Help from professional dealers

[AGN]

I'm expanding existing business to include spa sales. This is my 2nd post on the subject, I'm trying to find a brand to sell. I have found most large brand names have dealers in the area so I'm limited to available brands.

Brand #1 Arctic
Positives no dealers in area at all, quality spa stands out being different, already do business with the rep for other products.

Negatives Price much higher then other products, will make our investment for display/stock more then others. shipping time 6 to 8 weeks this can kill sales. shipping cost higher. no real brand name recognition in this area.

Brand#2 Caldera
Positives strong manufacturer with good reputation, wide product line, maybe a good company to try to build a new business with.
 
Negatives This is what you get because you cant have Hot Springs, Rep only has 2 years in the industry but seems like a good guy
however did not follow up with some information promised.

Brand #3 Cal/Coleman
Positives Rep has many years in the industry and more knowledge then other reps, Coleman is the only recognizable brand to the average person, Pricing makes you competitive on low or high end. delivery under 10days. Rep claims company has done a great deal in the last two years to improve service and correct past issues. (maybe current dealer can address that)

Negative It seems this forum has slammed this brand, I was warned on my last post to stay away from Cal spa, I wonder have they fixed things in the last two years. The brands may be available from big box stores.

Ok pro dealers what would you do and why? these seem to be the only three choices I have available.

Thank you

I'm hoping you take the time to respond: I really need the education   

 

[Dr. Spa™ Ret.]

Given the only three choices, if Arctic would truly price you out of competitiveness (and given the delivery time), Caldera would be my choice.

[hottubdan]

In order:
Caldera

Arctic




Coleman

[Jacuzzi Jim]

 You check out Artesian or Marquis?   Cal-spa may tell you they have changed things but very doubtful.   As far as Caldera pretty sure it's a great spa and company.   When we were offered them I felt like they were the red headed step child of Hot springs so we didn't take them on.  Again I am sure it's a nice spa but going head to head with a HS dealer who's gonna win out?  How far away is the HS dealer?

[AGN]

Jim the Hot Springs dealer is about 25 miles away. I feel customers shopping Caldera would shop Hot Springs,
I can hear the HS dealer now (they sell the generic because they cant buy the real product, did you see the way they insulate that) I know it's a good company but that may be the deal breaker.
For those with industry knowledge the rep from CAL says they brought in a former partner and founder of Sundance
Galvin Bartlett and Karen Hansen former head of customer service for Jacuzzi/Sundance to clean up problems from the past. I'm not sure how much that means.

Arctic says build time should be three weeks now with shipping I'm guessing four weeks maybe five.

[Hottubguy]

I feel the same way as jim regarding caldera. I was offered them but have a hot springs dealer less then 5 miles away. They do make a nice spa but it will be tough going against hs. I'm a marquis dealer and have been very pleased with them. Other brands I considered were caldera, beachcomber, dimension one and saratoga. Beachcomber was priced very high when I looked at them, saratoga had too many dealers in my area, caldera for reasons above. To me it came down to marquis versus d-1. I ended up going with marquis because they were made in the USA, was a smaller very personalized company and at the time the rep was very knowledgable and was willing to really teach me the product. Funny thing is my rep ended up going to d-1 earlier this year but I'm very happy with the choice I made

[Hot Spring Ace]

Jim the Hot Springs dealer is about 25 miles away. I feel customers shopping Caldera would shop Hot Springs,
I can hear the HS dealer now (they sell the generic because they cant buy the real product, did you see the way they insulate that) I know it's a good company but that may be the deal breaker.
For those with industry knowledge the rep from CAL says they brought in a former partner and founder of Sundance
Galvin Bartlett and Karen Hansen former head of customer service for Jacuzzi/Sundance to clean up problems from the past. I'm not sure how much that means.

Arctic says build time should be three weeks now with shipping I'm guessing four weeks maybe five.

When you have a HS dealer close to you you'll be competing with them no matter what brand you own. They may be made by the same company but the dealers compete against each other but I'm not sure how owning Caldera makes it more difficult than if you went against them with other brands and in fact you can tout that you have the same good manufacturer building/backing the product. The other thing is Caldera is very different from Hot Spring so its not like you've got Pontiacs going up against Chevy where they're nearly the same product.

[Water Boy]

I am a Arctic Spa dealer, and would highly recommend them. Great product, great customer service, and a huge product line to offer. They offer the Arctic Spas, Coyote Spas, as well as their entire swim spa line up of All Weather Pools. Those have been very big for us if you are looking to get a piece of that market as well. Arctic also offers a nice line of Saunas as well if you are really looking to branch out there as well.