Transcript of Video Titled “Massage Chair Industry Update – March 30, 2017”
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Alan: Hi, I’m Dr. Alan Weidner from ‘Massage-Chair-Relief.com’ and today is our biweekly massage chair industry update for Thursday, March 30th, 2017. We’ll get right in to stock status. We got a lot good stuff to cover today, a lot of good information for massage chair buyers.
[SCREEN TEXT: Stock Status]
Alan: Anyway, in stock, or out of stock, the ‘Beige’ Titan Executive is low on stock, I think it is out of stock. The Novo XT from Human Touch, which has become a fairly popular chair, this chair, it’s got some low numbers right now, low stock, but apparently, they’re supposed to get a new, fresh supply of them in the first week of April. So, we expect that they’ll be in stock next week, if there’s anything that’s low on stock, apparently they’ve got stock, but the stock is pretty low on some of the colors. The Infinity Iyashi black on ‘Caramel’ is back-ordered until end of April, so you’ve got another month before that comes in. They’ve got other colors, of course, but those colors are the ones that are back-ordered.
[SCREEN TEXT: Charcoal OS-4000T Discontinued]
Alan: Now, Osaki has discontinued the ‘Charcoal’ Osaki 4000T massage chair, you still have ‘Black,’ ‘Brown,’ and ‘Cream.’ ‘Black,’ ‘Brown,’ and ‘Cream’ seem to be – and that’s a dark brown – ‘Black,’ ‘Brown,’ and ‘Cream’ seem to be the pretty traditional, pretty standard color sets for most massage chairs, including most of the Osaki chairs.
[SCREEN TEXT: Human Touch HT-9500 Discontinued]
Alan: What’s kind of interesting is oh, the Human Touch HT-9500 has also been discontinued. That chair originally used to be the HT-1650, which back in the day was priced at about $3799. That was a pretty popular chair, it was one of the few chairs that’s all leather, it looks like a recliner, it had a retractable ottoman, so it kind of hid the look of a massage chair inside the body of a recliner, nice chair. Then, they updated it to the HT-9500 a number of years ago, and they jacked the price up to $5799, or $50-something-99, and it’s never been the same for us, the popularity dropped significantly, even though the old 1650 was a very popular chair. Anyway, they have now discontinued that chair altogether, and as a matter of fact, outside of that chair, the HT-9500, the only other chair that has a leather option, if I’m not mistaken, is the Inada DreamWave. It has the genuine black leather, premium black leather, but other than that, there’s really not any other leather chairs. I think the – well, the IT-9800 used – from Infinity, used to be leather, now it’s Naugahyde, or synthetic leather, or faux leather, or whatever you want to call it. But there’s only one other chair now that has a black, or sorry, a leather option, and that’s the black DreamWave. So, for those of you who are discriminating buyers, and are looking for leather, and the finest quality of material, DreamWave is pretty much it, as far as leather goes.
[SCREEN TEXT: CORRECTION: Inada Nest $5999]
Alan: Now, speaking of Inada, two things, number one, I said on my last update, and I had on the website as the price for the Inada Nest, the new Inada Nest, as being $6499, and I apologize, it’s $5999, I was mistaken. That has been changed on our website, and of course, now we will reference it from here on out as a chair at $5999. The chair is coming out the first week of April, so next week. They are accepting preorders right now, and you can order the chair on our website, but it won’t ship out until next week. If you’ll recall, the Inada Nest is the one that has the 3D left and right rollers, so it’s got quad rollers, and left and right are independent of each other, kind of like the independent suspension on a vehicle. That chair also has the little ridged massage ball, it makes it look like – kind of like one of those small pumpkins – but it has a ridged, rather than a smooth surface, which all the other rollers have, and that tends to add to a little bit of a feeling of intensity. I noticed it, when I sat on it, that it kind of hit the levator scapula, which is the muscle at the very top of the shoulder. That’s the one that you can kind of dig in, and you can feel it popping and snapping when you massage it, because it’s always tight on most people, especially if you’re a desk worker, but anyway, that chair will hit that spot very, very nicely.
