Photo / Laurie Schreiber
The new space is more than twice as big as the former location in Brewer.
Updated: June 23, 2025
Longtime spa and sauna dealer sees market opportunity in Bangor
Photo / Laurie Schreiber
Jeff and Danielle Simons said the move of Sandollar Spa and Pool from Brewer to Bangor provides better visibility.
A long-time dealership of hot tubs, saunas, “endless” pools and pool supplies recently moved from a lease in Brewer to its own space at 193 Broad St. in Bangor.
Sandollar Spa and Pool took up residence in a building that once housed the Tantrum nightclub and, before that, a restaurant.
The two-story building has big display windows and a deck that works well for outdoor displays.
Hot tubs and saunas are displayed throughout the second-story showroom. With yellow rubber duckies sprinkled throughout, at least one hot tub is full, along with an endless pool with a "hydro-drive" current for stationary swimming.
Customers can try them out (there is a changing room). There’s even a specially made exercise bike, with suction cups at the bottom, to place in the pool as an accessory.
The pool and spa dealer offers installation and repairs, plus saunas, chemicals and other supplies.
Better visibility
Jeff Simons, who owns the business with his wife Danielle, started working for Sandollar when he was 13 and his brother owned it. The business started in Ellsworth in the mid-1980s, and then opened a second location in Bangor. About 20 years ago, it moved to leased space in Brewer. The Ellsworth and Bangor stores closed.
Jeff and Danielle bought the business in 2019 and decided to move it back to Bangor. They closed the Brewer store but continue to lease the building for storage.
Bangor was a better place to set up shop, they told Mainebiz, largely because there’s more business traffic and the space is much bigger — 17,900 square feet in Bangor versus 7,000 square feet in Brewer. The new location allows them to show all of their sauna options.
Showroom specialist
By the time the couple bought 193 Broad St., it had been divided into rental spaces.
Renovations included stripping the building completely and starting over. They brought in a designer who specializes in hot tub showrooms and hired local contractors.
The job included $250,000 in electrical work that was required to keep the systems running. The couple is investing another $250,000 to install a solar array on the roof, which is expected to power the whole building. Total investment, including the solar array, will be about $2.5 million, said Jeff Simons.
The location is also good, said Danielle, because it’s easily walkable, being just on the outskirts of the downtown core.
Photo / Laurie Schreiber
The couple is installing a solar array on the roof, which is expected to power the whole building.
In the Brewer location, she said, “People would say, ‘I drive by every day and never noticed you.’”
Bangor is also at the center of a sizeable market for the products.
“Our market is the ocean on the east, Canada on the west, Augusta to the south and Canada to the north,” said Jeff.
Sales are steady. The couple sells 200 hot tubs and about 30 saunas annually. Simons said that, according to a market study, the majority of spa and sauna sales are made within 10 miles of a dealers’ store.
“People want to do business with somebody local,” he said.
Tariffs could at some point affect price points, he said. Most of the products are made in the U.S and some in Mexico. But a certain amount of components come from China.
“Whether that will affect sales or not is yet to be seen,” he said.
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