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Show SatSunMonTues, July 3-6, 2004 The Park Record A-21 W&to is flowing for Oakley bottler Wfeatch IceWfeter overcomes mechanical snags; ready to restart larger-scale launch By MONIKA GUENDNER Of the Record staff During the July 4th parade this weekend, many Parkites will be able to finally see and sample a product that has seemed elusive so far. Representatives of Wasatch IceWater will be in the parade, handing out several thousands bottle of Park City IceWater, according to Robert Sasser, founder and chief executive officer offi-cer of the company. The bottle water, actually derived and bottled in Oakley, celebrated its launch in mid-May with announcements of future availability and marketing plans that made it seem as if the 'dinosaur' water would be as ubiquitous ubiq-uitous as Coca-Cola this summer. And then the company fell silent. Mechanical difficulties in the bottling plant were the source of the lull, said Sasser. "We developed a brand-new technology in the industry; the technology is sound, it was how we brought it to work that was the problem," he said. The technology produced a new type of packaging for bottled water - a flat, flexible bottle - that also required a new kind of bottling bot-tling machine to fill. Translating the paper plans into three-dimensional reality was a little trickier than anticipated, said Sasser. Problems with the machine included motion sensors that were not activating and deactivating machine parts properly; other parts had to be remanufactured. In fact, the weeks leading up to the launch proved so troublesome, trouble-some, much of the water present at the launch was filled one bottle at a time, according to Sasser. De-bugging continued for about five weeks after the launch, said Sasser. During this time, Sasser quieted marketing and sales activity until he could be sure the company could guarantee reliable use of the machine as well as sufficient inventory. Manufacturing began early last week and the company has already begun to build a second machine to expand production. "We're up and running and producing far beyond our expectations expec-tations right now," said Sasser. "It's been a matter of: it's a brand-new technology; you cant just pull new technology off the shelf." The acceptance of the product - with its unusual packaging - has not been a problem, according to Sasser. Ken's Kash, the original outlet for the product, has sold more than 100 cases of the water in the past week alone, said Sasser. Two local outlets of grocery store chains have also expressed enthusiasm for the product, said Sasser. The managers of Smith's Food & Drug in Kimball Junction and Heber City and Albertsons in Park City recommended the product prod-uct to their buyers, and Sasser is beginning to follow the protocols and paperwork to begin supplying them. Wasatch IceWater will also concentrate on supplying smaller outlets and Main Street businesses business-es with the water, an important facet to the business, said Sasser. In addition to Ken's Kash in Oakley, Cole Sport and Koko Espresso! have been carrying the bottled water. Despite the setbacks in manufacturing, manu-facturing, sales have exceeded expectation, said Sasser. "We had no idea it would be accepted so readily. There could have been resistance to the packaging pack-aging because it is so new, but there hasnt been," said Sasser. He added that his sales force has not been turned down yet. Sasser expects Park City IceWater to hit the shelves of the Albertsons and two local Smith's within the next few weeks, and he is working to include more branches of the chain in Salt Lake City. Although the response at the local Dan's Food was lukewarm. Sasser also plans to pitch the water to the corporate office. The first market expansion outside of the area will be Phoenix, Ariz., where pre-launch press has already been encouraging, encourag-ing, said Sasser. Enduring the struggle to properly prop-erly manufacture the bottled water, however, seems to have already reaped rewards for Sasser. "I was at the Oakley rodeo last night Thursday. It was heartwarming heart-warming too see our water in almost everybody's hand out there," said Sasser. n Premier Resort