Spas pose next to Finnleo’s model S-870 infrared sauna. With its five-sided design and footprint of only 52-by-52-inches, it provides an attractive sauna in a small space.
When Fred Bachmann originally
envisioned opening a new
location for his successful
dealership, he saw in his mind a “gallery
of spas.” After attending the new store’s
grand opening in April, I can confirm
that’s exactly what he created.
There are enticing products
everywhere you look, tastefully arranged
with ample space between so the store
retains its open, airy ambiance.
“We have three swim spas, two of
those are running; we have eight hot
tubs on display, all of which are up and
running; and then we have nine saunas,
about three out of those nine are
available for testing,” says Bachmann’s
new store manager, Jeremy Gill. “We
encourage all of our customers to try
out our products before purchasing them, which they can do directly on the
showroom floor. I should also mention
that we have two cold plunges, one is set
at 55 degrees Fahrenheit for beginners
and the other is set at 39 degrees for
more advanced cold plungers.”
With a brand new retail outlet to
go with its construction and service
departments, Bachmann’s is creating an
all-encompassing customer experience.
With the new store’s ample footprint, numerous spas are displayed without a feeling of confinement.
ANSWERING THE CALL
Bachmann was probably destined to
make his living in the recreational water
industry. His name in German literally
means a person who stands by water, or
a person who lives by a stream. “I know
it’s a little corny,” he admits, “but ever
since I was a kid, I’ve loved the water.
And I believe it’s my life’s calling.”
Similar to many pool and spa
dealers, Bachmann started out in the
construction industry, but began working
on projects that involved leisure aquatic
vessels. “I got started in the spa industry
in 1985 because of a construction
project,” he says. “We were doing a
historic renovation for a hair salon, and
the owner wanted to have two separate
private rooms with hot tubs so that her
clients could rent them out from her. In
order to accommodate her request, I
needed to find two hot tubs, and at this
time, I thought all hot tubs were created
equal… I didn’t know any better.
“I started calling around, trying to
get two hot tubs at wholesale prices;
however, I was told right away that the only way to do that was to become a
dealer and buy at least three of them at
one time. I ended up doing that, and
I gave the third one away to my sister.
From there, one thing led to another,
and I became a Watkins/Hot Spring
dealer in 1986.
“I had a little bit of space in our
construction building, so I showcased
one hot tub on the floor. But I was
quickly told that if I was going to be in
the hot tub business, then I actually had
to look like I was in the hot tub business.
Whether it’s saunas, or swim spas, or
cold plunges, you have to have at least
three of a singular product on your
showroom floor in order to be credible.”
So that’s what he did — he got a
property big enough to display products
in sufficient quantities to sell them, and
from there, it was only natural for him
to fully transition into the water industry
that is part of the family heritage.
One of two swim spas ready for immediate occupancy. Water in the swim spa always helps sales.
HOT TUBS AND SERVICE
From the very beginning, Bachmann’s
has been a Watkins dealer, but that
relationship has only grown more and
more trusting, confident and secure over
the years. “Watkins is so family oriented, they
really take care of us as dealers, and
therefore, allow us to take care of our
customers,” says Bachmann. “The
training, the backing, the warranty;
they’re all tools to help us be successful
as dealers. Basically, Watkins won’t allow
you to fail. They also have products at
every price range, which makes their
hot tubs inclusive rather than exclusive,
but it’s not just about the hot tubs. It’s
about wellness, or making people feel
holistically better every single day. It’s
about providing your customers with the
education and service that they deserve.”
Recently, Bachmann’s decided to
take a more exclusive approach when
it comes to servicing hot tubs. “A few
years ago, we decided to service only
what we sell because it was becoming
problematic from both an inventory
and time standpoint to try and service
other manufacturer’s hot tubs,” says
Bachmann. “And it’s important to
note that our market is nowhere
near saturated; there are still a lot of
backyards that don’t have hot tubs, I
think it’s around 3 or 4% that do have
them, so the majority do not. But we do
have customers who are on their third
or fourth hot tub and that’s where our loyalty program comes into play.
“When a customer’s hot tub is like
six months from going out of warranty,
we send them a ‘Good Karma’ card.
It’s a little flier that informs them that
their warranty is about to run out, so
now would be the time to take care of
anything that hasn’t been 100% working
lately. A lot of times, we’ll be able to sell
them a new hot tub under a trade-in
deal, especially when Watkins came out
with their salt system a few years ago.
The way the water now feels when you’re
in it; it’s unmatched. So we’ve been
able to convince a lot of our longtime
customers to trade-in their five-year-old
hot tub for a brand new salt one.”
Large format lifestyle signage creates an aspirational image that appeals to customers.
MARKET TIMING
Although the Covid-19 pandemic was
terrible in so many ways, there were
some upsides to it, one of them being,
the market growth of the pool and spa
industry.
“Our company is still experiencing
growing pains that we still haven’t
fully recovered from, but I’m very
optimistic for 2024,” says Bachmann.
“We expanded our business in late
2019, right before the pandemic, and
when Covid hit I thought, ‘Oh no, I
just bankrupted us.’ But it turns out, as
everyone in our industry now knows,
the pandemic was great for business. I
quadrupled our revenue and tripled the
size of our workforce. We no longer had
to spend any money on advertising, so
we redirected our advertising budget
into our store renovations. I’m now able
to look at our two, beautiful new stores
and, oddly enough, thank Covid for
them.”
When it comes to retail floor space, the new Brookfield location is an embarrassment of riches.
Bachmann’s new Brookfield location
already has a full staff of sales, marketing
and maintenance personnel, with
additional part time workers in the
busier, summer months. It was a true
challenge, as anyone who has built and
opened a new store can attest, but the
feeling of satisfaction is easily worth it.
“It took a good 18 months for us to
finish all the construction work,” says
Gill. We worked with a lady out of Seattle,
Wash., to help us design everything,
and then with Fred’s construction
background, that really brought together
all the expertise we needed to get it
done.”
“Our company is still experiencing growing pains that we still haven’t fully recovered from, but I’m very optimistic for 2024,” says Bachmann.