AQUA PROUDLY PRESENTS THE 2009 AQUA 100, our list of the most-professional retailers, builders and service companies in the business. You’ll notice that the companies listed in the following pages build, retail and repair a wide variety of products. What you won’t see, however, is any information about how many pools a company built, how many spas a store sold or how much a service company billed for weekly maintenance. We don’t think professionalism can be quantified in those ways. That’s been the AQUA 100’s stance all along.
Gallery of Excellence
Year of Hall Of Fame induction in parentheses.
Above-Ground Pool & Spa Company (2004) | Anchor Aquatech Pools & Spas Inc. (2003) | Aqua Pool & Patio, Inc. (2004) | Aqua Quip (1996) | Aqua Spas & Pools (2001) | Aqua-Blue Aquatech Pools & Spas (1996) | AQUA-Liberty Pool, Spa & Hearth (2004) | Aqualand Pool, Spa & Patio (2007) | Aquarius Pool & Spa Service (2003) | Arkansas Pools & Spas (2002) | Bachmann Pools & Spas, LLC (2005) | Backyard Amenities (2004) | Backyards of America (2002) | Branch Brook Co. (1998) | Browning Pool & Spa (2002) | Budd’s Pool Co. Inc. (1998) | Burnett Pools Inc. (1996) | California Pools & Spas (2002) | Carlson Pool & Spa Inc. (1996) | Charlottesville Aquatics (2004) | Colley’s Pools & Spas (2007) | Concord Pools Ltd. (2002) | Crystal Pools Inc. (2003) | Custom Pools, Inc. (1996) | Dolphin Pool Supply & Service Inc. (2002) | Dover Pools & Supplies (1996) | Downes Swimming Pool Co. Inc. (2003) | Eastgate Pools & Spas | Easton Pool and Spa Inc. (2004) | Essig Pools Inc. (2001) | Family Pools & Spas (2003) | Flohr Pools, Inc. (2008) | Gohlke Pools (2003) | Great Atlantic Pools, Spas, Patio, Fireplace (2005) | Greenwood Swimpool Co. Inc. (2001) | Gym & Swim, “A Master Pool Builder” (2003) | Hot Spring Spa of North County (2001) | Intermountain Aquatech (2003) | International Hot Tub Co. Inc. (2002) | JABCO Inc. Master Pools (2002) | Knickerbocker Pools & Spas (2001) | Lewis Aquatech | Lifestyles Hot Spring Spas (2002) | Long Island Hot Tubs (2002) | Luther Stem Pools & Spas (2009) | Maryland Pools, Inc. (2005) | Master Pools by Patio Pools of Tucson (1996) | Mermaid Pools & Spas (2002) | Mission Pools Inc. (2004) | Mountain Hot Tub, Inc. (2004) | New England Spas & Sunrooms (2003) | Greenwood Swimpool Co. Inc. (2001) | Gym & Swim, “A Master Pool Builder” (2003) | Hot Spring Spa of North County (2001) | Intermountain Aquatech (2003) | International Hot Tub Co. Inc. (2002) | JABCO Inc. Master Pools (2002) | Knickerbocker Pools & Spas (2001) | Lewis Aquatech | Lifestyles Hot Spring Spas (2002) | Long Island Hot Tubs (2002) | Luther Stem Pools & Spas (2009) | Maryland Pools, Inc. (2005) | Master Pools by Patio Pools of Tucson (1996) | Mermaid Pools & Spas (2002) | Mission Pools Inc. (2004) | Mountain Hot Tub, Inc. (2004) | New England Spas & Sunrooms (2003) | Niagara Pools and Spas | Ocean Spray Hot Tubs & Saunas (2009) | Olympia Pools & Spas | Olympic Hot Tub Company (2002) | Oregon HotSpring Spas, Inc. (2005) | Paddock Pool Construction Co. (1998) | Palmer Pool Sales (2004) | Paragon Pools (2009) | Performance Pool & Spa Inc. (2004) | Perry Pools & Spas (2002) | Pettis Pools & Patio (2002) | Piper Pools Inc. (2002) | Platinum-Poolcase Aquatech, Ltd. | Polynesian Pools (2008) | Pool & Patio Center, Inc. (2006) | Pool & Spa Outlet (2003) | Pool World Inc. (2000) | Poolman of Wisconsin, Inc. | Pools of Fun, Inc. | Pools Plus Inc. (2000) | Poolside (2008) | Pulliam Aquatech Pools (2002) | Rainbow Pools & Spas (2001) | Regina Pools & Spas (2000) | River Oaks Pools, LP (2006) | Riverbend Pools (2004) | Roberts Pool & Spa (2009) | Rosebrook Pools, Inc. | Royal Pools & Spas Inc. (2001) | Sabine Aquatech Pools & Spas (2009) | Sandler Pools (2003) | Seasonal Specialty Stores Inc. (2002) | Shasta Pools & Spas (1996) | Southwest Pools & Spas/A Master Pool Builder (2003) | Spa Palace Inc. (2002) | Teddy Bear Pools and Spas Inc. (1998) | Texas Blue Lake Pools Inc. (2002) | The Pool Doctor of Rhode Island Inc. (2003) | Thouin Enterprises Inc. (2002) | Tubs of Fun! The Family Recreation Superstore | Ultra Modern Pool & Patio Inc. (2001) | Valley Pools & Spas (1999) | Vaughan Pools & Spas | Walnut Ridge Pool & Patio Inc. (2002) | Watson’s of Cincinnati (2000) | Westport Pools (2009) | Wildwood Aquatech Pools, Inc. (2005) | Wise Pools (2002) | Wolter Pool Co. Inc. (2009)
