History

The sauna has existed in various forms for thousands of years, its purpose, as a cleansing and relaxing habitation, has not changed over that time, but advances in technologies and applications have brought forth better and easier ways of enjoying the warmth of the sauna.

The first saunas were, in essence, holes in the ground with a fire pit in the center and a roof made of anything that could cover the fire, retain the heat and prevent rainfall, wind and cold disruption.

There’s no question our Finnish and Roman ancestors were on to something when they improved and embraced the traditions of sauna. The sauna was used to socialize with friends and rejuvenate the body after hours of hard labor.

It is the Finns that made sauna a cultural tradition and a way of life. While other cultures enjoyed dry heat, the Finns perfected it to a science.

The first “Finnish Sauna” in North America was built by Finnish and Swedish immigrants who settled in the Delaware River Valley before the American Revolution in 1638. Sauna bathing really took off between 1850 and 1920 in the United States when over 400,000 Finns left their homeland and traveled to the “New World”.

In the 1930s, American athletes discovered the benefits of sauna from their Finnish counterparts. With American’s passion for sports, the sauna tradition continued to grow throughout the 1940s. More people were exposed to the product in hotels and gyms in the 1950s. In the 1960s, sauna became its own small industry with companies like Metos Sauna from Finland, Viking Sauna and Helo Sauna all selling their products to the hot new market- the American consumer.

In the 1970s, the thrust for exercise once again impacted the growth of the American sauna market. More health clubs were built with saunas and saunas were now appearing in many hotels and motels. Companies like Amerec that sold both sauna and exercise equipment had tremendous growth. The 1980s and 1990s were perhaps the biggest growth for the American residential sauna market. Companies such as Amerec, Finnleo and Finlandia that specialized in custom saunas rooms dominated the market.

In 1984 Joe Leahy and Doug Smith founded Apex on the principles of strong customer service, local on site consulting and factory trained installers. Their quest for quality and customer service has made Apex one of the top sauna companies in America.

In 2006, John Gunderson (23 year veteran of the sauna and steam market) joined Apex. Joe, Doug and John have sold or installed over 20,000 saunas throughout the world over the past 25 years.