[SCREEN TEXT: Inada Nest Debuts April 1, 2017]
Alan: So, the Inada Nest is coming out next week, accepting preorders now, and the price is not $6499, as I misled you before, it is $5499, it’s not $6499, it’s $5999.
[SCREEN TEXT: Panasonic Massage Chairs Now Distributed in US by Furniture for Life (Inada USA Parent Company)]
Alan: And one more thing, I found out that – I received an email from Panasonic, Inada USA, or the company that – the umbrella company of Inada USA, which is Furniture for Life, they are going to be the distributors, the US distributors for Panasonic. So, it won’t be directly through Panasonic anymore, Inada, I say Inada, but Furniture for Life, FFL, will be the distributor for Panasonic in the United States. Now, Panasonic has traditionally been kind of a slow mover, when it comes to placing an order, and then getting the order up to the dock, and then picked up and taken out. It’s always been kind of a slow mover, and so it’ll be nice to see Inada – Inada has always been known to have pretty smooth and quick logistics – we expect that the shipping time on the Panasonics will drop quite a bit, and getting it from order to delivery will definitely be quicker. Anyway, I asked them about support, because Panasonic has always been the toughest to deal with in terms of support. You have to go to an authorized service center, they will come out and pick it up if they have one near you. Otherwise, they will send you a part, and you have to do it yourself, so the authorized service center was kind of the crux of it, and if you didn’t have an authorized service center near you, well then, you were out of luck, because there was nobody there to fix it. So, you kind of, you could get the part, and you’d have to fix it yourself. Well, I asked Inada if that’s going to change, and they said the first year it will not, it’ll still be done through Panasonic, through their authorized service centers, but after the first year, something like that anyway, approximately a year out, they will then take care of all the customer support, and the repairs, and whatnot, for Panasonic. That will another good thing for Panasonic because again, the two issues with Panasonic chairs, they’re good chairs, they’re all Chinese made now, but they’re designed and engineered in Japan, and the good thing about them is that – or that’s the good thing about them – they’re Japanese designed and engineered, the bad thing, or the negative thing is that they have these authorized service centers that may not be where you live, and they have slower logistics. So, now, that should all be taken care of, working through Inada, or Furniture for Life, who is a very good company, taking care of those issues. Alright, so that’s kind of a big deal in the massage chair industry, now that Furniture for Life is going to be managing the distribution of the Panasonics.
[SCREEN TEXT: New Review of the Novo XT on our Blog/Article Library]
Alan: I put out my first Novo XT – the Novo XT has become a very popular chair for us – it’s a 3D L-track, which is the only 3D L-track we have, that chair is a nice chair. It’s a unibody, slick design chair, I just sat on it for about an hour-and-a-half yesterday, getting a feel for it, kind of noticing some of the nuances of the chair. I will be a review of that chair up this week, so you can go to my blog, or my article library, and you will see that change, or you’ll see that article there for you to read.
[SCREEN TEXT: My Novo XT Introduction Video Now on YouTube]
Alan: But we posted our first video, the introduction video, and then we’ll post the first-time use video, and we’ll do a whole series of videos on that chair, nice chair. I like it, we have it in both of our showrooms, nice chair. It’s a little pricey for a Chinese-made chair, but that has not offered much resistance to the buyers. We include the free white-glove delivery, we include the five-year extended warranty, full parts-and-labor warranty, and but anyway, and so we really give you a great bang for the buck. Anyway, good chair, watch the videos, if you have any questions, you can read the review, call me, whatever, I’m always available.
[SCREEN TEXT: Flooding at our California Showroom!!]
