I hope everyone has had a wonderful holiday season so far. I am not a big fan of Christmas music at Halloween, but once Thanksgiving hits, I am into it all the way!

Well, our HT-7450 anti-gravity massage chair finally came into the showroom yesterday and I must say that, so far, I am quite impressed with it. The first thing I noticed about it was how small the box was. I am accustomed to bigger boxes, especially when they weigh a lot (the HT-7450 weighs about 230 lbs.). But, this box was relatively small. When we opened it up, I could see why. The back is shipped NOT attached to the bottom of the chair…it lays on top of the chair bottom. We found it to be quite easy to assemble; a couple of big screws and three wires hooked together and we were done. White glove service does come with this chair…it is included in the free shipping!

The second thing I noticed about it was how firm the seat and the back were. Because of that firmness, I was expecting a more “rough” massage than the rest of the chairs. Well, to my delight, the massage was wonderful.

With the anti-gravity feature, the chair seat reclines along with the chair back (you see, most other chairs have the seat remain stationary whilst the ottoman and the back move). I could actually feel the pressure on my back lessen as the seat tilted back. The ottoman raises to a horizontal position.

The remote is very easy to use, as are all Human Touch remote controls. It is a good blend between the HT-7120 and the HT-1650 remotes. Lots of features, but very easy to use and follow. One of our showroom visitors once mentioned the fact that they didn’t like the remotes that were sticking up on the pedestals attached to the side of the massage chair. They liked the Human Touch chairs because the remotes were stored in a side pocket and could not be seen when one happens upon the chair. Never thought about that, but an interesting point to consider when looking at massage chairs.

When I got up off the chair, I noticed that I felt quite a bit taller and straighter and I was only on the chair for about 5 minutes! It felt great. I wonder if that is a “side effect” of the massage or the anti-gravity incline. Either way, I felt great when I got off the chair.

This chair also has butt and thigh massage along with the adjustable-width calf massager. It does not have an extra foot massage attachment like the Panasonic, Sanyo, and Omega chairs.

Nice chair…it has already received some critical acclaim about it’s anti-gravity feature.

Dr. Alan Weidner
www.massage-chair-relief.com

Debbi Olson, a reporter for a local, respected business magazine called The Enterprise, did a story on our new Massage Chair Relief showroom, which appeared in the periodical today. Here is the link to the story:
http://www.slenterprise.com/specialtopnews1.htm

or

http://www.massage-chair-relief.com/assets/files/The_Enterprise_-_Wasatch_Front_Business_Publication.png

According to their home page, “The Enterprise is designed to deliver breaking, topical business news to the Utah business community, which has grown to encompass businesses from Ogden to Provo and from Summit to Tooele counties. For more than three decades, we have covered all sectors of that community — finance, construction, real estate, marketing, energy, transportation, manufacturing, wholesale/retail trade and communications, among others, as well as government and court action affecting business, labor union activity and bankruptcies. As such, news in The Enterprise cannot be found anywhere else. ”

Ms. Olson came by the office and got spoiled rotten on the HT-1650 massage chair, my personal favorite massage chair. She took some pictures and we chatted for quite some time while she had her back, neck, and legs massaged. She is quite a delightful and kind lady. We had a great visit.

I particularly appreciate the mention in her article of our association with the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Utah. I have a special place in my heart for that organization. In 2005 we did a fund-raiser for a Make-A-Wish child named Alexis, through our chiropractic clinic. We raised just under $3500 for this beautiful girl, who suffers from cerebral palsy with severe complications, and were able to be a part of her granted wish, which was a trip to Disneyworld. She came back from Florida a completely different child. Where she never smiled or showed physical affection before, now she smiles all the time and hugs everyone that passes by. Her mom brought her to my office after her granted wish and told us the whole story. She is an absolute doll. I experienced such joy knowing we were a part of that transformation, albeit in a small way.

Well, since then I decided that I would include the Make-A-Wish Foundation in my massage chair business. That is, in a nutshell, why we are donating dollars from each showroom chair sale to the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Utah. By the way, if you have a local chapter of the foundation in your town, go to their offices and see how the wish is submitted and granted. It is a very emotional and beautiful experience. You can’t help but be touched by it.

