Transcript of Video Titled “Massage Chair Industry Update – September 14, 2016”
Alan: Hi, I’m Dr. Alan Weidner from ‘Massage-Chair-Relief.com’ and today is our biweekly massage chair industry update for Wednesday, September 14th, 2016. We’ve got lots of good stuff to cover today. I apologize for taking so long to get this update out, but I guess Microsoft had an update on their 10, Microsoft 10, and the update rendered all webcams useless, or as they said ‘It killed all the webcams.’ So, I couldnโt figure out why my webcam wasnโt working. I went to a local store here to have it looked at, and figure out if I needed to get a new webcam. Well, they told me that the new update from Windows 10, which I had just uploaded before recording, trying to record my last industry update, it rendered it useless. So, we had to โ we’re using a different device โ we’re using my camcorder that I usually use for my massage chair videos, but anyway, I apologize for it taking so long to get to you. We’ve got a lot of stuff to cover, so I’m not going to go in to the stock status, because everything’s pretty much in stock, and if there’s something out of stock, I’m not aware of it, so I’m not even going to go in to that, but I will start off by talking about Osaki/Titan.
[SCREEN TEXT: Osaki/Titan New & Discontinued Models]
Alan: Now, Osaki/Titan has made some changes recently in new models, and discontinuing old models, and some price changes, and I’m just going to go over those with you. The discontinued models are: the Titan TP-Pro 8300, the Titan TP-Pro 8400 โ I do have my floor model here for sale, that’s why it’s still up on our website, but you can get the TP-Pro 8400, which is an L-track chair for โ it’s regularly $2995, for $1995, and you can have the warranty transferred. It’s all good, the chair is in fantastic shape, but if you want that chair, let me know. As soon as I sell that floor model, it will be taken off, the whole chair, off the site. Also, the Osaki 7075R, thank heavens, that one’s gone, the Apex Lotus is gone, the Apex Regal is gone, and the Osaki 7200CR is gone. And the CR is just like the 7200H, but with foot rollers, the 7200H still is here, they’re still carrying that one. Now, Osaki has introduced some new models. Theyโve introduced the Titan Summit, which is the exact same chair as the Titan Alpine, but instead of having shoulder airbags behind the shoulders, which is what the Alpine has, the Summit has them on the side, which you’ll see quite popular now on most massage chairs. They have the airbag housing on the side, with airbags that inflate to the side or front of the shoulders. Well, the Alpine has it behind the shoulders, which is kind of brilliant if youโve got broad shoulders, or a big-bodied person, you donโt have to worry about, you know, fitting inside that housing. Well, the Summit adds the side shoulder airbags, instead of the rear shoulder airbags, and that price is going to be $300 more, but here’s the deal, theyโve decreased the price of the Titan Alpine down to $3995, from $5495. So, it’s a significant savings, but the new Summit is going to be $300 more than that, $4295, good to know. Incidentally, theyโve dropped the price of the Osaki OS-4D JP Premium Pro, I don’t know, theyโve got the funkiest names for these two Japanese chairs, but the 4D โ we call it the 4D and the 4S โ the 4D, theyโve dropped the price down to $4995, and the 4S, theyโve dropped it down to $6995, so theyโve dropped it down $1000 in both cases. Now, theyโve also added a chair called the Osaki OS-4000LS, which is part of that 4000 series, which was basically, the 4000 was the chair that really put Osaki on the map. Now, they sell the Osaki 4000 at Costco, I think, for $1900, or something. It’s a good deal, but it doesnโt have foot rollers, it doesnโt have the additional airbags that the 4000T had, but we just sold our 4000T model to make room for some of these newer models, and the 4000LS is an extended-roller-track version of the 4000, but a nicer body, newer body. It’s got foot rollers, and it’s got airbags galore. It’s got everything you need, it’s a very nice chair, and that one is retailing for $3495, it’s regularly $3995, but we have the $500 instant savings on the website, $3495. The Osaki TP-8500 is a chair that looks just like the Titan TP-8400; as a matter of fact, it’s replacing it. It’s the same price, $2995, but it has a few extra features, and I can’t, for the life of me, remember what those features are, but it does have some additional features, and it’s a little โ it looks very similar to the 8400 โ but with a little bit more of a hip style, if you will.
