Podcasts Sparetailer.com

Gunnar Graven is the second generation in his family at the helm of Steepleton in Louisville, Kentucky, but the fourth generation overall to run the business founded in 1908. Read more about the company in the February/March edition of SpaRetailer. Graven has turned his company’s website into its third location — making a concerted effort to ramp up online sales, including selling hot tubs online. Graven talks us through the evolution of their website and how they beat his ecommerce sales […]

As a local business you surely have filled out your Google My Business listing, gathered as many reviews as you can and have even done some paid advertising to get your company at the top of local search results. But Google is introducing a new program that may push you further down the page if you don’t act fast. We talk to Lorne Sederoff from SearchKings about the Google Guarantee and how hot tub retailers can be the first to […]

For more than a decade Multi-Tech Products has been supplying acrylic repair materials to the hot tub and bath industries, working behind the scenes with manufacturers and acrylic suppliers. Under new ownership, the company is now stepping out in front of the industry, hoping to streamline the ordering process for retailers and consumers. Meet the new owners and hear about their plans for the future, and what they’ve seen going on in the hot tub industry from their unique vantage […]

The International Hot Tub Association has been working to protect the hot tub industry since 2008. Now part of the PHTA, the chair and vice-chair of the organization’s leadership team joins the podcast to talk about its membership drive. Steve Stigers, vice president of marketing at Watkins Wellness, and Tracine Marroquin, vice president of marketing at Jacuzzi Group may be competitors, but the two work together to ensure the hot tub industry doesn’t get roped into undo legislation. To do […]

Gunnar Graven is the second generation in his family at the helm of Steepleton in Louisville, Kentucky, but the fourth generation overall to run the business founded in 1908. Graven has turned his company’s website into its third location — making a concerted effort to ramp up online sales, including selling hot tubs online. Graven talks us through the evolution of their website and how they beat his ecommerce sales goals six times over. This episode is sponsored by Marquis. AQUATIC […]

Ben Poggemiller is back on The SpaRetailer Podcast to share what his company has been doing to sell swim spas. Before 2021, there hadn’t been much of a focus on swim spas at Urban Life Pools & Hot Tubs, but now they are all-in. Hear Poggemiller’s tips to putting together a successful swim spa marketing campaign. Hear Ben Poggemiller on other episodes: Episode #54, The Long Game with Ben Poggemiller Episode #46, Find and Convert Online Leads with Ben Poggemiller […]

This episode’s guest is NASCAR racer Ryan Truex. Truex drives the #40 Chevrolet for Niece Motorsports, emblazoned with Marquis logos. As a Marquis brand ambassador, Truex has done lots of fun promotions and collaborations, unlike what is typically seen in the hot tub industry. He also hosts his own podcast from his Marquis hot tub, with guests joining him in the water. Truex says his Marquis spa is an integral part of his post-race recovery. This episode is sponsored by […]

In addition to the supply and demand stress that everyone in the industry has felt, BioLab had the added challenge of a factory fire. Hurricane Laura caused a fire that destroyed its plant that manufactures trichlor, one of the main forms of chlorine used in the swimming pool (and sometimes spa) industry. Alicia Stephens and Andrea Chaney from BioLab are on the podcast to help explain what happened and why, besides the fire, you’re experiences chemical shortages and delays. They […]

No matter how good or bad you were at marketing and promoting your pool and spa business in 2020, most of the dealers and manufacturers listening to this podcast had a significant increase in sales in 2020 and are forecasting a good 2021. In today’s podcast we talk about the pandemic, but it’s in the context of why some dealers were more prepared and faster to adapt to the changing retail landscape and do so more efficiently and with less stress.   […]

Ted Lawrence, the corporate category retail manager at Poolcorp, brings a global perspective to hot tub and swimming pool retail and supply chain. We talk about setting up buy-online-pick-up-in-store (BOPIS) and how it’s not as hard as it sounds, as well as other marketing, merchandising and retail trends you should be up on. Don’t miss Ted’s last episode here.

