Jacuzzi

{{Infobox company

| name = Jacuzzi

| logo = Jacuzzi logo.svg

| type = Private

| founded = 1915

| founder = Jacuzzi family

| hq_location_city = Irvine, California

| location_country = United States

| location =

| area_served = Worldwide

| industry =

| products = Bath and spa products

| services =

| revenue =

| operating_income =

| net_income =

| num_employees =

| owner = Investindustrial

| divisions =

| subsid =

| homepage = {{URL|www.jacuzzi.com}}

| dissolved =

| footnotes =

}}

Jacuzzi is an American private company that manufactures and markets hot tubs, pools, and other bath products.{{cite web |last=Giornalistica |first=Agenzia |date=January 15, 2019 |title=Chi si è comprato Jacuzzi? |url=https://www.agi.it/economia/investindustrial_acquista_jacuzzi-4834453/news/2019-01-15/ |access-date=October 12, 2021 |website=Agi |language=it}} It is best known for the Jacuzzi hydrotherapy products. The company is headquartered in Irvine, California. It is the largest hot tub manufacturer in Europe with eight factories, the largest being in Italy.{{cite book |last=Weinstein |first=D. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fta0bAMk6GkC&pg=PA181 |title=It Came from Berkeley: How Berkeley Changed the World |publisher=Gibbs Smith |year=2008 |isbn=978-1-4236-0254-5 |page=181 |access-date=October 10, 2021}}

The company was founded in 1915 by seven Italian immigrant brothers from the Jacuzzi family in Berkeley, California.{{Cite web |last=Solomon |first=Saskia |date=August 14, 2023 |title=The Frothy Saga of the Jacuzzi Family |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/11/style/the-frothy-saga-of-the-jacuzzi-family.html}} It developed a variety of products including pumps for agricultural use. In 1948, Jacuzzi created water pumps to treat a family member's rheumatoid arthritis.{{cite news |title=The Frothy Saga of the Jacuzzi Family |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/11/style/the-frothy-saga-of-the-jacuzzi-family.html |access-date=23 August 2023 |work=nytimes.com |date=11 August 2023 |language=en}} The water pumps were a niche medical product until they were integrated into a recreational hot tub in 1968. As the popularity of hot tubs grew, Jacuzzi created more models that were more advanced. Jacuzzi was family-run until 1979, after which it then changed hands several times, before being bought by its current owner Investindustrial in 2019.

Due to its popularity and market dominance among hot tub sales, the word Jacuzzi became akin to a generic trademark in advertising and product marketing, synonymous with "hot tub" itself in American English. However, the Associated Press Stylebook lists Jacuzzi as a trademark brand for products such as hot tubs, whirlpool spas, and whirlpool baths,{{cite book |title=The Associated Press Stylebook. |date=2015 |publisher=Turtleback Books |isbn=9780606373043 |page=XXXII}} and not as a legally genericized trademark.

History

File:Historic Jacuzzi Bros. storefront.jpg

=Beginnings=

Jacuzzi was founded by seven siblings in the Jacuzzi family: Giocondo, Frank, Rachele, Candido, Joseph, Gelindo and Valeriano, who were from Casarsa della Delizia in northern

Italy.{{cite book | last1=Euvino | first1=G. | last2=Filippo | first2=M.S. | title=The Complete Idiot's Guide to Italian History and Culture | publisher=Alpha | series=Complete Idiot's Guide to | year=2001 | isbn=978-0-02-864234-5 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qo-AuN9xL6MC | access-date=October 10, 2021 | page=}} Their original last name was Iacuzzi, but when the first two brothers emigrated from Italy to the US in 1907, immigration staff misspelled their name as "Jacuzzi".{{cite book | last=Dodd | first=P. | title=What's in a Name?: From Joseph P. Frisbie to Roy Jacuzzi, How Everyday Items Were Named for Extraordinary People | publisher=Penguin Publishing Group | year=2008 | isbn=978-1-59240-432-2 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2TYM9ljdonYC | access-date=October 10, 2021 | page=}} All seven siblings had emigrated by 1910. More family members emigrated to the U.S. when the brothers won a contract to provide propellers to the U.S. for World War I planes.{{cite book | last=Fucini | first=Joseph | title=Entrepreneurs, the men and women behind famous brand names and how they made it | publisher=G.K. Hall | publication-place=Boston | year=1985 | isbn=0-8161-8736-3 | oclc=11068215 | page=}}

