Mitch Altman’s goal is to liven up your daily shower experience. His Simi Valley-based company, ThermaSol, was founded in 1958 and manufactures products that convert your home shower into a luxury steam room. Its devices range from steam generators to music and lighting systems — even technologies that enable dripping wet individuals to play games and browse the web while controlling their steam shower. “If you wanted to be relaxed and still be connected and have your music and TV, you can,” said Altman, ThermaSol’s chief executive. Such steam showers are a luxury, so when the economic downturn arrived, ThermaSol’s business was hit hard. As the housing market crashed, homeowners saw their equity dry up, and they lost the financial wherewithal to spruce up their homes. For ThermaSol, the remodeling drop-off led to declining revenue, less market share and job cuts. “It was a bomb,” Altman said. But ThermaSol has weathered tough times and bounced back. Revenues last year reached $12 million, on par with 2008 levels. This year, Altman projects his company to generate between $14 million and $15 million in revenue. The turnaround is largely due to new offerings such as a Bluetooth-enabled light and music system for the shower and an increased focus on connecting with customers, he said. ThermaSol makes 18 different steam generator models for home showers that range from $1,775 to $6,075, and it makes 30 commercial steam generator models for hotels and spas that range from $4,360 to $19,640. ThermaSol also makes a variety of other products that include sauna heaters and a music and light system complete with chromotherapy, an alternative therapy where different lights are said to help heal and soothe specific body parts. The company serves about 3,000 customers, mostly wholesalers that sell the products from their kitchen and bath showrooms. The company, which employs about 40 area workers, also manufactures and designs steam generators for large companies that want their own version without the headache of manufacturing it. Rick Brandley, owner of George’s Pipe & Plumbing Supply in Pasadena, said he sells ThermaSol steam generators — not those made by other brands — because the company’s products are high-quality and easy to install. “You give the contractor something easy to install and something he likes, (and) he will use that again and again,” Brandley said, noting the products are becoming increasingly popular as homeowners want to create a spa-like experience at home. SmartSteam showers ThermaSol was founded in 1958 by Altman’s grandfather David and his father Murray. “My grandfather and father were plumbers in the Bronx and a French diplomat in Manhattan asked if they could make him a steam room,” Altman said. “So they didn’t know what they were going to do, but said, ‘Sure.’ … And they invented the mini-electric steam bath generator.” To commercialize the invention, David and Murray Altman sold the product to hotels and motels, seeing business travelers as those most likely to want the luxury. In the late 1970s, the Altmans moved the company to California and began to focus on whirlpools. Mitch Altman grew up in the family business, holding several different positions until he purchased the steam bath portion of the business in 1989. His goal: to focus on creating steam generators for showers. “I saw the market going back to the shower,” Altman said. “Everybody was getting past the whirlpool and was going to the shower and realizing, ‘You know what? I am really not in that tub (that much), but I am in that shower everyday. So if I am going to get something that gives me enjoyment and relaxation I am going to get it there.’” Since then, the company has added a plethora of products, billing itself as the first to incorporate Bluetooth into the shower. It also has patented SmartSteam technology that constantly pushes out steam — instead of stopping when the room reaches the desired temperature and turning on, again, when it gets too cold. “It just stays steaming,” Altman said. “The temperature is dead on.” Although SmartSteam has been around for about five years, Altman said he rebranded the technology and increased marketing after the downturn to attract more customers. In June, ThermaSol plans to offer a device that allows dripping wet individuals to control their music, lights, steam and more from their tablet devices and smartphones through an app. Paul Ulman, a ThermaSol engineer, helps develop hi-tech shower technologies at ThermaSol—and he says he’s seen a lot. “Some have two steam generators within the same shower because it’s so large,” Ulman said. “Some people go crazy and they put gold plates and diamonds” in their shower. Rebuilding efforts When the economy tanked, ThermaSol was forced to trim its staff of 70 employees to 40. Revenue in 2009 dropped 21 percent to $9.5 million, Altman said. With decreased remodeling and housing prices, Altman said he knew the best case scenario would be a flat market. ThermaSol’s market share declined from 12 percent in 2008 to 9 percent in 2009, Altman said. In one of several efforts to grab competitors’ market share, ThermaSol has revamped how it interacts with wholesalers. Altman said ThermaSol has increased its teaching of wholesale customers about its products and given them sales incentives for promoting the brand throughout the year, he said. In the past, the company would offer vendors sales incentives only in certain months of the year, and would spread those efforts across the sales calendar to give different vendors opportunities at different times. The problem with that, Altman said, was that vendors’ real allegiance was to the money; they would stop selling ThermaSol and start pushing a competitor’s product when the competitor began offering their special bonus. With its new customer approach, the company’s been able to sell more, taking market share from competitors such as Mr. Steam, Altman said. And about two years ago, Altman brought back the company mascot Sol, a small bald man with glasses — disrobed except for a towel and a tie. Altman has incorporated Sol into vendor training videos and sees the little man as a way to identify with the company’s name. ThermaSol’s market share last year was about 14 percent, he said, predicting it will rise to 18 percent this year. In Altman’s second floor office hangs a boxing bag: the names of his competitors are written on yellow tape wrapped around the black bag. Asked what makes him so competitive, Altman said, “My grandfather told me, ‘Whatever you do — if you are going to shine shoes or sell popcorn or pretzels or whatever you’re going to do — be the best.”
All Steamed Up