[SCREEN TEXT: New Osaki OS-Pro Maxim in UT Showroom]
Alan: And then the Osaki Maxim, which we just got in our showroom here, and it’s a smaller chair, but it’ll fit up to 6′ 4″, and down to like 5′, 5′ nothing, and that chair is regularly $3995; there’s a $700 instant savings that brings it down to $3295, and the OS-Pro Maxim is a nice chair. It’s got good foot rollers, it’s got a touchscreen remote, which is cool. It’s a bigger one, so it’s easy to see, great for old people like me, or older people like me. It also has the L-track, which is nice, and it has a 47-inch L-track, that goes down to the, you know, top of the hamstrings. But anyway, that Maxim is a nice chair, good foot rollers, good back massage, easy-to use remote, it’s got zero gravity, whatever. But oh, it’s got Bluetooth technology as well, so you can hook up your phone through Bluetooth to play your music over the speakers, and the speakers are kind of cool. They’re on the side of each ear, but they have a red, or sorry, a blue thing around the speaker, and they give you that chromotherapy feel. Anyway, and that chair, I said, was $3295, and thatโs about it for Osaki/Titan, pretty cool, lots of changes over there, as far as models go. Osaki always brings in new models, and discontinues models. They kind of have probably too many models, if you add them all up, but anyway, they’re smart to keep the ones that sell, and wise to get rid of the ones that donโt, and thatโs what they’re doing, they’re cleaning house.
[SCREEN TEXT: Inada Selected to Inc. 5000 List!! Congratulations!]
Alan: I’d like to talk a little bit about Inada. Now, Inada, they just had a sale, it ended just at the end of Labor Day, where we had a free extended warranty on the DreamWave, $1000 off on the Flex 3s, and $500 off on the YuMe, and the YuMe, they’re discontinuing, by the way. I just sold my floor model here, and I think that is pretty much done. The YuMe is not going to be sold anymore. But anyway, Inada, was just recently named for the third year in a row, as a member of the list of the Inc. 5000, which is a list of the fastest growing private companies in the United States. It started in 1982, it’s become, as they say here, ‘a hallmark of entrepreneurial success.’ The average company on the Inc. 5000 list achieved a mind-boggling three-year growth of 433%. That is mind boggling, thatโs a significant growth jump in three years. The aggregate revenue is 200 billion, thatโs billion with a B, and theyโve created over 640,000 jobs, or 8% of all jobs created in the economy during that three-year period. So, that is pretty cool, so congratulations to Inada, who has been, once again, named to that Inc. 5000 list, and I’ll tell you, I know Cliff. He’s the president over there at Inada USA, great guy, the company is a great company, they take good care of the customers. They’re a high-class organization, and they sell one of the greatest chairs, the Inada DreamWave, and Cliff has basically turned that chair in to an iconic chair here in the US market, US and Canada, and it’s become synonymous with top, high-level, Rolls-Royce type chair. Thatโs what the DreamWave has become, and so hats off to Cliff, good guy, great group of people over there, Alex, and Brad, and the rest of them all. They’re just good people, and I really appreciate them, to work with, but congratulations to them for receiving that award.
[SCREEN TEXT: Ogawa Sale!]
Alan: Ogawa has a sale going on right now, where you can get $500 off on the Smart 3D, $250 off on the Active, and $100 off on the Ogawa Refresh. The, you know, the YuMe is discontinued, we talked about that.
[SCREEN TEXT: New 45,000-Square-Foot Building for Infinity! Congratulations!!]
Alan: Oh, and Infinity, or Infinite Therapeutics, or Infinity, they just sent me a picture of their new building. They’re moving in to a 45,000-square-foot building, and it looks great. I’ll put it on my blog. I’m going to talk about these new models, and Infinity’s new building later this week, or next week. And but it’s a beautiful looking building, and they’re moving in to that in the next four to six weeks. I’m probably going to head out there to go take a look at it when they’re all settled, maybe at the end of the year, or the beginning of next year, but congratulations to Infinity, another great company, who in my estimation, take really good care of customers, and are just really top-notch folks. They’re good people, and I really enjoy working with them, a lot of integrity there too, just like Inada, and anyway, so congratulations to them on their new digs, and again, I’ll show you a picture of that on the blog. Let’s see what else we got cooking.
