Dean has owned a spa longer than some of our employees have been alive. In 2004, he was the very first person to walk into a Georgia Spa Company showroom and bring one home. This year, our CEO, Josh Kemerling, sat down with him to catch up — and the conversation turned into a look back at everything that's happened since.
What started with a single purchase has grown into a full daily routine. Dean now owns a hot tub, a sauna, and a cold plunge, and moves between all three as a regular part of his day — a habit he's built his routine around.
How it started
Georgia Spa Company opened in the spring of 2004 as a single showroom at the Mall of Georgia in Buford. It was started by Mark and Joy Stevens, who had spent years running a John Deere dealership in Snellville and wanted to bring that same standard of service to a different kind of purchase. Their guiding rule was simple, and it's stayed the same ever since: when service and quality count, you can count on Georgia Spa Company.
That commitment showed up immediately in how the business ran. From day one, every spa sold was also delivered and serviced in-house — not handed off to a third party. Within the first year, that approach helped make Georgia Spa Company one of the top dealers in the country. Dean's purchase was part of that very first chapter.
How it grew
The business grew in steady, deliberate steps rather than all at once. A second showroom opened in Athens in 2007. In 2010, Georgia Spa Company partnered with Watkins Manufacturing, bringing Hot Spring Spas and Caldera Spas into the lineup — brands still central to what's offered today.
In 2023, ownership shifted again, this time to the employees themselves through an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP). Today, close to 100 people run the company as owners, not just staff, which shapes how customers get treated at every showroom.
Where things stand now
Georgia Spa Company now operates 11 showrooms across Georgia and South Carolina and has served more than 40,000 customers, with over 5,000 five-star reviews along the way. But the number that matters most in this story is one: Dean is still a customer, 22 years later, and what he owns is still part of his daily routine.
That's really the point of sitting down with him. Anyone can talk about longevity in a mission statement. It's more convincing to hear it from someone who's actually lived it — 22 years, three products, and a routine he still keeps up every day.
If you've been thinking about bringing that kind of everyday relaxation into your own home, we'd invite you to explore our products. Whatever brings you in, our goal is the same as it was for Dean in 2004: to help you in Bringing Relaxation Home.