Have a happy holiday!

Dr. Alan Weidner
www.massage-chair-relief.com

Human Touch performs their massage chair inventory every year at Christmas/New Years time. What this means to you is they don’t ship any chairs after today, Friday, December 21st, until Thursday, January 3rd. Of course, you can order a Human Touch massage chair anyday between now and then, but it won’t ship after today until the 3rd of January. So, if you want to order and GET a Human Touch massage chair ASAP, order today for sure.

Panasonic, Omega, and Sanyo chairs will continue to ship each day throughout the holiday season.

As we approach the end of 2007, I reflect upon all of our blessings and our massage chair clients rank amongst the greatest blessings in our lives.  Mona and I are so thankful for your patronage and kindness. You have made our business a wonderful experience for our family. Thank you for trusting us with your massage chair investment. May 2008 be awesome for all of us!!

Dr. Alan Weidner
www.massage-chair-relief.com

It is Tuesday, December 18th and I am still getting frantic emails and calls from folks looking for a massage chair for Christmas. We are frantically trying to get chairs out to you by plane or truck by this Friday. It is getting to the point where you will get to pay a few more dollars to get your chair by Friday/Saturday.

I am such a procrastinator myself and I totally get why folks are scrambling at the 11th hour. We are doing everything in our power to get these chairs to you by Christmas. For those of you still shopping, don’t lose hope! Call us at 1-888-259-5380 and we will do everything we can to get your chair to you by the end of this week. Don’t give up! Call us. Although you may end up paying a premium for last minute delivery, you can still get your chair. But, with each passing hour, your window of opportunity closes even more.

If you want white glove service, I will have to say that the window has pretty much closed. But, for a price, I guess anything is possible…so, again, don’t give up. You never know until you call us and we call the manufacturer and get a definite “Yea” or “Nay” on what you are looking for.

Right now we are working on getting an HT-7120 from California to New Hampshire! You would be hard pressed to find two more distant points on the US map, but we are going to make it happen! Their will be a shipping cost to the customer (normal shipping is free, as you probably know from reading elsewhere on our site), but we are going to get that massage chair to him by Friday. So, again, don’t give up hope. If you are committed to getting a massage chair, especially from us, and you have clear intention on getting it, we will do all in our power to get it to you.

Happy Holidays!

Dr. Alan Weidner
www.massage-chair-relief.com

We have recently begun a financing relationship with GE Money Store. We are now able to offer the following financing plans on virtually all of our massage chairs:
1. No Payment & No Interest for 90 days, 120 days, 6, 9, or 12 months.

2. No Interest for 6, 9, 12, 15, or 24 months with minimum monthly payments required.

3. Fixed Payment at 9.9% APR for 12, 18, 24, or 36 months.

You pick the chair you want, download the application form on our financing page, fax the form back to us at 801-969-7305, and within minutes you will know if you are approved and for how much! We then can process your order for the massage chair that you deserve. It is that simple.

If you have any questions about our financing programs, feel free to comment about it on this blog or just contact us through our contact page, or call us toll-free at 1-888-259-5380.

Dr. Alan Weidner
www.massage-chair-relief.com

Since we are getting close to Christmas and since a lot of us put shopping off until the last minute, I figured it would serve you all to know how far along you can order before it will be too late to get your massage chair for Christmas.

Human Touch tells me that this Wednesday, December 12th, is the last day for ordering chairs with White Glove Service (WGS). It includes the HT-1650 and the HT-7450 which has the WGS as part of the purchase price. Other chairs cannot be guaranteed for Christmas if not ordered before the end of this week. You may still get your Human Touch massage chair before Christmas if you order after this Friday, but it will be a bit of a “crapshoot” depending on the distance your chair gets to be shipped from California( which is where the Human Touch chairs are shipped from).