[SCREEN TEXT: S-Track Vs. L-Track]
Alan: There are going to be some changes โ well, some Human Touch stuff October 1st โ and I’ll talk about that in a couple of weeks, but I think that is it, but I want to talk a little bit about S-track versus L-track. Here’s the deal: I can tell โ when people call me, and they ask questions โ I can tell when there’s a misunderstanding of what means what The S-track, the L-track, what’s the difference? I’ve talked about this on my blog, I’ve written an article about it, but the S-track eludes to the shape of the spine, the S-shape of the spine, like a serpent, like a snake, S-shape, forward in the neck, back in the mid back, forward in the low back, back in the buttock, and that S-track is basically designed to follow, the track of the chair is designed to follow the curve of the spine. If you just had a straight roller track, it would hit the mid back, and the butt, but it would do nothing for your lumbar spine, or your cervical spine, so the genius is that behind the creation of these things figured ‘Well, we better make the track follow the shape of the spine, duh,’ and thatโs what they did years ago, and thatโs what an S-track is. Well, the L-track is the S-track-roller system going, continuing down the butt, and under the butt, and to the hamstrings. So, when people say ‘Well, I donโt want an S-track, I just want an L-track.’ Well, every L-track has an S-track, like the S-track is commonplace, and it’s like saying ‘I want, you know, a plate with my meal,’ a plate comes with every meal, or you know, whatever, or you know, a bowl, or a plate. It comes with every meal, so it doesnโt matter, you donโt have to ask for a plate, they’re going to give you one. On a massage chair, they all come with a S-track. The difference with an L-track is that the S-track now follows under the butt, and heads forward, so thatโs the L-portion of it, and then it hits the glutes, the piriformis, and then the hamstring. Some of them actually hit the belly of the hamstring, most of hit the upper, you know, the upper quarter, or third, of the hamstring, which inserts in to the pelvis. But so when people say to you S-track and L-track, now you know what those are, and if you’re asking for an L-track, instead of an S-track, well, you are going to get the S-track, and thatโs good, because you want the S-track. You donโt want a straight, bloody thing, just going up and down your back, it’s going to kill you. Well, I mean, it’ll massage between your shoulders great, and maybe the top of your butt great, but it’s going to miss everything else. So, all the chairs have an S-track, they all follow the shape of the spine. The L-tracks just continue that track underneath the buttock, and so now youโve got that extended roller, and more muscles getting massaged by the L-track. I just wanted to clarify that, because I get questions about this all the time, and I can tell that people donโt fully understand what S- and L-track means. Well, I think thatโs about it, eh? I think we’ve covered everything we need to cover. We’re ending summer, which makes me so sad. People say they love the fall, because the leaves change, and everything’s so pretty, and it cools down. Didnโt I talk about this two weeks ago? Now, I’m starting to sound like a whiner, not a Weidner, but a whiner. Anyway, but it’s getting cold too, eh, like we’re getting rain, and it’s getting cold, and oh well, thatโs OK, it’s the seasons, and thank goodness for that. Well, anyway, I’m going to see you again in two weeks when we do this again, but in the meantime, if you have any questions, feel free to give me a call at 888-259-5380. You can call any time, you can chat with us on our website chat feature, you can email me, you can go to our YouTube channel, and leave comments, which I’ll respond to, or questions on our Facebook page, it’s very easy to get a hold of me, and to get a hold of any of my staff. So, please reach out, and if you found the video helpful, please feel free to thumbs up ‘Like’ us on our YouTube channel, and spread the word in our Facebook page, through your Facebook, or your LinkedIn, your Google Plus, your Twitter, whatnot, we just appreciate you helping us spread the word about massage chairs. Well, I’m Dr. Alan Weidner from ‘Massage-Chair-Relief.com,’ and I will see you again in two weeks. Bye bye.
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