Carol Weise was at a mall in Cambridge, Mass., last August when she spotted the blue Aquamassage machine. For $15, a sign read, it would soothe her aching joints for 10 minutes. "Rather than paying for an expensive therapeutic massage," says Weise, 58, who has arthritis, "[I figured] I'd try this." She climbed in and, fully clothed, let 36 water jets massage her through a waterproof nylon screen. So impressed was Weise, an RN, she now goes back weekly. "It's better than sex," she says with a laugh.
Weise isn't the only one feeling the thrill. David and Lee Cote, who launched Aquamassage in 1990, are delighted that it has caught on. This year, they estimate, the $30,000 machines will earn their company more than $8 million. "It's quick, it's effective," says David, 58. "I've never met anyone who tried this and didn't rave about it."
In 1989 the Cotes, who live in Groton, Conn, (he was an engineer, she a teacher), bought the company that had a patent on a prototype of Aquamassage. They refined the design, but for four years they struggled, even using David's retirement funds to keep the company afloat. Selling to Asia proved the turning point. "They got it," David says. So, eventually, did American spas and chiropractors, and once David targeted weary mall wanderers as well, there was no stopping Aquamassage. Some 500 machines can now be found in malls nationwide; next year they'll start appearing in airports. "After sitting in a plane, you need to get your circulation going," says Lee, 58. So what if you feel like you're in a car wash? "Your car," says David, "never had it this good."
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