2009 HALL OF FAME:Luther Stem Pools & Spas
LOCATION: Fort Smith, Ark. | PRINCIPALS: Luther N. Stem II, founder; Luther N. Stem III, president; Wendell W. Stem, vice president; Debra Stem secretary/treasurer | FOUNDED: 1962 | LOCATIONS: 1 | EMPLOYEES: 30 year-round, 37 in season | PRODUCTS/SERVICES: gunite pools, indoor pools, commercial pools, renovations, ponds, decks, spas, above-ground pools, saunas, chemicals, pool equipment, gazebos, toys, residential service, commercial service
Like many children of entrepreneurs, Wendell Stem grew up in the family business, working for his dad during summers and school breaks.
“If we wanted to be around my father, we worked,” he says. “My dad was a worker. His hobby was work. So when we had free time, we helped build pools.”
Like many other lucky families, the Stems discovered early that working together can build the strongest of bonds, and a family can form around an enterprise.
Luther Stem, Jr., Wendell’s father, started the business in 1962, the year his son was born. It started innocently enough. The first pool Luther Stem built was his own.
“He built a swimming pool in the backyard for my brother and sister, who are a little bit older than I am,” Wendell says.
That first pool led to a long succession of projects.
“People just kept asking him to build them a pool,” Wendell says.
Still, Luther was wary of jumping into the pool business fulltime, as he was making a steady living in the aggregate field. It took years of successful pool projects before he decided to commit everything to the leisure-oriented pool industry.
“He’d been operating a hauling business, where he had several dump trucks that he used to haul sand and gravel to a ready-mix plant. After about 15 years of doing both, he got out of the hauling business.”
Since the days of home-based concrete pool construction, Luther Stem Pools And Spas has grown to include a large retail showroom for spas, and now offers installation of above-grounds and even a dedicated concrete pumping division.
“My brother (Luther Stem III) runs that division,” Wendell says. “while my sister (Debra Stem) sells and designs pools and runs the concrete construction crew through her foreman.
“I have the retail sales. I’m general manager, service, above-ground pool and spa sales. So we all have our own divisions.”
Although retired now, Luther still stops in to check on things from time to time. “He comes by and visits every once in a while,” says Wendell. “He’s very proud of the business; very proud of his family.
2009 HALL OF FAME:Ocean Spray Hot Tubs & Saunas
LOCATION: Westhampton Beach, N.Y. | PRINCIPALS: Joseph Musnicki, president | FOUNDED: 1981 | LOCATIONS: 4 | EMPLOYEES: 25 year-round, 35 in season | PRODUCTS/SERVICES: gunite pools, renovations, spas, saunas, chemicals, gazebos, residential service, commercial service
Joseph Musnicki, president of Ocean Spray, had spent 15 years working for Pepsi-Cola’s sales and marketing team when he realized he needed a change. He was spending a lot of time on the road and didn’t see a lot of room for advancement there. Why not be my own boss? he thought.
“So I looked for a need in the community, and I came up with swimming pool service,” Musnicki recalls. “I started up on a very small budget of under $1,000, and that included a $200 truck.”
Within a few years he’d opened a retail store, had some people working for him and had about 75 accounts. “Life was good,” he says.