Alan: Alright, and OK, so last Sunday, I was coming back from California, from visiting the store, I get a phone call Sunday afternoon, as the plane is taking off, that our store has flooded. Apparently, a hose, or the pipe from the toilet to the water main has broken, and this is on a Sunday when we don’t have anybody in the showroom, and water was spewing everywhere in the showroom, and in to the neighbor’s places. So, our showroom in California is shut down for this week, at least this week, and maybe next week, if they get everything dried out, and fixed up, and we’ve got – you know, they have to cut the drywall a foot off the ground, and replace the drywall, and paint, and etcetera, etcetera – and it’s a nightmare, and it’s been quite uncomfortable for me, because I don’t live near the showroom, I live in Utah. My manager, Michael, is doing a wonderful job in taking care of things there, but holy cow, talk about a mess that you don’t plan on happening, and it shows up, creating a whole bunch of issues for you. Most notably, business lost because the store’s closed, chairs that could be damaged, and we won’t really know that until all drying is done, neighbors that are affected by it, and people that don’t have work, so you know, because my staff can’t work, because there’s no, you know, there’s no need for someone in the showroom when the showroom is flooded, unless you’re Noah. Well then, Noah can come on in and get to massage chairs, but anyway, I just thought I’d let you know, so sorry about the delay. Maybe some of you have already been to the showroom, and you noticed that it was closed, we have a sign on the door. Michael’s often there, dealing with the insurance adjusters, and whatnot, but the store was flooded, and we apologize for that, to our dear customers.
[SCREEN TEXT: Make-A-Wish Foundation Update]
Alan: And finally, I just wanted to top it off by saying I had a wonderful visit from Mark Simonson, from the Make-A-Wish Foundation last week. He was in town over the Christmas holidays, and I didn’t have time to meet with him. He comes from their main office in Arizona, and I made time for him this time, and it was wonderful. We had a good visit, he complimented us on our fundraising, you know, we’ve raised over – well, we’ve posted about $33,000 – I think it’s $33,375 that we’ve contributed to the Make-A-Wish Foundation in the last three years, and I couldn’t be more proud. And as you may or may not know, I kind of have this, I love kids, I have six of my own, and I’ve got four, a fifth one on the way, by the way, grandchildren, and I love kids. And I have a real soft spot for children, and I don’t care much for seeing suffering in anyone, but particularly in these children, they’re just so dear. Anyway, we’ve donated a portion of every chair sale to the Make-A-Wish Foundation for the last three, this is our fourth year, and I just am pleased, and tickled pink to be associated with them. Well, Mark Simonson came by and he brought me a couple of things. The thing that I’m so proud of – and you know, it’s not much, but it meant so much to me – they gave me this paperweight, and if you see it, it’s got the Make-A-Wish logo on there, and I’m getting a little stand made for it, and I’ve got it here in my home office, and I’m very, very proud of this beautiful crystal paperweight. It’s just a paperweight, but to me, it signifies something beautiful in my life, which is my association with the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and I’m very grateful for them. If you ever want to see the Make-A-Wish Foundation page that we have, on their site, go to my website, and there’ll be a link to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. We are going to redo that on our homepage, we’re redoing the homepage, and redesigning it, and there’ll be a more prominent spot for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and Massage Chair Relief, and our association, but you can go there and see the page, and you can see how much money we’ve contributed. And please feel free to donate yourself, whether you buy a chair from us or not, if you want to, I’ve had clients that would match what we put in, or they’ll put in their own amount, and it’s very touching to me, the goodness of people out there. But anyway, just in case you were wondering, and in case you didn’t know, we do contribute a portion of every sale to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, every sale, whether it’s a used chair, or a new chair, or whatnot. Now, I’ll also mention that they gave me, they brought this book in to me. It’s called ‘Gracious’ – and I’ve got to get my glasses on or I’m not going to say it right – it’s called ‘Gracious: The Wish Kid Art Journal,’ and it is a book that is solely consisting of artwork, short stories, poems, written by Make-A-Wish kids. It is a beautiful book, and I’ve asked them about maybe getting some so I could send out to my customers, but beautiful, beautiful book. And it’s quite, again, it’s touching, when you look at it, and you see these precious kids, and what they’ve contributed, and what their talents are, and anyway, I’m just very, very grateful to Mark, and the Make-A-Wish Foundation of America, for first of all, having such a wonderful foundation for kids, and secondly, being so kind and gracious to us for our contributions, or I should say, for your contributions, because they come out of the sales of the chairs.
