Where does Cal Spas stack up?

[In Canada eh]

It's like mentioning Michigan at a Notre Dame pep rally.

 

Too funny Zep!


You ever heard the one about what the two most important jobs are in the Catholic Church........?

The Pope and the quarterback at Notre Dame and their not necessarily in that order

[stuart]

So lets go back to the Cal spa topic...This will shock everyone, I think Cal has made more of an effort in the last few years at fixing their name than most manufactures.

I've fought Cal for years on the local dealer level and swore that I would never even consider them on my floor...In fact I said that unless Casey Loyd (owner of Cal Spas) jumped in his little jet and flew out here in person I would never consider them but a few of my friends that felt the same way have been selling them for awhile and said they are one of the best companies they work with now. They also said that Cal is working extremely hard at changing their reputation.

I do notice that when I look at the online complaints it seems that there is a lot more factory intervention to get problems fixed....I'm not sure how much that has to do with them bringing in new managers like Jim Ferguson (Sundance Jacuzzi) and Paul Gould(Dimension One) but it is a huge step in the right direction.

The one thing I know for certain over the last several years is that everything changes constantly in this industry.

I never dreamed that HotSpring would sell flash or go to Mexico but they did, I never dreamed that Coleman would become a Canadian company and trade hands as much as they have, I’m shocked at how many moves Sundance/Jacuzzi has made and yet survived (now the rumor is they’re moving to Mexico). So to say that I’m impressed with what Cal is trying to do shouldn’t surprise me as much as it does, everything changes...

[hottubdan]

I never dreamed that HotSpring would sell flash or go to Mexico but they did,

Let's be clear.  Watkins Mfg. makes the Hot Spring brand and several others.  They make Hot Spring and Tiger River in Vista, CA (last I checked USA).  They make Caldera and every other brand in Mexico.

[stuart]

Let's be clear.  Watkins Mfg. makes the Hot Spring brand and several others.  They make Hot Spring and Tiger River in Vista, CA (last I checked USA).  They make Caldera and every other brand in Mexico.

....understood, that comment was not to put them down but to say that it was something I never thought I would see.

[East_TX_Spa]

....it was something I never thought I would see.

You still haven't seen it.

Watkins is a manufacturer of portable spas.
HotSpring Spa is a brand of spa (made by Watkins).
Watkins has a plant in Vista, CA and one in Mexico.
HotSpring Spa has no factory...it is a brand name.
HotSpring Spas are made in the Vista, CA factory.

I hope this added clarification helps.

Terminator

[stuart]

You still haven't seen it.

Watkins is a manufacturer of portable spas.
HotSpring Spa is a brand of spa (made by Watkins).
Watkins has a plant in Vista, CA and one in Mexico.
HotSpring Spa has no factory...it is a brand name.
HotSpring Spas are made in the Vista, CA factory.

I hope this added clarification helps.

Terminator

You HS guys are killing me...Your starting to get as defensive as the Arctic boys. Funny when you sell against Coleman you refer to them as a Canadian company when they are made in AZ.

John and Jeff Watkins started making HotSpring Spas out of their Garage until Tom Neal came in and really marketed it. Then the three of them set up a factory making only HotSpring Spas until MASCO bought them.

So if I refer to all Watkins made spas as HotSpring forgive me, I've been around long enough to remember when that was all it was and if you think HS has nothing made in Mexico then your either misinformed or kidding yourself.

I'm also sure that most HotSpring dealers sell the Mexico product on their floor without bringing that up but would have no problem bringing up the Canadian Manufactures.

I'm not the only one that looks at it this way...My last truck of spas the driver was telling me that his brother had been stuck at the Mexico border all day with a load of HotSpring spas.

Maybe we should just say that company owned by the Screw, Faucet and cabinet company!

I could go further into that also...MASCO was actually a Screw factory that was founded by an Armenian immigrant named Alex Manoogian.

[Vinny]

You still haven't seen it.

Watkins is a manufacturer of portable spas.
HotSpring Spa is a brand of spa (made by Watkins).
Watkins has a plant in Vista, CA and one in Mexico.
HotSpring Spa has no factory...it is a brand name.
HotSpring Spas are made in the Vista, CA factory.

I hope this added clarification helps.

Terminator

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.

I think it should read something like that IMO.

But of course it is just my opinion!

[spaman--]

So lets go back to the Cal spa topic...This will shock everyone, I think Cal has made more of an effort in the last few years at fixing their name than most manufactures.

I've fought Cal for years on the local dealer level and swore that I would never even consider them on my floor...In fact I said that unless Casey Loyd (owner of Cal Spas) jumped in his little jet and flew out here in person I would never consider them but a few of my friends that felt the same way have been selling them for awhile and said they are one of the best companies they work with now. They also said that Cal is working extremely hard at changing their reputation.