Then, around 1984, his customers began asking him about portable hot tubs. Not seeing much available, Musnicki decided to build and install them himself, starting with the shell, adding jets, plumbing and controls, then placing them in customers’ decks.
“So we provided the shell and plumbing,” Musnicki says, “then we’d have to get an electrician involved, a carpenter, the gas company. There were a lot of components to the job all over the place. I realized that if this hot tub thing ever really took off, the factory-made tubs would be the way to go.
“We were very successful building acrylic spas, and some gunite and stainless-steel spas, and it was personally rewarding. But the portable and self-contained spa business was coming east.”
In 1989, Ocean Spray was chosen to be Hot Spring’s regional dealer. Over the years, its territory expanded, and by 1993 Musnicki says the company had become the largest Hot Spring dealer in the Northeast.
“In the early years, portable spas were new to the area and quite a bit of education was needed to make the sale,” he says. “But since 1989, we’ve sold over 5,000 spas and we now have four showrooms in two states.”
These showrooms are staffed with a loyal group of salespeople and support staff, some of which have been with Musnicki since near the beginning.
“The average employee has been here for 12 years, and we have some that have been with the company for over 20,” he says.
2009 HALL OF FAME:Paragon Pools
LOCATION: Las Vegas, Nev. | PRINCIPALS: Joseph M. Vassallo, president | FOUNDED: 2001 | LOCATIONS: 1 | EMPLOYEES: 10 year-round and in season | PRODUCTS/SERVICES: gunite pools, indoor pools, commercial pools, renovations, ponds, decks
Joe Vassallo’s Paragon Pools has only been around for eight years, but the company found itself on the prestigious AQUA 100 for five of them, beginning in 2004. Last year marked the fifth straight appearance, earning the Las Vegas-based builder a spot in the AQUA 100 Hall of Fame.
Paragon prides itself on its range of building projects, from small, simply designed vessels to award-winning backyards that include vanishing edges, water features, rock work, fire effects, sculpture and almost anything else Vassallo and his clients can dream up.
But while Paragon’s pools get plenty of attention, Vassallo is perhaps best known for what he does away from the water. He’s a frequent presenter at national trade shows, speaking on a range of issues, from design- and business-oriented topics to working with state contractors boards and dealing with legislative issues.
He also shares his expertise with the public through a column he writes for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Nevada’s largest-circulation newspaper. Vassallo’s columns, which appear every other week, have touched on salt-chlorine generators, pool renovations and recouping the cost of a pool when selling a home, but also on lighter topics, such as poolside potables (alcoholic and non) and backyard barbecue recipes.
But his biggest contribution to the industry is arguably his tireless advocacy for safety, most notably through the Float Like a Duck program. Held in conjunction with the local chapter of the American Red Cross and the city of Las Vegas, the program educates the public on the importance of pool safety in and around swimming pools and other bodies of water. The event’s focus is on teaching young children to float, one of the building blocks of learning to swim and an important skill to have to stay “water safe.”
2009 HALL OF FAME:Sabine Aquatech Pools & Spas
LOCATION: Lake Charles, La. | PRINCIPALS: Joey Tassin, president; Dean Tassin, operations manager; David Tassin, sales manager | FOUNDED: 1975 | LOCATIONS: 4 | EMPLOYEES: 62 year-round, 78 in season | PRODUCTS/SERVICES: gunite pools, vinyl-liner pools, fiberglass pools, indoor pools, commercial pools, renovations, spas, above-ground pools, chemicals, pool equipment, casual furniture, toys, playsets, residential service, commercial service
Houston Tassin was 35 years old when he traded the security of his job as a lab analyst at a petrochemical plant in Orange, Texas, to become a pool contractor. Now, 34 years later, Tassin says, “I set out knowing this business had the potential to give us a good income if we were willing to work hard. It has given me a retirement better than my wildest dreams.”
Houston and his wife, Deanna, started Sabine Pools from their home in Vinton, La., in 1975. Lloyd Broussard, also of Vinton, began working for Houston a year later, and together they built gunite pools all around Southwest Louisiana. After five years of 16-hour days, they opened a retail store in Sulphur, La., to sell chemicals. Deanna ran that store, while the company branched out into vinyl-liner pools and portable spas. By 1980, they’d grown big enough to move into the larger market of Lake Charles, purchasing a competitor and doubling its retail presence. This move made Sabine the biggest and oldest pool company in Southwest Louisiana.