Panasonic, Sanyo, and Omega massage chairs can be ordered as late as next Monday, December 17th and most likely arrive to your home or business before Christmas. Again, anything after that is a gamble.

Hope this helps in some way!

Dr. Alan Weidner
www.massage-chair-relief.com

Hundreds of our patients use our massage chairs every month, but on Friday night we had our first “non-patient” visitors to the Massage Chair Relief Retail Outlet. It was wonderful!! Tom and Debby Tedeschi contacted me through our website after reading entries on this very blog about our new store/showroom. They had been shopping at every store they could find that carried massage chairs in an effort to find the one they liked.

Their journey had taken them to Brookstone and their OSIM massage chairs, Relax-The-Back, and ultimately us. It was fantastic to have an outside, non-patient visitor to our showroom so that we could see how our set-up worked for not only a new-comer, but also for us as staff. It was also good to actually interact about the massage chairs with a “live” person, other than over the phone on our toll-free number, which is all we have done over the last 2.5 years since our site went online.

It was just wonderful having Tom and Debby at our place. They are great people and we ended up visiting for quite some time. They had great feedback for me about our new showroom and things related. For example, they said that our 6:00 p.m. closing hour was a little early for them and that 7:00 p.m. would have worked better with their work schedules. What great feedback! So, as the word gets out about our store, and as more and more folks find their way to us, we seriously get to reconsider our hours.

They also mentioned that they loved our selection of massage chairs from so many different manufacturers, plus the fact that we had 6 (soon to be 8!) massage chairs on display. They had not seen so great a selection in any of the stores they had visited prior to ours. By the way, in case you hadn’t noticed, we actually carry 15 models on our website.

They also enjoyed the fact that we did not pressure or “hover” over them while they were checking out the chairs. We were there when they needed us and gave them the freedom to experiment with the chairs at their own pace. I am not a salesman, nor will any of my staff ever be “salespeople”. I personally don’t like to be pressured our “hounded” when I walk into a store. I like having someone readily there as a resource when I need them, but I don’t want to feel any pressure. This is certainly the type of atmosphere I want to create in our store(s). Mission accomplished!

One thing that I think is invaluable in our arrangement is that a Chiropractor and a Licensed Massage Therapist are available to answer any physiological and/or anatomical questions about the benefits of the massage chairs. We truly are experts in back pain relief and our feedback, I feel, will be beneficial to our clients in the massage chair decision-,making process. Afterall, our patients use these chairs all day long. We certainly do get a feeling for what folks like and don’t like and what they need and don’t need.

Well, Debby and Tom may add their own comments to this blog over the next few days to share more about their experience. Oh, and by the way, they purchased a Panasonic 30003 massage chair before they left! They were down to the Panasonic and the Omega Montage. Debby liked the former, Tom the latter. Well, we all know who won! Hey, Tom, maybe you should get an Omega for the office! Now, we get to donate $50.00 to the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Utah for the Tedeschi’s purchase. We also invite Tom and Debby to write a review about their new massage chair when it is shipped to them this week.

OPEN HOUSE UPDATE: Our new outdoor sign went up on Friday, as did our new front window posters. The same folks that did our van “wrap” also did our window dressing. It looks great! My wife did a little interior decorating inside on Thursday and it looks so much homier already. She has a great feel for that kind of thing. If the decorating was up to me, it would probably look like a sterile hospital room! Our open house is this Monday from 3:00 - 6:00 p.m. and there will be food and drink to cater to the masses! We will even have some gluten-free food for those that are intolerant (of wheat that is!). Remember, our address is 2232 W. 5400 S. in Taylorsville, Utah.

We appreciate all of our patrons so very much. We are especially grateful to the Tedeschi Family for trusting us enough to come in and create a relationship with us. Enjoy your new massage chair!

Dr. Alan Weidner
www.massage-chair-relief.com

I received an email from a visitor to our website today asking for the address of our showroom. I can’t believe I haven’t put that out there! Well, here it is:
2232 West 5400 South
Taylorsville, Utah

For the locals that visit our site, this is where you get to come to try out all our wonderful massage chairs. The showroom is in our clinic (Weidner Chiropractic). We have subdivided our clinic into two parts…the manual therapy half and the massage chair therapy bay.

