Where does Cal Spas stack up?

[Vinny]

...
  You just have to ask yourself if a Honda Civic built in Ohio is any less American then a Ford Fiesta built in Mexico?

I gave up on the government when the Honda was designated an American car.

[Vanguard]

Watkins, the manufacturer of Hot Spring, Caldea and whatever else spas is a wholey owned division of MASCO, a company that has stock on the NYSE.

Watkins, the manufacturer of Hot Spring, Caldea and whatever else spas has 2 plants as was said - one in Vista, CA and one in Mexico.

MASCO, a company that has stock on the NYSE who owns Watkins has shareholders to answer to.

Watkins, the manufacturer of Hot Spring, Caldea and whatever else spas under MASCO, a company that has stock on the NYSE, has shareholders to answer to and [glow]needs to please MASCO shareholders that want their stock to do well[/glow].

Watkins, the manufacturer of Hot Spring, Caldea and whatever else spas under MASCO, a company that has stock on the NYSE, has [glow]shareholders [/glow]to answer to needs to please MASCO shareholders that want their stock to do well will have 2 1 plants as was said - one in Vista, CA and onein Mexico.

Watkins, the manufacturer of Hot Spring, Caldea and whatever else spas is a wholy owned division of MASCO a company that has stock on the NYSE that needs to please MASCO [glow]shareholders[/glow] that want their stock to do well has 2 1 plants as was said - one in Vista, CA and one  in Mexico.

MASCO, the owner of Watkins, has pleased it's [size=18]SHAREHOLDERS[/size].

CEO of MASCO who has pleased the shareholders gets a huge bonus for closing a American Plant that was costly and moved manufacturing of Watkin products to Mexico.

Whoa there, Vinny.  Unless you're talking about a different Masco company, Watkins has not shut down an American Plant.  They simply added a plant in Mexico.  Did they do that because labor was cheaper?  You bet.  But they didn't shut down their Vista plant.

[Vinny]

OK, Masco's not there yet ... but give it time!

[stuart]

If it was only a matter of simple patriotism and nationalism over todays consumer economics.

The American public, despite their public outcry of jobs lost over seas, still has an unquenchable thirst for the consumer items they want, when they want them and to pay only what they’ll pay for them. If that means shipping manufacturing jobs to China to satisfy this thirst, so be it.

One of my biggest pet peeves...couldn't agree more

March down any aisle in Wal-Mart, America’s largest retailer, and you'll see the unfortunate proof of this.

Which is why I refuse to "march down the isles at Wal-Mart", I personally feel that they are the evil empire.

Perhaps the corporate thinking at Masco/Watkins was that by opening a plant south of the border and positioning the company to actually grow it might, in the long run, provide those very jobs and economic growth IN the USA  that we all wish for. Growing companies tend to do that.

Come on! So Watkins did this to help grow the US economy? That would be like stealing from a department store to help them with their security and give them a loss right off...Tell some of the US workers that have lost jobs to Mexico in the last year that it was to help the economy and see how they feel about it.

Trust me, this wasn’t the 1st, nor will it be the last, manufacturer to look south when the time comes for some serious growth.

Exactly but if I have a lackadaisical attitude about it in my own industry then I'm part of the problem.

I've begrudgingly sold Chinese and Mexican products but will not make it a staple in my sales and I don’t defend it with excuses about how it will help our economy in the long run. I sold it as what it was, cheaper Chinese product. If you want better we recommend the entry level US over the top of the line Chinese.  

We in the industry have bantered about the danger of Chinese spas coming in and hurting the industry then some of our largest manufactures open the door to that even further by building factories in Mexico. If they want to sell in Mexico that's fine however they are shipping most of that product to the US.

We all talk about Cal Spas but when I look at their prices and compare their quality to the stuff coming from over the borders I think they above most are staying an icon in the American spa industry and proving it can be done right here in our country.

Coleman has opened the door to Chinese Swim Spas and really isn't saving the consumer anything on price. How much less expensive are the Caldera spas made in Mexico? Is that lower labor cost reflecting in the US workers wages? Or is it helping the consumer with a better price point? I've just looked hard at most of the major wholesale prices across the board and see that Caldera is right up there with many equivalent quality manufactures right here in the US.

Who knows, the next one looking south may the very company you sell for.

That is a constant concern of mine and I will fight it if they do but mostly I will promise that I won't defend it if they do…if I can’t sell it as a “cheaper” product than I will look elsewhere.

We all use components from other countries but US jobs and labor are still required to put those components together. Most of those components are machine made in the US or in other countries but the workers at final assembly are going by the wayside in our country.

HOW DOES CAL SPA STACK UP? oddly enough they are getting higher on my stack every day and they were at the bottom.

[Vanguard]

I think one of the main reasons Watkins opened in Mexico is because of where their current plant/HQ sits.  They are located in one of the most expensive places in the country to operate a labor-intensive manufacturing facility.  They have no plans to move that facility, but they did have to expand their manufacturing capability.  So, they went to the closest place with lower labor costs.  Mexico.

They could have packed up and moved the entire company elsewhere, but then they would have lost a lot of very experienced employees who probably wouldn't have made the move.  Seems to me the best place to manufacture hot tubs would be in the middle of the country.  While shipping the product to the west coast would cost more to those dealers, the savings would be great to those on the east.  

