Living Waters (Tatum) Gone?

[Gary]

I heard a rumor that Living Waters is closing it doors for good, anyone else know anything?

If they close who will take their place on the low end POS spa market?

[Dr. Spa™ Ret.]

They're service department is answering the phones.

[Zep]

does that mean the premium Coleman hot tub line by Living Water Products is "going under"?

[Dr. Spa™ Ret.]

Since at this point, it's only a rumor, it means nothing  

[Zep]

doc with this economy i wouldn't be surprised to see a few start to fall

[Gary]

Let me elaborate, I know someone that works there and he told me unless they have a dramatic turn around in a month they are shutting the doors.

[Dr. Spa™ Ret.]

doc with this economy i wouldn't be surprised to see a few start to fall

I think, "a few", may be an understatement  

[Spatech_tuo]

does that mean the premium Coleman hot tub line by Living Water Products is "going under"?

Please do not use the word "Premium" in the same sentence with Living Waters!  

I hate to see anyone loose a job in this economy by Living Waters going away only helps this industry and any potential spa customers.

[hottubdan]

I see no reason for them to have a dramatic turnaround.  Didn't Costco.com drop them?

[Zep]

i think Living Waters made the La-Z-Boy Spas too

[MarKee]

I heard about this too.  I also talked to a rep who used to work for them and they made it sound like it was only a matter of time before they were gone.  

[Chas]

In the years I have had spa stores, I have always had representatives of other spa makers come to us and offer spa which were always supposed to be priced hundreds, if not thousands, lower than the Watkins products we sell.  They just about all would start off the conversation by saying something along the lines of, "Now you can have something to offer those customers who come in your door wanting a high-quality, big tub for $3000 delivered!"

They offered custom touches to set us apart, combined shipping and forwarding to make it possible to sell over the 'Net, and all of this while allowing us to keep our retail prices down low enough to 'compete with even the big box retailers.'

We have heard this so many times, and occasionally I would order a spa or two to see what they had. Every time, it was a poorly-built spa with poor design. Plywood siding, scant foam insulation, tiny jets, noisy pumps, thin covers, wavy shells, empty jet pockets formed into the shells but not filled with jets, leaks on start-up, shipping damage from some guy on the back of a pickup truck, the bottoms were "sealed" with a sheet of plastic stapled in place or some plywood tacked on, etc. And almost every time, the company ended up going out of business within a few years anyway.

The major brands do cost more. It costs money to stay in business this long. It costs money to be sure that parts and repair can flow to the end-user dependably. It costs money to be able to stay around if a vendor or supplier messes up and you have to eat the repair costs to keep the tubs bubbling.

Funny thing, though: there were several of these off-brand tub makers who put together a tub that had similar features to some of the Watkins products. Full foam (or at least a lot of foam), circ pump, color-change lighting, water feature of some sort, wide variety of jets, plenty of power, non-wood siding with some sort of warranty, ozone system, second control panel, at least one seat with a lot of jets to cover the area covered by one Moto Massage Jet, oversize filters, and then a five-year warranty on all the equipment. Guess what? They were more expensive than the tubs I was already buying from Watkins. They couldn't conceive of the fact that a huge company like Watkins gets pumps and other components at lower prices thanks to the huge volume they buy. Or the fact that even though the buildings and properties are vast - I have often said that I know of two tub makers who's entire plant can fit into the employee parking lot at Watkins - they have been there a long time, and the overhead is just not as much as these competitors think.

I guess there is something to be said for doing something a long time, in huge volume, making incremental changes, and having an excellent management team. Whatever happens in the coming years, I tend to think that quality will rise to the top. I don't have ANY extra money to spend on anything right now. So when I have to make a purchase, I want to be absolutely sure that what I buy will last. I am looking for value, and I am betting my financial future on the hope that my customers are too.

 8-)

[Tom]

Terrific sales pitch, Chas!   My turn.  

I just took a walk through the production floor here at Arctic to gawk at the 2009 models.  I'm liking what I saw.   As much as I respect the hand craftsmanship of my colleagues on the production team, IMO the industrial robots we've installed over the past few years have made a difference not only in production speed but also in product consistency (when I started, I was on the team making the Forever Floors by hand.  The new pressure-moulded floors are IMO much nicer, better looking, and just as tough).  The CAD team has produced some really snazzy designs starting with the award-winning Tundra, and the efficiency and accuracy of the  CNC sculpting system has made an amazing difference to our new molds, again in both speed and precision.

I like to walk through the R&D lab looking at all the stuff they are testing (most of it discarded as unsuitable!).  After dozens of different lighting products they finally found one good enough for Arctic's Ultimate Lighting.  And I love to watch Georghe, our electrical engineer, testing the next edition of Onzen, or breadboarding some other gadget; or Horst, our mechanical engineer, testing our new <um, can't tell you> design.  (I heard that.  Yes, I am too working!  I do the walks on my "coffee" break)

For years we resisted "bling" in favor of solid engineering, but for 2009 we've made some small aesthetic changes that I like, while leaving a product that "just makes sense".  I sure look forward to having the new web site up so I can show them to you!

[hottubdan]

It's Tom!  He's back!

[Tom]

It's Tom!  He's back!

Not as official corporate spokesman. But still willing to offer some Arctic kool-aide.