Deanna passed away in 1986, but Houston trudged on, with the support of the couple’s five children and Lloyd, who was still working for Sabine.
In 1987, son Joey graduated and became the CFO, working with his younger brothers, Dean and David. “Houston still wasn’t big on titles,” Joey says, “but we could all repair the Kreepy or clean the pool with it, whatever it took.”
Houston remarried, and with his new wife, Judi Forman, bought property and in 1989 constructed a huge new showroom with office space in Lake Charles. Two years later, Sabine expanded into Lafayette, La. Meanwhile, Joey’s younger brothers were finishing college.
Then, in 2000, the brothers purchased the company from their father, and expanded the company further, opening a second store in Lafayette. In 2008, Sabine expanded into the Baton Rouge area.
With sales approaching $10 million, Sabine is cautiously moving ahead in 2009.
“We are going to continue to focus on providing our customers with the best possible products and services we can offer,” Joey says. “That’s the best insurance we have against whatever looms ahead, and the best way to grow this great company that our dad envisioned so many years ago.”
2009 HALL OF FAME:Westport Pools
LOCATION: Maryland Heights, Mo. | PRINCIPALS: James Bastian, chairman; Wayne George, vice president; Bert Forde, president of Midwest Pool Management | FOUNDED: 1967 | LOCATIONS: 1 | EMPLOYEES: 80 year-round, 90 in season | PRODUCTS/SERVICES: gunite pools, indoor pools, commercial pools, renovations, chemicals, pool equipment, casual furniture, residential service, commercial service
Westport has been in the pool business since the Johnson administration, gradually working its way from a small pool management and lifeguarding company in 1967 to the high-end residential and high-profile commercial builder it is today.
“In the late ’70s we started building some swimming pools,” recalls James Bastian, chairman and president of the company he purchased in 1972. “Initially it was residential, then around 1980 we started doing some small commercial, condominiums and subdivision-type pools.”
By the end of the 1980s, Westport was fully immersed in the commercial side of the businesses, including some work on high school natatoriums. Its sister company, Midwest Pool Management, run by partner Bert Forde, was also growing and at the time was operating pools for the city of St. Peters. When nearby St. Louis was chosen to host the 1994 Olympic Festival, St. Peters was selected as the site of the diving competition, and the city manager asked Westport to build a pool for it.
“He called me and wanted to make sure we were going to bid on the pool,” Bastian says. “I told him we’d never done anything that size and didn’t really feel comfortable with it. He told me we’d better get comfortable because we were going to bid on that job!”
Westport did put together a bid, got the job and built the pool.
“That’s when we started doing really significant commercial pools,” Bastian says. “Now we do things like Ohio State University, the University of Missouri, the University of Tennessee and Grinnell, which we’re doing right now.”
Westport is also focused on expanding its geographic reach, something that’s necessary when you’re building big pools for major universities.
Together, Westport Pools and Midwest Pool Management employ about 1,600 during the season. That’s a number that includes a lot of lifeguards, something Bastian, Forde and the third partner, Wayne George, know a little about.
“I worked as a lifeguard for a couple of years,” Bastian says. “Wayne and Bert started here the same year as lifeguards and have been here about 35 years. They worked summers through college and ended up spending the rest of their lives here.”
2009 HALL OF FAME:Wolter Pool Co.
LOCATION: Beloit, Wis. | PRINCIPALS: Tom Larson, president; Kim Wolter, vice president | FOUNDED: 1965 | LOCATIONS: 1 | EMPLOYEES: 8 year-round, 18 in season | PRODUCTS/SERVICES: vinyl-liner pools, indoor pools, renovations, spas, above-ground pools, swim spas, saunas, chemicals, pool equipment, gazebos, casual furniture, toys, grills, hearth products, holiday items, residential service
In 1965, Russell Wolter decided he wanted a pool in his backyard. He ordered a kit, installed the pool himself, then got down to the business of enjoying it. Soon the neighbors saw what he’d done and began asking if he could help them realize the dream of pool ownership, too.
Before long, Russell and his wife, Patricia, had not only a pool of their own, but a fledgling pool company, too. He built and serviced pools, she stayed back and sold chemicals and solar blankets out of the garage.
The business grew, even in the early years, but not so rapidly that Russell felt he could leave his job as a regional theater manager.
“He had responsibilities at theaters in Beloit, Janesville and Lake Geneva, and for the first 16 years we worked both jobs,” says Tom Larson, a former product manager at Sta-Rite and current co-owner and company president. “He’d get up, build pools, then come home, eat and shower then go work at the theaters until midnight. Then he’d get up and do it all over again.”
