A new hot tub business, Western Hot Tub & Supply, opened up mid-May. The store owners, Andrew Monsrud and Danny South, believe their business is bringing something new to the community.
Monsrud started repairing hot tubs after he graduated high school. When one of his classmate’s father needed help with his business. He learned how to fix hot tubs and continued to work as a technician for five years.
Monsrud joined Keizer Fire Disrict as a volunteer firemen, where he met South. Needing an extra hand, he trained South to repair hot tubs; from there they became business partners.
“He’s as ambitious as I am. I needed some help and he was willing to do it. It then just kind of spiraled from there,” Monsrud said.
The two started repairing hot tubs together at the start of COVID-19. The pandemic caused a lot of people to stay home which ended up leading to a large market for hot tubs needing repairs.
“That was an opportunity for us to pick up used tubs, start repairing them, bringing them back up to new standards and then selling them,” Monsrud said.
One aspect that the owners believe sets Western Hot Tub & Supply apart from other hot tub businesses is how quickly they can get new products to their customers. This is due to being manufactured and distributed in Washington. Certain colors, such as white, can also be obtained much quicker because of their popularity.
“We can get our hot tubs in three to four weeks. That’s been much more appealing to people instead of waiting six to eight months for these bigger manufacturers,” Monsrud said.
Western Hot Tub & Supply sells new and used hot tubs, offers repairs, maintenance and helps move them. Selling used hot tubs is another way that sets them apart from their competitors, said Monsrud.
Although the business is still new, Monsrud claims that the response from the community has been very positive. Currently the owners are set on continuing to develop their customer base and focus on their customer service. One of the ways Monsrud and South have achieved this has been through including their personal cell phone numbers on the Western Hot Tub & Supply website.
“We want people to feel comfortable coming in here and asking us questions so we can help them out. Right now we’re trying very, very hard to meet everybody’s needs,” Monsrud said.
Western Hot Tub & Supply is located at 3587 Cherry Ave NE. More information can be found on their website at westernhottubsupply.com.