Jacuzzi began as a machining company.{{cite book | last=Martone | first=E. | title=Italian Americans: The History and Culture of a People | publisher=ABC-CLIO | year=2016 | isbn=978-1-61069-995-2 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MHJ1DQAAQBAJ&pg=PA240 | access-date=October 9, 2021 | page=240}} The brothers worked on a citrus farm owned by an early aviation inventor. They offered to help develop aviation products, creating an early wood propeller that was curved instead of flat and was used in World War I.{{cite web | last=Johnson | first=Finos | title=Whirlpools only part of Jacuzzi business | website=UPI | date=March 8, 1982 | url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1982/03/08/Whirlpools-only-part-of-Jacuzzi-businessNEWLNSeven-brothers-first-made-wooden-airplane-propellers/3034144819640/ | access-date=October 9, 2021}} One of the first propellers they made is now either in storage at or on loan from the Smithsonian Institution. They also developed one of the first fully-enclosed cabins for airplanes, called the Jacuzzi J-7, which was used to transport mail.

In 1921, a mail plane crashed, killing all of the passengers on board, including Giocondo Jacuzzi.

The siblings subsequently abandoned the aviation industry and experimented with several other products, the first successful one being a water pump created by Rachele Jacuzzi in 1926.{{cite news |last1=Hupp |first1=Susanne |last2=Sentinel |first2=Orlando |date=July 21, 1985 |title=Before Hot Tubs Became Hot, There was Jacuzzi |newspaper=The Chicago Tribune |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1985-07-21-8502170603-story.html |access-date=October 10, 2021}}

The product line expanded into a variety of pumps.{{cite book |last=Leykam |first=John |title=Contra Costa County : a chronicle of progress |publisher=Windsor Publications |year=1989 |isbn=0-89781-289-1 |publication-place=Northridge, Calif |page=135}}

= Hydrotherapy =

In 1948, Candido Jacuzzi developed an improved full body hydrotherapy pump, the J-300, to treat his son's (Ken Jacuzzi) rheumatoid arthritis between hospital visits, after noting his positive response the smaller Hubbard tank at the Herrick hospital in Berkeley.{{cite book | last=Jack | first=A. | title=They Laughed at Galileo: How the Great Inventors Proved Their Critics Wrong | publisher=Skyhorse | year=2015 | isbn=978-1-63220-236-9 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VyyCDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT239 | access-date=October 10, 2021 | page=239}} He patented the pump in 1952 and began marketing it between 1955 and 1956 as a therapeutic aid. The pump was a portable device that could turn any regular bathtub into a spa.{{Cite web |title=History of Hot Tubs and Jacuzzi {{!}} Jacuzzi.com {{!}} Jacuzzi® |url=https://www.jacuzzi.com/en-us/HISTORY-OF-HOT-TUBS-AND-JACUZZI.html |access-date=2023-01-06 |website=www.jacuzzi.com}}

From 1968, a whirlpool bath was produced, which included jets that mixed air and water. This product (called the Roman Bath) was developed by Roy Jacuzzi, a 3rd-generation member of the family.{{cite book | last=Martin | first=K. | title=Famous Brand Names and Their Origins | publisher=Pen & Sword Books Limited | year=2017 | isbn=978-1-78159-015-7 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c76wDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA87 | access-date=October 13, 2021 | page=87}} This is considered the first whirlpool tub designed for relaxation, rather than for medical use.{{cite book | title=Professional Builder | publisher=Cahners Publishing Company | issue=v. 62, nos. 12-17 | year=1997 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j74WAQAAMAAJ | access-date=October 13, 2021 | page=}} Jacuzzi used celebrity Jayne Mansfield and others to market the tubs, which initially gained popularity among Hollywood movie stars. In the 1970s, Jacuzzi products were featured on Queen for a Day and other TV shows and grew in popularity in California. The company started developing larger models that could fit more than one person. They also added filters and heaters, so the tub didn't need to be drained with each use.{{cite book|title=International Directory of Company Histories|volume=76|year=2006|pages=204–2010|first1=Tina|last1=Grant|first2=Thomas|last2=Derdak|chapter=Jacuzzi Brands, Inc.|publisher=St. James Press}} From 1970, family-sized spas were producted.{{Cite web |date=2019-09-05 |title=Explore the History of Jacuzzi® Hot Tubs - Jacuzzi Ontario |url=https://www.jacuzziontario.com/for-owners/history/ |access-date=2023-01-06 |language=en-US}}