In 1981, he finally decided the pool business was good enough to could quit his day job.
“They had built a nice, small store behind their house,” Larson says. “Then in 1985 he built a large warehouse, and in 2001 he built a 10,000-square-foot facility about a quarter mile from their house.”
That new facility includes a 6,000-square-foot showroom and 4,000 square feet of warehouse space.
Russell and Pat ran the store for 41 years, then in 2006 they sold it to their oldest daughter, Kim Wolter, and Kim’s brother-in-law, Larson.
This second-generation ownership team plans to shift some focus to spa sales and service, a part of the business Kim’s parents had been building up for the last dozen years, according to Larson.
“That seems to be our biggest growth area,” he says. “Spas last year weren’t too bad, even though the industry overall is down 40 to 50 percent over the last few years. We were actually up in 2007 and only down a little last year.”
AQUA 100 Profiles:
Eastgate Pools & Spas WWW.EASTGATEPOOLS.COM
LOCATION: Cincinnati, Ohio | PRINCIPALS: G. Brandstetter, president; M. West, D. Brandstetter, John Stengel, B. Hennessey, vice presidents | MOTTO: Resort Living at Home. | FOUNDED: 1976 | LOCATIONS: 1 | EMPLOYEES: 36 year-round, 47 in season | AQUA 100 APPEARANCES: 8 | PRODUCTS/SERVICES: vinyl-liner pools, above-ground pools, spas, swim spas, saunas, chemicals, pool equipment, gazebos, casual furniture, toys, grills, hearth products, tanning beds, billiards, residential service
PROFILE: Max West, vice president of Eastgate Pools & Spas, credits a successful direct-mail campaign for a lot of the business his company did in 2008. He says the company plans on maintaining its ad budget in 2009, a move retailing consultants would applaud. “You have to keep a presence,” he says. Spa sales were down only slightly at Eastgate, meaning the Cincinnati retailer did a lot better than many of its peers nationwide.
BEST THING I DID FOR MY COMPANY IN 2008: We did a direct-mail blitz on existing customers that are already prequalified.
TIP FOR SUCCESS: Eliminate frivolous spending and work to keep existing customers. Utilize their referrals.
Lewis Aquatech
WWW.LEWIS-AQUATECH.COMLOCATION: Chantilly, Va. | PRINCIPALS: Joseph Gwizdz Sr., president; Donald Gwizdz, secretary-treasurer;Joseph Gwizdz, vice president | FOUNDED: 1947 | LOCATIONS: 1 | EMPLOYEES: 43 year-round, 63 in season | AQUA 100 APPEARANCES: 4 | PRODUCTS/SERVICES: gunite pools, indoor pools, commercial pools, renovations, ponds, decks, pool houses, chemicals, pool equipment, toys, grills, hearth products, residential service
PROFILE: Not everyone had a bad year in 2008. Lewis Aquatech saw revenues increase as it put in more in-ground pools than it had the year before. The company also began work on pavilions, tennis courts, landscaping and irrigation to find additional work. Principal Don Gwizdz is also bucking the trend by upping Lewis Aquatech’s ad budget this year.
BEST THING I DID FOR MY COMPANY IN 2008: We added products and services.
TIP FOR SUCCESS: Broaden your construction scope beyond the pool to include more outdoor products.
Niagara Pools and Spas
WWW.1800THEPOOL.COMLOCATION: Blackwood, N.J. | PRINCIPALS: Kenneth Smith, owner | FOUNDED: 1957 | LOCATIONS: 4 | EMPLOYEES: 35 year-round, 65 in season | AQUA 100 APPEARANCES: 5 | PRODUCTS/SERVICES: vinyl-liner pools, renovations, above-ground pools, decks, spas, swim spas, chemicals, pool equipment, gazebos, toys, tanning beds, billiards, residential service, commercial service
PROFILE: Don’t try to tell the principals at Niagara Pools and Spas that the glass is half empty — they’re not having it. Sales were off a bit because of the economy in 2008, especially in portable hot tubs, but company owner Kenneth Smith predicts an economic turnaround to help sales in 2009. (That’s the spirit!) He’s not content to wait, however, and plans to tweak his marketing strategy to boost sales and to beef up Niagara’s online presence with a bigger and better Web site. “Our industry is facing harsh economic times like everyone else, but we are enthusiastic about the coming years,” Smith says.
