INTERNATIONAL RESIN SHORTAGE EFFECTS THE SPA COVER INDUSTRY!
The resin (glue) that is used to bind the foam beads together, to make foam is in short supply. Already, as of February 2022 rumors have begun to circulate. Companies that purchase resin for manufacturing will be limited to just 40% based on what they bought in 2021. That’s a 60% decline!
This will have a HUGE impact on the Spa Cover industry. When the Covid-19 pandemic began in early 2020, manufacturers of spas & hot tubs realized that they had a problem on their hands. Since 2008 many of the hot tub companies had moved production of their hot tubs to Mexico or China (we are in the USA). They have been able to purchase cheaply priced spa covers with relatively quick production times and had no intentions to bring manufacturing back to the USA.
As far as I know, NOT ONE manufacturer of spas or hot tubs actually makes the cover sold with their spa.
Fast forward to April 2022 and its beginning to take its toll. Ive had customers tell me that they purchased a spa cover from another company and after 6 months they still haven’t received it. Typical production delays have been between 6 to 8 weeks here in California due to things like delays at the Port of L.A. and Port of San Pedro. But that doesn’t explain why their customers hadn’t received the cover after 6 or more months. Typical production time with Spa Covers Etc. is about 8 weeks. A bit longer for templates and free-formed spa covers.
Because the Spa & Hot Tub manufacturers do NOT make their own covers, they have to buy them from somebody that does (just like we do). BUT because they are BIG business they can bully their way to the TOP of the list. Imagine you have 100 dealers that sell 2 or 3 covers a week or you could sell 200 covers per week to just one Hot Tub company all at once. Hmmm. Sure you may have to give a discount but you can make the same cover all day long like an assembly line. Ask Mr. Ford which option he would choose.
Here is the difference…. Spa Covers Etc. has been in business since 1997. The owner has sold and tested other brands of spa covers and the choice was obvious…. The best brand of spa covers is Ideal™ Spa Covers. Since Spa Covers Etc. has been a customer of Ideal™ Spa Covers for over 20 years and the fact that we offer FREE local delivery, we are at the factory every week picking up spa covers. For many years Ideal™ Spa Covers accumulated dealers from all over the USA to sell their spa covers. We choose to sell their spa cover because of their reputation. Ideal™ Spa Covers provides preferential treatment to their loyal customers. They do NOT put the LITTLE guy on the back burner.
If you are thinking about buying a spa cover and they tell you production time is MORE than 8 weeks, you have to ask yourself, do they want to sell me 1 spa cover or 100 covers to a BIG company with $$$?