If you’ve learned more about the global supply chain in the last year than ever before, you’re not alone. Today we’re talking to Bob Confer from Confer Plastics in North Tonawanda, New York. Confer supplies the hot tub industry with a variety of blow-molded plastics products like steps and hot tub siding. In addition to sharing more about his company and how it got started, Confer talks us through the plastics manufacturing process and why the February freeze in Texas […]

We’re talking about expansion again. Obviously, it’s a weird and interesting time to think about adding a new location. On the one hand, there are some amazing commercial real estate opportunities out there, on the other, how are you going to get enough product to fill a new space?  Brian Quint from Aqua Quip in Seattle joins us again to talk about expanding during this strange time. Aqua Quip moved a location and opened an entire new store in the […]

Have you ever gotten so frustrated with your business that you threatened to “burn it down?” Earl and Josh Michels from Backyard Leisure don’t recommend it. When a fire destroyed their flagship location in 2018, the father/son duo used what could have been a tragedy to move their business forward. Hear how they overcame the fire, opened a new location during the pandemic and their plan to be the Bass Pro Shop of hot tubs.

Ted Lawrence, the corporate category retail manager at Poolcorp, brings a global perspective to hot tub and swimming pool retail and supply chain. Lawrence talks about the successful changes he saw retailers make during the pandemic, the larger trends in retail the industry needs to prepare for and how supply/demand will impact 2021.

Andy Tournas, founder of ThermoSpas, Hot Tub Products and the International Hot Tub Association, joins us on the podcast today to talk about all three. Andy reflects on his time in the industry, and shares some of the new products and services Hot Tub Products is bringing to the industry. Check out other stories in SpaRetailer about Hot Tub Products: Lifting the Burden Hot Tub Products Launches New Marketing Campaign

Ben Poggemiller from Urban Life Pools & Hot Tubs joins us again to share what’s changed in his business since we spoke at the beginning of the pandemic. He talks about how they’re handling ordering, selling and customer follow up now that hot tubs are sold out. Listen to our first episode with Poggemiller here. Join Poggemiller’s Mastermind Facebook group. Let us know what you think about this episode and others by emailing podcast@sparetailer.com. You can also leave us a […]

Ronak Shah runs Oklahoma-based Galaxy Home Recreation with his sister and extended family. Two years ago they started construction on a new location in Edmond, Oklahoma, an affluent suburb of Oklahoma City. The store was scheduled to open in March 2020, but then COVID hit. Ronak shares how his father, Mukesh, started Galaxy and its evolution from pool tables, to coin operated machines, to hot tubs and how he and his sister Nimisha took over when Mukesh died unexpectedly. Now, […]

Dennis Gentek has pretty much seen it all in the hot tub industry. His 32-year career in the industry, spent almost exclusively as a rep for Jacuzzi/Sundance, spans almost every dip, recession and worldwide crisis, which now includes the coronavirus. Gentek shares how his life as a sales rep has changed during the pandemic (a lot less travel), the industry trends he thinks are here to stay and the smart things he’s seen dealers do to stay ahead.

We’ve all become keenly aware of supply chains in 2020 — from toilet paper, to groceries, to all the things that make a hot tub. Custom Molded Products, or CMP, is one of the vital suppliers for hot tub manufacturers making everything from jets, valves, lights, sanitation systems and the list goes on. We talk to Allen Kalkomey, vice president of sales and marketing, and Vic Walker, director of marketing and product design. Kalkomey and Walker bring different perspectives to the […]

When Sabeena Hickman joined the newly formed PHTA in the fall of 2019, she thought she knew what her biggest challenge would be — continuing to merge two legacy associations. What neither she, or anyone, anticipated was the world being turned upside down by a global pandemic. Sabeena talks to us about how coronavirus changed the PHTA and industry’s year and how that impacted its new strategic action plan. To become a member of the PHTA/IHTA visit PHTA.org This episode is […]