[SCREEN TEXT: Please ‘Thumbs Up’ Like This Video!!]
Alan: Well, that’s about it for this week. If you found this video helpful, please feel free to thumbs up ‘Like’ us on our YouTube channel, and of course, we expect you, and ask you to spread the word about massage chairs by sharing any of these videos, including this one on Facebook, LinkedIn, Google Plus, Twitter, whatever social media platforms, we appreciate you helping us spread the word about massage chairs. But that’s about it for this week.
[SCREEN TEXT: Lunch with Nina and John of uKnead Massage Chairs]
Alan: Oh, I forgot to mention a couple of things. I had lunch with Nina and John from uKnead last Friday, when I was in California, prior to the flood, this is a pre-flood visit. Anyway, we were talking, I love to them, I love talking to anybody in our industry, because the people that are in the know always have, they always know stuff that’s going on, and I love it. And it’s kind of like gossip, but it’s good gossip because it’s all about the industry, but it’s gossip about new models, gossip about older models going out, or whatever, you know, whatever’s on the scene, and I really dig that. Anyway, Nina and John are so wonderful, and if you remember, I recorded them at the CES, the Consumer Electronics Show in January, when I did a blurb of all our different distributors/suppliers that were there. And they have the new chair, the Lohas, coming out, but they’re also coming out with a 3D, and I talked about this before, but I think they’re redesigning an old model of theirs, and they’re going to bring it out as a 3D L-track, which will be nice because we don’t have any other 3D L-tracks, besides the Human Touch Novo, which is a great chair. The Luraco Legend is supposed to be coming out at the end of the year, and now this chair from uKnead, and I’m very excited about it. But anyway, the Lohas should be out soon, we haven’t got all the information from them yet about it, so we got to post that on our website, and the images, and whatnot. But this other new chair, I think it’s the Legato, I cannot remember exactly, but that one will be coming out in the next quarter, I believe. So, but anyway, that’s pretty cool, and that’ll be a reasonably-priced chair, it won’t be, you know, it won’t be too low, it won’t be too high, it’ll be kind of right in the middle, kind of sweet spot, I think maybe $4 to $5000, that price point, I don’t remember exactly. But the restaurant we ate at was phenomenal, it was Chinese food, and it was unbelievable, and I like going out with people that have ethnic familiarity with their food, so they know what to order. And you know, I go to a Mexican place, and I order, you know, tacos, but like, a Mexican person would go in there, and they’ll know ‘Oh, I would try this on the menu, and try that, and try this, because that’s really good,’ and I don’t have any idea what it is. That was how it was when we went to this Chinese restaurant, and it was fantastic, and I just left it up to John and Nina to order what they wanted to order, and we were just at their mercy, but oh, the meal was phenomenal. Michael, my manager in California, does that all the time, whenever we go out to eat, we usually go out for Vietnamese food, because he’s Vietnamese, and I love Vietnamese food. And I’ll say ‘Michael, you just go ahead and order,’ so he orders these things, and I’ve never seen them before, colorful, different types of meat, different presentations, and whatever, and it’s awesome, it’s delicious. Any anyway, I love eating out, you know, I love different ethnic foods, I love it, and so anyway, thanks to Nina and John for their hospitality, that was a very nice meal, and a wonderful visit, thank you. Well, I’m Dr. Alan Weidner from ‘Massage-Chair-Relief.com,’ and that about does it for our industry update this week, and I will see you again in two weeks. Bye bye.
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