I’ve always thought of myself as a guy who sees life from a glass that’s half full. But I’ve got to be honest with you: The last 12 months would challenge even the most optimistic person. In this issue of SpaRetailer, we review the major events and storylines in our industry and the world since the Pool | Spa | Patio Expo last November. It wasn’t until I really started ...

Canada is Good for Business I’ve always had a fondness for Canada. This affection is probably influenced by the numerous trips I’ve taken over the years, ranging from my honeymoon 21 years ago to many family vacations to Whistler, Vancouver and Montreal. But this admiration goes beyond personal experience. Canada is good for business. Most agree Canada is even better for the ...

Our annual retail stars issue is one of my favorites. It often is the greatest gauge of where the industry is at and where it’s going. The retailers we feature don’t necessarily represent the highest sales numbers, they don’t always have the prettiest stores and they might not have a large number of employees. But these retailers have figured out a way to make it work, to ...

For each issue of SpaRetailer, we choose the big, important topics we want to cover, the companies and products we feel are doing something special, then we fill in the other articles with trends we see across the industry. Much to my surprise, we inadvertently chose very tech-y topics for several of our trend pieces in this issue. Sometimes when we choose such subjects, people tell me to ...

Remember 10 years ago when pundits said purchasing a hot tub or swim spa on the Internet was a “pipe dream”? We heard it all. “There’s no way a consumer is going to spend $8,000 online on a hot tub. You have to ‘wet test’ the spa model, enjoy the experience, feel the jets and then conduct an on-site inspection to work out the logistics of your home delivery.” ...

As a proud American it’s easy to say, “Let’s do a story about inferior spa imports.” But as a journalist, it becomes a bit more challenging to be balanced and tell the whole story. There’s simply no denying America’s superpower status among the world’s economies, even during this prolonged recession. Our citizens share a very strong work ethic, desire ...