Jacuzzi

Beginnings

Jacuzzi was founded by seven siblings in the Jacuzzi family: Giocondo, Francesco (Frank), Rachele, Candido, Giuseppe (Joseph), Gelindo and Valeriano, who were from Casarsa della Delizia in northern Italy.[6][7] All seven siblings had emigrated by 1910.[7] 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.[8]

Jacuzzi began as a machining company.[9] The brothers worked on a citrus farm owned by an early aviation inventor.[7] They offered to help develop aviation products, creating an early wood propeller that was curved instead of flat[7] and was used in World War I.[10] One of the first propellers they made is now either in storage at or on loan from the Smithsonian Institution.[7] They also developed one of the first fully-enclosed cabins for airplanes, called the Jacuzzi J-7, which was used to transport mail.[7]

In 1921, a mail plane crashed, killing all of the passengers on board, including Giocondo Jacuzzi.[7] 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.[11] The product line expanded into a variety of pumps.[12]

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 to the smaller Hubbard tank at the Herrick hospital in Berkeley.[13] He patented the pump in 1952[9] and began marketing it between 1955 and 1956 as a therapeutic aid.[13] The pump was a portable device that could turn any regular bathtub into a spa.[14]

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.[15] This is considered the first whirlpool tub designed for relaxation, rather than for medical use.[16] Jacuzzi used celebrity Jayne Mansfield and others to market the tubs, which initially gained popularity among Hollywood movie stars.[13] In the 1970s, Jacuzzi products were featured on Queen for a Day and other TV shows and grew in popularity in California.[8] 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.[17] From 1970, family-sized spas were produced.[18]

By 1989, Jacuzzi had 2,200 employees.[12] Initially, Jacuzzi primarily sold through contractors and builders, but in 1993 it started selling through retailers.[19] 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.[17]

Jacuzzi was influential in the trend towards larger and more luxurious bathrooms.[11]

Changes in ownership

By 1979,[8] there were 257 Jacuzzi family members involved in the Jacuzzi brand and there was a growing number of disputes among them.[19] Then the business was acquired by Kidde for $70 million.[8] 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.[20] In 1987, Kidde was acquired by Hanson PLC.[21] In 1995, Hanson spun off Jacuzzi and other brands into a public company called U.S. Industries.[17] USI renamed itself Jacuzzi Brands in 2003.[22] This was in turn bought out by Apollo Management,[23] and then by Investindustrial in 2019.[24]

Acquisitions since the 1990s have included Haugh Products[19] (above-ground pools), Sundance Spas,[19] Gatsby Spas,[19] Zurn Industries (toilets, sinks), Hydropool (hot tubs), Liners Direct (bath products), BathWraps (shower and bathtub renovation).[25] In the 1990s, Jacuzzi had taken on too much debt and sold more than $600 million worth of businesses.[17] 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.[26] Current brands include ThermoSpas, Sundance Spas, and Dimension One.