I do notice that when I look at the online complaints it seems that there is a lot more factory intervention to get problems fixed....I'm not sure how much that has to do with them bringing in new managers like Jim Ferguson (Sundance Jacuzzi) and Paul Gould(Dimension One) but it is a huge step in the right direction.

The one thing I know for certain over the last several years is that everything changes constantly in this industry.

I never dreamed that HotSpring would sell flash or go to Mexico but they did, I never dreamed that Coleman would become a Canadian company and trade hands as much as they have, I’m shocked at how many moves Sundance/Jacuzzi has made and yet survived (now the rumor is they’re moving to Mexico). So to say that I’m impressed with what Cal is trying to do shouldn’t surprise me as much as it does, everything changes...

MY EVIL PLAN IS WORKING!!!!!!!!!!!! MUAHAHAHAHAH!
(but what are the chances of Casey Loyd jumping in his jet to come and see you)
PFFFFT!

[James]

You HS guys are killing me...Your starting to get as defensive as the Arctic boys. [glow]Funny when you sell against Coleman you refer to them as a Canadian company when they are made in AZ.[/glow]
John and Jeff Watkins started making HotSpring Spas out of their Garage until Tom Neal came in and really marketed it. Then the three of them set up a factory making only HotSpring Spas until MASCO bought them.

So if I refer to all Watkins made spas as HotSpring forgive me, I've been around long enough to remember when that was all it was and if you think HS has nothing made in Mexico then your either misinformed or kidding yourself.

I'm also sure that most HotSpring dealers sell the Mexico product on their floor without bringing that up but would have no problem bringing up the Canadian Manufactures.

I'm not the only one that looks at it this way...My last truck of spas the driver was telling me that his brother had been stuck at the Mexico border all day with a load of HotSpring spas.

Maybe we should just say that company owned by the Screw, Faucet and cabinet company!

I could go further into that also...MASCO was actually a Screw factory that was founded by an Armenian immigrant named Alex Manoogian.

When I sell against Coleman I never mention Canada or AZ. I simply mention that Coleman seems to be having a hard time finding/keeping a corporate buyer and is $540,000,000.00 in debt.

The geography lesson doesn’t seem to be needed at that point.

[stuart]

When I sell against Coleman I never mention Canada or AZ. I simply mention that Coleman seems to be having a hard time finding/keeping a corporate buyer and is $540,000,000.00 in debt.

The geography lesson doesn’t seem to be needed at that point.

That's understandable when your selling a product that isn't made in the USA to not bring the subject up but for the Manufactures that are part of the struggling US economy it's a common thing brought up on the sales floor. We need more money spent here not Mexico and Canada....

[In Canada eh]

We need more money spent here not Mexico and Canada....

Hey! Wait just one minute


We need more money spent on the North American economy.  Like it or not our two countries economies are tied very closely together

[James]

That's understandable when your selling a product that isn't made in the USA to not bring the subject up but for the Manufactures that are part of the struggling US economy it's a common thing brought up on the sales floor. We need more money spent here not Mexico and Canada....

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.

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

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 componies tend to do that.

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.

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

[Too Tense]

You HS guys are killing me...Your starting to get as defensive as the Arctic boys.

Thats funny about the Arctic boys. These boys are wound up tighter then a eight day clock. They need to take a long soak in one of their tubs. Maybe they could use Boscos's.  Not talking about Tom.

[Vinny]

Hey! Wait just one minute


We need more money spent on the North American economy.  Like it or not our two countries economies are tied very closely together

I have to somewhat agree ... If you're saying North American and thinking Canada and U.S. - OK. But as soon as you put Mexico in the mix - I 100% disagree. Remember that NAFTA includes Mexico in that mix, I doubt that the Mexican auto worker makes anywhere near what the American or Canadian auto worker makes or should I say made. The government, corporate America and unions sold North America down the tubes. AND to boot they want to legalize illegal immigrants. I doubt anything is the same for Mexico and corporations.

Maybe the spa companies can get phone support from India or China the way all the other industries get it... funny thing is asking people on the phone where am I calling they tell me Canada - their accent doesn't sound Canadian.

[In Canada eh]

Vinny,

  You are 100% right, I was referring to Canada and the U.S.  I know its wrong but I always think of Mexico as Central America.

  Your right the Mexican auto worker makes no way near the money a U.S. or Canadian worker does nor does Mexico have the human rights, labour or environmental laws that Canada and the U.S. have.


Sorry to send this thread off track again but I did take exception to Stuarts comment.  The Canadian and American economies are tied hand in hand, if one goes down so does the other.  What is good for one economically is good for the other.  I don't even want to start about the "buy American" slogans.  You just have to ask yourself if a Honda Civic built in Ohio is any less American then a Ford Fiesta built in Mexico?