Products, makers of the Covana – a unique hot tub cover/gazebo – is a Canadian family-owned and operated business founded in 2004 by Raymond Bussière and Mario Piché. After purchasing a hot tub, Bussière grew frustrated ...

THE NEWLY DEVELOPED SPA LEVEL-R HELPS KEEP SPAS FROM CRACKING AND SAGGING. ALL IT TOOK to dream up the concept for the Spa Level-R platform was two men, two hot tubs and two sloping concrete patios. Michael Wegner and David Hess, neighbors for over 20 years, grew tired of the bases of their hot tubs becoming water logged and rotting due to their sloping concrete patios collecting water. So, the duo ...

By Alison Stanton COLORFUL SPASCENES CAN BE A GREAT ADD-ON PRODUCT FOR CONSUMERS TURNED OFF BY A DULL COVER. About three years ago, Kevin Chase put the finishing touches on his indoor hot tub and sauna room, and decided to celebrate by enjoying a relaxing soak in the tub. After getting everything ready and lowering himself into the soothing warm water, Chase looked around his newly-finished ...

How many different software programs are you using to manage your store? Let’s guess: You have one program for accounting, one program for the point of sale and one-or more-programs to help manage your service department. And you likely also have a program to merge all of the other software programs together. That sounds complicated, but this is what hot tub retailers have been using for ...

"We’re not ready yet," is the most common objection from prospective spa consumers according to Ken Noble, an 18-year industry veteran and owner and creator of EZ Pad. Noble, who for years sold hot tubs at fairs and home shows, got so frustrated losing sales to site preparation that he decided to do something about it. So in 1999, Noble started EZ Pad, headquartered in his garage. ...

Whenever you can increase customer satisfaction and service, enhance your company’s market presence and make life easier for your employees, you have a winning combination. Even better, you’ve gained an edge over your competition and added incremental income to your bottom line. Jeff Zissulis, owner of Hot Tub Hauler USA in Merrimack, N.H., recalls, "The first delivery I did, the customer ...