Plus, the cost of doing business in, say Texas, would be ridiculously lower than California.  All their employees would get an immediate raise without paying them an extra penny.

But, they'll probably never do that.  They'll stay in Vista and keep expanding the Mexico facility as needed.



And,  if a dealer bad mouths something just because it is made in Canada - shame on them.  I know that Scott Iverson would have never taught that to the dealers.  That just comes from that dealer's own insecurity.

[East_TX_Spa]

Well, as most folks already know, wherever Watkins goes, D-1 usually follows.....



Viva la aguas calliente!

Terminatez

[stuart]

Well, as most folks already know, wherever Watkins goes, D-1 usually follows.....

Yeah like Acrylic colors, electronic programmable controls, auxiliary controls,  ozone contact chambers, pillows, waterfalls, led lighting, all weather siding, fountains, custom accessories and cover lifters.

....oops, I almost forgot! D1 did that first and HotSpring followed!  

On a positive note, it was much easier to work with HotSpring Corporate in the old days than it is to work with D1. Their bureaucracy is waay to tiring

[hottubdan]

On a humorous note, for those following this thread.  Years ago I was touring D1.  Back when they offered colors and Watkins didn't.  While on the tour, our guide said, many of our workers have siblings at Hot Spring, and vice versa.

Cracked me up.  And vice versa.

[Chris_H]

Does someone have photos of this Watkins factory in Mexico?  Since it is in Mexico, I am expecting it to be dirty, worse looking than the Phoenix Spa factory, and obviously it cannot be state of the art.  

[Vanguard]

Does someone have photos of this Watkins factory in Mexico?  Since it is in Mexico, I am expecting it to be dirty, worse looking than the Phoenix Spa factory, and obviously it cannot be state of the art.  

Not sure if that was said tongue-in-cheek or not.

The factory is a very nice factory.  It is a state-of-the-art facility; it could rival any modern hot tub facility in the US.  All the necessary environmental protections have been taken, all the health of the employee precautions have been taken, etc.  It has showers for the employees, since most don't have running hot water at home.  It has a cafeteria where they provide lunch for the employees.  Other than knowing you're in Mexico, once you are in the building, you'd never know you are in Mexico.  Many US companies have very nice facilities in the area.

[Vanguard]

You know, one other thing about the move to Mexico for Watkins.

The spas that are produced in Mexico are fiberglass backed shells.  They had a facility in El Cajon - the Caldera plant - but they had outgrown that facility.  In order to keep producing the spas somewhere near their main plant and shipping location, they couldn't build that facility in California.  You have to be grandfathered in and since they and they couldn't get the grandfather clause to kick in.  So, the only other choice they had was to go to Mexico.  As I mentioned in my last post, the facility is state-of-the-art.  Really no environmental hazards are being released into the air there.  

So, if you wonder why jobs had to go to Mexico?  Blame the overreaching hand of the California government.  They sent the jobs there.

[stuart]

You know, one other thing about the move to Mexico for Watkins.

The spas that are produced in Mexico are fiberglass backed shells.  They had a facility in El Cajon - the Caldera plant - but they had outgrown that facility.  In order to keep producing the spas somewhere near their main plant and shipping location, they couldn't build that facility in California.  You have to be grandfathered in and since they and they couldn't get the grandfather clause to kick in.  So, the only other choice they had was to go to Mexico.  As I mentioned in my last post, the facility is state-of-the-art.  Really no environmental hazards are being released into the air there.  

So, if you wonder why jobs had to go to Mexico?  Blame the overreaching hand of the California government.  They sent the jobs there.

Of course they couldn't consider any of the surrounding states to build a plant and keep it in the US, it was either California or Mexico!    Less wages, less regulation, lower costs to pass on the pricing to....Oh yeah, they didn't lower the price...

[Vanguard]

Of course they couldn't consider any of the surrounding states to build a plant and keep it in the US, it was either California or Mexico!    Less wages, less regulation, lower costs to pass on the pricing to....Oh yeah, they didn't lower the price...

I suppose you sat in on the meetings where the options were discussed since you say that as a matter of fact.??

Based on where they are based and where they ship spas from, that location would have made the most sense.  Transporting spas back to Vista from, say, Las Vegas, wouldn't be a good solution.  

[spaman--]

I suppose you sat in on the meetings where the options were discussed since you say that as a matter of fact.??

Based on where they are based and where they ship spas from, that location would have made the most sense.  Transporting spas back to Vista from, say, Las Vegas, wouldn't be a good solution.  

Uhhhh........ Thay aren't shipping spas to the factory in Vista they are shipping from Mexico directly to the dealers. We talk to all of our drivers and there was no stop in Vista.


I wil however try and get another source and verify this because I am hearing 2 different versions of where these spas go.

[Vanguard]

Uhhhh........ Thay aren't shipping spas to the factory in Vista they are shipping from Mexico directly to the dealers. We talk to all of our drivers and there was no stop in Vista.


I wil however try and get another source and verify this because I am hearing 2 different versions of where these spas go.

I did some homework on this and found out that is not the case.  All spas from the Mexico facility go to Vista and are then shipped from there.  No spas are shipped directly from Mexico to a dealer.