BEST THING I DID FOR MY COMPANY IN 2008: Adding another location.
TIP FOR SUCCESS: Customer service is now more important than ever. Be consistent and be ready.
Olympia Pools & Spas
WWW.OLYMPIAPOOLSANDSPAS.COMLOCATION: Fort Wayne, Ind. | PRINCIPALS: Keith Hoskins, president; Judy Hoskins, secretary; Brian Hoskins, vice president; John Hoskins, vice president | MOTTO: #1 in Backyard Fun! FOUNDED: 1970 | LOCATIONS: 2 | EMPLOYEES: 15 year-round, 25 in season | AQUA 100 APPEARANCES: 6 | PRODUCTS/SERVICES: fiberglass pools, indoor pools, commercial pools, renovations, decks, spas, swim spas, saunas, chemicals, pool equipment, gazebos, casual furniture, toys, grills, playsets, residential service, commercial service
PROFILE: Keith Hoskins, president of this Fort Wayne builder and retailer, is scaling back his ad budget for 2009 in response to the nation’s weak economy. Revenues were off last year, as they were nearly everywhere, but the company did manage to reduce inventory and debt in 2008.
BEST THING I DID FOR MY COMPANY IN 2008: We reduced our inventory and debt.
TIP FOR SUCCESS: We still feel strongly that well-trained employees are essential, as are memberships in the Master Pools Guild, APSP and a close relationship with AQUA.
Platinum-Poolcare Aquatech, Ltd.
WWW.PLATINUMPOOLCARE.COMLOCATION: Wheeling, Ill. | PRINCIPALS: James D. Atlas, principal; Terry Smith, principal | MOTTO: The exclamation point on your home. FOUNDED: 1988 | LOCATIONS: 1 | EMPLOYEES: 40 year-round, 120 in season | AQUA 100 APPEARANCES: 4 | PRODUCTS/SERVICES: gunite pools, indoor pools, commercial pools, renovations, residential service, commercial service
PROFILE: As much trouble as the average American has faced because of the economy, it seems there’s a segment of the population that’s unaffected and willing to spend money on expensive pools. These people bought pools from Platinum Poolcare Aquatech in 2008. Revenues there bucked the industry trend, but James Atlas, principal, thinks 2009 will be a little softer as the local and regional economies hamper customers’ willingness to buy. The company will focus on growing the service side of the business to help make up the difference.
BEST THING I DID FOR MY COMPANY IN 2008:We focused attention on the needs of the clients.
TIP FOR SUCCESS: Be flexible and willing to explore opportunities that are unorthodox and unexpected.
Poolman of Wisconsin, Inc.
WWW.POOLMANONLINE.COMLOCATION: Eau Claire, Wis. | PRINCIPALS: Wes Wiedenbeck, president; Barb Wiedenbeck, vice president | MOTTO: Families who play together, stay together. |FOUNDED: 1983 | LOCATIONS: 1 | EMPLOYEES: 5 year-round, 9 in season | AQUA 100 APPEARANCES: 6 | PRODUCTS/SERVICES:vinyl-liner pools, fiberglass pools, indoor pools, commercial pools, renovations, above-ground pools, spas, swim spas, chemicals, pool equipment, gazebos, toys, grills, hearth products, residential service
PROFILE: As much trouble as the average American has faced because of the economy, it seems there’s a segment of the population that’s unaffected and willing to spend money on expensive pools. These people bought pools from Platinum Poolcare Aquatech in 2008. Revenues there bucked the industry trend, but James Atlas, principal, thinks 2009 will be a little softer as the local and regional economies hamper customers’ willingness to buy. The company will focus on growing the service side of the business to help make up the difference.
BEST THING I DID FOR MY COMPANY IN 2008:We focused attention on the needs of the clients.
TIP FOR SUCCESS: Be flexible and willing to explore opportunities that are unorthodox and unexpected.
Pools of Fun, Inc.
WWW.POOLSOFFUN.COMLOCATION: Plainfield, Ind. | PRINCIPALS: Tim Colon, president | MOTTO: Yes, there is a difference . . . With Indiana’s Largest Pool Company. |FOUNDED: 1981 | LOCATIONS: 5 | EMPLOYEES: 31 year-round, 46 in season | AQUA 100 APPEARANCES: 6 | PRODUCTS/SERVICES: vinyl-liner pools, fiberglass pools, indoor pools, commercial pools, renovations, decks, spas, chemicals, pool equipment, casual furniture, toys, grills
PROFILE: Everybody did battle with the economy in 2008, but Pools of Fun also had to wage war against the weather last summer. Those forces, combined with the difficulty for customers to secure financing, conspired to dampen sales. Bruce Holmes, vice president of sales and marketing, cites those same factors for his cautious forecast for 2009. He’s expecting revenues to match last year’s, however. The company’s new back-to-basics business approach and some internal reorganizing should help Pools of Fun achieve that goal, Holmes says.