bought by Premier Hospitality Premier Hospitality Corporation announced this week the acquisition of Premier Resorts International, Inc., from Rentokil Initial. The sale was completed on June 22. Barbara Zimonja and Bradley T. Goulding, the principals of Premier Hospitality Corporation, will continue to serve as Premier Resorts' president and chief operating officerchief financial officer, respectively, and announced plans for the seamless transition from a large, multinational multina-tional corporate ownership to a privately held company. According to Zimonja, "This transaction will be transparent to our clients and customers, as there will be no change in management man-agement personnel or in operations. opera-tions. "We continue to introduce and expand new company-wide systems sys-tems and standards that will provide pro-vide improved management tools to enhance our administrative functions at all of our resorts," she continued. "We are excited about the future business prospects we have been developing develop-ing with this transaction in mind." Premier Resorts, based in Park City, Utah, offers a collec tion of condominium properties at the finest North American mountain, beach and golf resorts, with an inventory of more than 5,000 rooms with resort locations in California, Colorado, Idaho, Hawaii, South Carolina, Utah, Washington and Mexico. For more information on Premier Resorts visit www.premier-resorts.com or call 888-774-3833. 0 semi-annual oriental rug M ;y3 VT u 1 We offer Utah's most complete selection of quality handwoven rugs and tribal kelims at consistently lower prices because we import directly. Now" during our semi-annual sale, take up to 70 off our already low prices! Regular 5 Salt $ 12x18 Pakistan Garden $12960 $5184 12x15 India Veg. Dye Agra 10651 5326 10x14 Afghan Veg. Mogul 5821 2911 9x12 India Agra 3308 992 6x9 Tibet Serengeti 1887 566 5x8 Afghan Veg. Soumack 944 .708 4x6 India Tabriz 888 444 3x5 Pakistan Herat 975 390 2x3 Afghan Unkhoey 65 49 Sale prices good through July 3 1st. -m F00TH I 11 " ORIENTAL RUGS 1460 Foothill Drive in Salt Lake City Near the mouth of Parley's Canyon St. (801)582-3500 f 0 vm CLOSINGSOPENINGS All liquor stores and agencies, post offices and banks will be closed on Monday, July 5 in observance of Independence day. Deer Valley will continue mountain biking operations through Monday. Park City Mountain Resort will be open 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. through Monday. 5000 SCfMTt foct Stewrcom Stock n 5fo 7ZS ii i i " i ?- o 0, ! II Hill'' fri' ) o 0 V V Thank you for making our grand opening celebration a huge success. For a sumptuous Deer Valley summer. Do it up right this summer. With a gourmet picnic basket from Chesa Fina. From imported woven baskets, picnic packs, fine linens and cosmopolitan bar accessories, to chic mountainside dinnerware, we've got just what you need for a sumptuous Deer Valley summer. Or any kind of picnic for that matter. Imported Picnic Baskets & Packs Summer Dinnerware & Utensils Exquisite Linens Imported Bar Accessories Contemporary Martini Glasses Personal Wine Journals Retro French Chocolates Savvy BBQ Tools Photo Albums & Frames Designer Peppermills Fine Art & Hand Crafted Furniture Gift wrapping and gift certificates available. Complimentary espresso and teas. F I N A Swede Aley & Main St fnadtesafna.com 435.655.8200 ' I7 GROUP DAZZLING EVENTS FOR A DISCERNING CLIENTELE How We Live Is Very Much Influenced By Where We Live. Park CityDeer Valley provides room to ski, hike, golf, bike, fish, roam -or in other words, live life to the fullest. We offer properties that let you explore all of life's possibilities in the Wasatch Mountains. Live Well 1 Mark Sletten, realtor 1 MobUe: 435.640.0930 i Robin Sletten, realtor Mobile: 435.640.0218 Office: 435.647.8080 Fax 435.655.7745 www.slettenrealestate.com Our office is located at Park City Mtn. Resort Center, Park City, UT 84060 Prudential Utah RmI EsMa Eadi Office MtpoKfcMlr Owed A4 Ojxnted IQSEND ft The publiShGrparkrecord.com CirClllatiOnparkrecord.com prodUCtionparkrecordcom reateStat6parkrecord.com ClaSSiftedSparkrecord.com adSparkrecord.com Park Record MO BQQt? UoudofiMOStion? 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