I had another good question asked today by a patient…“Can I pay for the massage chair with my flex-spend account?”

Great question. I think the answer to that is determined by your company policies and whether you can get a prescription for the chair. Massage chair recliners really are a form of musculo-skeletal therapy so they would be considered therapy in the eyes of an insurance company. I am sure that many of the flex spend accounts would consider it, particularly if you had a prescription from your health care provider (M.D. or chiropractor). I, personally, have written prescriptions, as a chiropractor, for hot tubs and massage chairs as a viable form of therapy for chronic low back pain patients. Just check out your company’s plan.

A few little open house updates…

1. our walls have been patched and will be painted tomorrow.
2. our outdoor sign will be put up tomorrow afternoon (before a big winter storm on it’s way to Utah!).
3. our window posters will be up tomorrow too.
4. our Make-A-Wish “thermometer” probably won’t be ready until Monday or Tuesday. I’d love to have it here for the open house. We really can’t decorate the walls until we know exactly how the “thermometer” is going to look and how much room on the wall it is going to use.

We’re looking forward to seeing you on Monday!

Dr. Alan Weidner
www.massage-chair-relief.com

It sure has been exciting around here lately. I haven’t had this much energy or this much fun in years! We are less than a week away from our open house. We are going to have it on Monday, December 10th, from 3:00 - 6:00 p.m. I have invited all our neighbors and all our patients to the event. We will have gourmet pizza from Wasatch Pizza and all the purified, bottled water that one can handle!

I’m not sure everything will be ready for the open house, but we are excited to get the word out about it. Here is what we have been up to in preparation for the opening of the showroom:

1. We have every one of the models we planned on in the beginning, except the HT-7450. that’s the anti-gravity chair from Human Touch. We will probably have it here within a couple of weeks.

2. We have a new local phone line put in. We still have our toll-free number, 1-888-259-5380, but we added a local line for our local visitors to the store. It is 801-417-8240.

3. We have a new neon sign that will be mounted next to the clinic sign. It goes up on Wednesday.

4. We have arranged for “90-Day-Same-As-Cash” financing from the GE Money Store. Now, we can offer no interest and/or no payments for up to 12 or 24 months.

5. We purchased a cargo/utility van for shipping chairs around the Salt Lake Valley. We just had the van “wrapped” last week, by Matt at purplegorillagraphics.com. Now, we have a “mobile billboard”. It is a hoot driving around in it to see the looks on folk’s faces when they see us drive by.

6. We contracted with the Zeit Company, here in Salt Lake City, to create an acrylic “thermometer” to gauge how much money we have raised for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. You see, for every chair we sell through our showroom, $25-50 will be donated to the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Utah. I am so excited about this. Three years back our clinic adopted a young girl named Alexis, who had severe cerebral palsy with complications. We raised $3500 and made it possible for her to go to Disneyworld. She came back and we got a chance to meet her. Her mother said she became a completely different child after the Disneyworld experience. What an absolute sweetheart. I fell in love with her and the Make-A-Wish Foundation for what it does for terminally ill kids. So, I have this vision of a thermometer-like gauge on the wall with markings for every $25 we donate from chair sales up to $5000, which is the cost of a wish nowadays. At the top of the gauge will be an acrylic logo of the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Next to the gauge will be an acrylic holder of the picture of the child we adopt. Jim Milburn at Zeit has caught my vision and is putting something together for me this week for our open house. My goal is to adopt and fund two children per year through our massage chair sales. Won’t that be fantastic?!?!?! I’ll keep you posted as to who our first adopted child will be.

Well, that’s about it. If you are a Utah resident or are going to be in Utah on the 10th, please come and celebrate with us. We’d love for you to visit and give me a chance to get to know you personally. Thank you for your support. We are so grateful for all the folks that have patronized our business through years. You have made it possible for us to open this showroom and grow this business. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Dr. Alan Weidner
www.massage-chair-relief.com