SaunaNews
Coverage is matched from article tags, headlines, excerpts, and known aliases so this page stays current as new reporting is added.
Bichler started at RUKU Sauna-Manufaktur on July 1, six days before KLAFS put its S1 on US sale at $44,900 to $51,900. KLAFS reached America inside Kohler, which already had US showrooms, US installers, and a listed heater. RUKU is 30 people, owned by a southern-German succession fund whose other four holdings are furniture, deep-hole drilling, auto parts, and precision machining. Its catalog names VDE and TUV testing with the GS mark, and no North American mark at all.
KLAFS, a Kohler subsidiary, begins taking US orders for the S1 retractable sauna at $44,900 to $51,900. Beside Sun Home’s $10,599 Nova launch the same week, the S1 marks the top of a market that is stratifying fast.
Leisurecraft launches the CT Element, a glass-fronted indoor sauna kit in three sizes built from Thermo Grandis. Priced between Almost Heaven and Auroom, it fills a gap in the home sauna market, but the wood choice and Canadian shipping logistics deserve a closer look.
Kohler acquired KLAFS in 2024 and is now selling European-built saunas in the US with turnkey nationwide installation and a proprietary KLAFS FERO heater. SaunaNews maps the corporate strategy, the dual-brand play, and the vertical integration behind the biggest brand entrance the American sauna market has seen.