BEST THING I DID FOR MY COMPANY IN 2008: Reorganizing and becoming the right sized company.
TIP FOR SUCCESS: Get back to basics in business practice, increase communications and restructure.
Rosebrook Pools, Inc.
WWW.ROSEBROOKPOOLS.COMLOCATION: Libertyville, Ill. | PRINCIPALS: Jamison C. Ori, president; Jona Ori, president; Joe Ori, CFO; Jason Ori, vice president | FOUNDED: 1943 | LOCATIONS: 1 | EMPLOYEES: 48 year-round, 63 in season | AQUA 100 APPEARANCES: 2 | PRODUCTS/SERVICES: gunite pools, indoor pools, commercial pools, renovations, ponds, decks, residential service, commercial service
PROFILE: Rosebrook built fewer pools in 2008 than it did the year before, ut the projects were larger in scope and had more high-end features and water effects. For that reason, the company’s gross revenues grew by a healthy amount. The company expects another jump in revenues for 2009 as it continues to focus on this segment of the market, says owner Jamie Ori.
BEST THING I DID FOR MY COMPANY IN 2008: Putting systems in place to enhance communication between our customers, job site foremen, managers and company owners. We provide an environment where our customers are able to have any and all questions or concerns addressed with immediacy.
TIP FOR SUCCESS: Continuing education is extremely important (we are Genesis 3 members). Not only does a company stay current in the industry, it also provides an outstanding network of information sharing.
Tubs of Fun! The Family Recreation Superstore
WWW.TUBSOFFUN.COMLOCATION: Fargo, N.D. | PRINCIPALS: Troy Derheim, president and sole owner | MOTTO: We will be our customer’s “new best friend.” | FOUNDED: 1991 | LOCATIONS: 2 | EMPLOYEES: 18 year-round, 24 in season | AQUA 100 APPEARANCES: 4 | PRODUCTS/SERVICES: vinyl-liner pools, fiberglass pools, indoor pools, commercial pools, renovations, above-ground pools, ponds, decks, spas, swim spas, saunas, chemicals, pool equipment, gazebos, casual furniture, toys, grills, playsets, billiards, holiday items, residential service, commercial service
PROFILE: Tubs of Fun! has found success in the in-ground market with a move into the commercial market and is planning on less-expensive pool designs to keep things moving in 2009. Spas aren’t selling as well in Fargo, mirroring a nationwide trend, so company president Troy Derheim says he’s hoping to just keep sales consistent. Overall revenues were bolstered by the addition of a second location in ’08. “We will aggressively pursue the market,” Derheim says. Like many of his colleagues, he lists the faltering economy and tight credit markets as the biggest challenges facing the industry.
BEST THING I DID FOR MY COMPANY IN 2008: Focusing on construction.
TIP FOR SUCCESS: Remember your existing customers, make them smile and they will grow your business.
Vaughan Pools & Spas
WWW.VAUGHANPOOLS.COMLOCATION: Jefferson City, Mo. | PRINCIPALS: Richard Vaughan, president; Cathy Crocker, secretary; Rick Vaughan, treasurer | MOTTO: Dreams come true. | FOUNDED: 1971 | LOCATIONS: 5 | EMPLOYEES: 75 year-round, 90 in season | AQUA 100 APPEARANCES: 8 | PRODUCTS/SERVICES: gunite pools, indoor pools, commercial pools, renovations, above-ground pools, fountains, spas, swim spas, saunas, chemicals, pool equipment, gazebos, toys, grills, tanning beds, residential service, commercial service
PROFILE: Vaughan Pools & Spas beat the odds and installed about the same number of in-ground pools in 2008 as it did the year before. Company treasurer Rick Vaughan doesn’t expect a huge decline in 2009, either, though he estimates sales will drop a little. The economy took a bite out of spa sales, but above-grounds were actually up. Vaughan credits the company’s change to a less-expensive line for the company’s strength in that category.
TIP FOR SUCCESS: Emphasize customer service.