By 1989, Jacuzzi had 2,200 employees. Initially, Jacuzzi primarily sold through contractors and builders, but in 1993 it started selling through retailers.{{cite news| last=Emert | first=Carol | title=Hot Water, Cold Cash / How Roy Jacuzzi turned family business into global bath empire | newspaper=The San Francisco Chronicle | date=June 12, 1999 | url=https://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Hot-Water-Cold-Cash-How-Roy-Jacuzzi-turned-2924035.php | access-date=October 13, 2021}} In the 1990s, Jacuzzi entered markets outside the US, especially in Italy and Spain. By the end of the 1990s, half of its sales were outside the US.

Jacuzzi was influential in the trend towards larger and more luxurious bathrooms.

=Changes in ownership=

By 1979, there were 257 Jacuzzi family members involved in the Jacuzzi brand and there was a growing number of disputes among them. Then the business was acquired by Kidde for $70 million. Most of the Jacuzzi family members left the company, except Roy Jacuzzi, who stayed on as the head of the hot tub and bath division.{{cite web | title=BUSINESS PEOPLE; Jacuzzi Whirlpool Creator To Oversee Hanson Unit | website=The New York Times | date=January 14, 1988 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/01/14/business/business-people-jacuzzi-whirlpool-creator-to-oversee-hanson-unit.html | access-date=October 14, 2021}} In 1987, Kidde was acquired by Hanson PLC.{{cite news| title=Hanson Trust to Acquire Kidde Inc. in $1.6-Billion Deal | newspaper=The Los Angeles Times | date=August 6, 1987 | url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-08-06-fi-1781-story.html | access-date=October 12, 2021}} In 1995, Hanson spun off Jacuzzi and other brands into a public company called U.S. Industries. USI renamed itself Jacuzzi Brands in 2003.{{cite news |last=Jackson |first=Ted |date=April 22, 2003 |title=USI Will Become Jacuzzi Brands |page=5B |newspaper=Palm Beach Post}} This was in turn bought out by Apollo Management,{{cite news |date=June 13, 2017 |title=Private Equity-Backed Jacuzzi Brands Buying Hydropool and Liners Direct |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/private-equity-backed-jacuzzi-brands-buying-hydropool-and-liners-direct-1497381595 |access-date=October 12, 2021}} and then by Investindustrial in 2019.{{cite web |last=Adrian-Diaz |first=Jenna |date=January 16, 2019 |title=Investindustrial to Acquire Jacuzzi Brands |url=https://interiordesign.net/designwire/investindustrial-to-acquire-jacuzzi-brands/ |access-date=October 12, 2021 |website=Interior Design}}

Acquisitions since the 1990s have included Haugh Products (above-ground pools), Sundance Spas, Gatsby Spas, Zurn Industries (toilets, sinks), Hydropool (hot tubs), Liners Direct (bath products), BathWraps (shower and bathtub renovation).{{cite web |last=Kukec |first=Anna Marie |date=July 6, 2017 |title=Jacuzzi buys Roselle's BathWraps |url=https://www.dailyherald.com/business/20170706/jacuzzi-buys-roselles-bathwraps |access-date=October 14, 2021 |website=Daily Herald}} In the 1990s, Jacuzzi had taken on too much debt and sold more than $600 million worth of businesses. The business segment producing industrial, irrigation, well water, submersible, and centrifugal systems was sold to Franklin Electric in 2004. The plumbing division, Zurn Industries, was sold in 2007 for $950 million.{{cite news |last1=Terlep |first1=Sharon |last2=Das |first2=Anupreeta |last3=Dezember |first3=Ryan |date=December 13, 2012 |title=Rexnord Explores Selling Unit |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal |url=https://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324481204578177002619171918.html |access-date=October 12, 2021}} Current brands include ThermoSpas, Sundance Spas, and Dimension One.