July 26, 2016 Pleasureable Pursuit

Volume 6 | Issue 5

Millions are finding relief from everyday tension and stress with a little help from Coleman Spas® by MAAX®. April Terreri reports.

One word describes not only this company’s core philosophy, but what its full line of products delivers: pleasure. Coleman® Spas by MAAX® are designed to offer optimum pleasure to millions of people throughout the world. And you might think of these products as a byproduct of the company’s focused commitment to bring pleasure to its end-users.
“We take pride in the way our products are designed and built and we want our customers to discover how pleasant it is to do business with us,” says Terry Rake, Vice President and General Manager of the Chandler, Ariz.-based company. “We are unique in the industry because of our commitment to create the most pleasant total buying experience for the spa consumer – not only at the time of purchase, but years into a consumer’s experience with a Coleman Spas® hot tub.”

Rapture to the MAAX
The warp and woof of Coleman Spas® by MAAX® represents the rich, traditional heritage of the Coleman® Company – with Coleman’s legendary expertise in insulation and plastics technologies – and the MAAX® reputation for quality, reliability and design for products that may enhance the kitchen, bathroom, or backyard living experience. “Coleman® is a brand name we use under license from the Coleman® Company,” explains Rake. “It’s a 100-year-old brand and it’s very important to us because it stands for value, reliability, durability, and trust. All of these characteristics represent the way we design, build and go to market with our products.”

Although the company manufactures other brands – Elite Spas®, Infiniti Spas®, Savannah Spas®, and California Cooperage Spas® – Coleman Spas® by MAAX® is the company’s anchor brand, notes Rake. The company’s major market is residential consumers. “Our marketing thrust is to homeowners and apartment owners with patios in their backyards and we like to think of ourselves as being in the backyard enjoyment business,” Rake says.

Pleasure by Design
People buy spas for three major reasons, says Rake. Some look for the therapeutic benefits, while others enjoy relief from stress and sheer blissful relaxation. Yet others decide to purchase a spa to bring the entire family together for quality backyard fun.

Whatever the reason for purchasing a spa, individuals find numerous opportunities for luxuriant pleasure through Coleman Spas’® feature-rich options. “It all starts with an all-acrylic vessel which is shaped to a particular mold design,” says Rake. “The material, called DuraMAAX™, is beautiful and is very easy to maintain.” Coleman Spas® uses its Galvalume™ steel frame – rather than a wooden frame used by most competitors – to support every one of its spas. “We are one of the first manufacturers to introduce this concept to the marketplace,” Rake continues, noting this structure is more durable than wood frames, while being lighter, yet 250 percent stronger.

Another exclusive Coleman Spas® by MAAX® feature is the fully sealed and fully contained base that the tub and frame mount into. “So you have one unitized body that is fully enclosed and fully insulated,” explains Rake. “We use Thermo-Lock™ insulation technology, which is similar to the way Coleman® coolers are designed – with a double windowpane kind of concept.” The inner air between the vessel and the exterior walls is fully insulated, as is the bottom and the walls of the spa. Air is heated and circulated around the base of the tub, providing the double windowpane insulation method, which is the most efficient way to insulate a vessel of water sitting outdoors, notes Rake.

The one-size-fits-all philosophy just does not make it at Coleman Spas® by MAAX®. “We are the only company in the industry whose spa jet system was designed by a physician to accommodate people of varying sizes and shapes,” Rake says. The company’s exclusive Zone Therapy concept demonstrates just how committed Coleman Spas is to each individual using a Coleman spa. With well over 45 unique designs to accommodate individuals of differing height, weight, torso height, and leg length, Coleman Spas® assures “MAAXimum” pleasure and therapy through the precise placement of its water jets. “Our physician designed the jet placement to target specific areas of the body called ‘pressure points,’ ” explains Rake. “By hitting these pressure points at the right spot with the right type of massage – which depends on the right jet being employed – you will get a transfer of relaxation. Many of our competitors might build in a lot of jets, but they are not necessarily in the proper placement for a particular individual.”

What’s Your Zone?
The company’s line of spas target six key zones on the body. The suboccipital zone includes the muscles where the neck meets the back of the head – a common area for aches and soreness. “Our Comfort Collar® provides soothing relief to this area using an array of optimally positioned Cyclone Jets,” explains Rake.

Clusters of Cyclone Jets target these specific zones, offering relief through invigorating massage action to improve blood circulation. The trapezius zone includes the shoulders, shoulder blades, upper back, neck, and even the jaws and ears. The paraspinal zone includes the back muscles on either side of the spine – an area linked to a range of medical disorders and an area that contributes to pain in the ribcage and chest. The lumbosacral zone includes the lower back – a common area of pain for many individuals. The gluteal zone includes the buttocks, hips and upper thighs – another area of pain for many of us who spend a lot of time sitting at our desks. The final zone is one we hardly ever give much thought to – our feet. “Many important nerve endings in the feet connect to other parts of the body and sore and tired feet can affect how we feel all over,” Rake says. Coleman Spas’® highly engineered, patent-pending Foot Relief Zone targets both the upper and lower parts of the feet, providing a feeling of relaxation and rejuvenation throughout the body.

All of these features not enough for you? Your spa can also come with exterior lighting for intimate evening spa experiences, a stereo and CD player for some relaxing music, and an ice chest for your favorite beverages to help soothe the day’s stresses.

MAAX-imized Luxury
“We are fully committed to our customers, with a philosophy of being market-driven and not a company driven by manufacturing or financial considerations,” Rake says.

Coleman Spas® he adds, goes directly to its customers to discover their needs and receive suggestions, bringing back to the company information which is used in the development of new products. “We use industry focus groups and we go out and individually survey dealers, as well as our consumers,” Rake explains. “We ask our customers how they are enjoying our products and how they enjoyed the buying experience when they purchased their spa. We like to know how they feel about their spas even two years after their purchase and we like to know if they would recommend our proucts to their friends. We also ask them how they would change or improve the products and we get a lot of our ideas in this way.”

The company is consistently innovating to provide more features. Current developments include built-in quality sound systems. “They are fully self-contained stereo and CD players with waterproof speakers,” he says. “Every function of the spa is controlled through hand-held remote controls so you can manage the water temperature, the jets, and the performance you desire, such as the type of therapy you want at any given time.”

Other new developments include water purification systems that will make Coleman Spas® by MAAX® even simpler to maintain, from a water-chemistry standpoint, Rake says. “Our objective is to manufacture a product requiring no effort on the part of the spa owner which means no chemicals need to be added to the spa. This will mean that the spa will always be ready to use and enjoy without any maintenance worries.”

Coleman Spas® by MAAX® intends to maintain its lead in the industry by continuing to listen carefully to its customers. “We see our role as helping homeowners better enjoy their backyards so they can beautify and enhance the value of their backyard environment,” Rake says. Despite the sagging economy, it seems Coleman Spas® by MAAX® has fulfilled this role. The company saw 26 percent growth last year. “We are growing the business as aggressively as is prudent to do in this economy and we are in a very good position to better utilize the capacity we have to remain on a positive growth curve for many years to come,” concludes Rake.

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