Wednesday, November 25, 2009, 2:46PM ET - Canadian Markets close in 1 hour and 14 minutes.
A growing demand for cool fun in some hot climates is keeping a Hensall ice maker busy.
Iceculture, which builds ice lounges around the world, has seen sales to the U.S. plunge as the economic slowdown there takes hold.
But orders from the Middle East and Asia have pushed sales growth to about 15 per cent this year, said Julian Bayley, Iceculture president.
"We were about to downsize when the U.S. business softened, but the overseas orders have more than picked up the slack." Bayley said yesterday. "We are finding that people in the Middle East enjoy the ice experience. They have never seen ice like this."
In fact, 85 per cent of Iceculture's business is now overseas, he added.
The Iceculture crew has just returned from Thailand, where they built an 1,800-square-foot lounge on the tourist island of Koh Samui.
"It has been packed since it opened, they are doing very well," Bayley said.
In addition, Iceculture recently finished one of its smallest projects, a lounge in Richmond, Va., which can only seat about 15 people.
They are also now planning and cutting ice for a lounge in Portugal and work has begun on lounges for Saudi Arabia and Mumbai, India, both of which could be up and running in the fall.
Talks have also begun on a project in Israel, where there are plans for a resort by the Red Sea.
Much of the Middle East and Asia business took off after Iceculture opened a lounge in Dubai about nine months ago. That got the attention of businesspeople in the east.
"Dubai has had a lot to do with it, and it has been a little luck too. We have been in the right place at the right time. Business just keeps growing," said Bayley.
Middle East nations find themselves with people looking for recreational outlets and money to spend it on, so ice lounges have become trendy.
In fact, Bayley returned to Dubai last week to refurbish its lounge and the bar with small barbecues where they grill meat and to sell in the bar, along with the cold food and drinks.
"They are pretty happy, business has been very good. It's working," he said.
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