Labor Of Love
Walk into a pool and spa retailer and you never know what you’re going to get. Well, they’ll likely have spas and chemicals, but beyond that almost anything goes. Toys and above-grounds sell well in season; billiards and hearth products help to even things out during the off-season. Then there are the builders — a group that ranges from small Midwestern companies that install a handful of package pools a year to California and Florida behemoths building and billing hundreds of high-end projects annually. Here’s a look at this year’s diverse group of winners and what they do and sell.
86% of the AQUA 100 companies do retail, and of those . . .- 100% sell chemicals
- 82% sell pool equipment
- 82% sell toys
- 80% sell portable spas
- 70% sell grills
- 68% sell above-ground pools
- 64% sell gazebos
- 64% sell swim spas
- 40% sell casual furniture
- 40% sell saunas
- 30% sell hearth products
- 30% sell billiards
- 20% sell backyard play systems
- 9% sell holiday items
88% of the AQUA 100 companies do construction, and of those . . .
- 90% do renovations
- 82% build indoor pools
- 80% build commercial pools
- 60% build decks
- 50% build vinyl-liner pools
- 50% install above-ground pools
- 45% build gunite pools/spas
- 40% install fiberglass pools
- 36% build ponds
- 100% service residential pools
- 67% service commercial pools
Let’s Run The Numbers
It’s tempting to ignore financial data from last year and focus on the positive. How much more can be said about 2008 in the spa and pool business, anyway? It was bad, but do we have to quantify it?
Yes, we’re going to go ahead and examine the numbers from 2008, painful as that may be. Someday we can look back at this period and hopefully realize some good came of it. Maybe it’ll teach you to run a leaner operation or maybe it’ll sharpen your sales skills.
Besides, it’s not as if the industry shut down in 2008. Lots of people still bought the products our industry sells. All told, those sales added up to $159.4 million, or an average of $5.7 million per company that responded, a number that’s about even with last year.
As usual, there’s a wide gap between the biggest company ($13.7 million in gross sales) and the smallest ($1 million), but the AQUA 100 has always turned a blind eye to that, and readers don’t know from looking at the profiles where each company falls. We feel that’s important, and that professionalism can’t be observed in a stack of deposit slips. Instead, it’s measured in a commitment to quality and in satisfied customers.
That said, here’s a look at what the companies on this year’s AQUA 100 did, money-wise, and what they’re hoping to do in 2009.
2008 GROSS REVENUESLess than $5 million......................................47%$5 million to $9.9 million..............................39%$10 million to $15 million..............................14%
WERE REVENUES UP OR DOWN IN 2008?Up...................................................................32%Down.............................................................64%Same.............................................................4%
WILL REVENUES BE UP OR DOWN IN 2009?Up...................................................................29%Down.............................................................46%Same.............................................................25%
Sales Details
A look back at last April’s AQUA 100 shows a group that had generally seen soft sales in 2007 but was cautiously optimistic about 2008. Housing prices had leveled out after years of growth, but a recession was far from a certainty, with fewer than half of polled economists predicting one. Who could have foreseen the economic tailspin the world would be thrown into in 2008, or a Dow at levels not seen since the late ‘90s? It’s safe to say that 2008 won’t be recalled fondly by many in the industry.
For 2009, our group is predicting a rough year, with only the most optimistic telling us they’d see revenues rise. Most are hoping to stay even with last year’s sales, a feat that would rival 50 percent growth during more-prosperous times.
PORTABLE SPASAmong last April’s AQUA 100 winning companies, only one in seven sold more hot tubs than they had the year before. That represented a steep drop from the previous two years, when about one in three reported gains in unit sales. This year only one of those surveyed told us they’d seen sales rise. Predictably, the economy shouldered the blame in almost all cases.
Added together, the group sold 2,612 spas in 2008, and, thanks to some optimism on the part of a high-volume dealer or two, the group expects to sell 2,844 in 2009. Most dealers told us they’d be happy if sales stayed even with 2008, however.
IN-GROUND POOLSFor only the second time since 2001, the majority of AQUA 100 survey respondents that sell in-ground pools saw sales slip last year. In fact, only 14 percent sold and built more pools last year than they had the year before. Weather got off the hook completely, with the economy and the related housing market and credit crunch getting all the blame.
To be fair, one in four saw sales stay even with previous-year figures, adding credence to the widely held belief that in-ground sales are affected by the economy less than portable spas and above grounds. Added together, the winners sold 1,254 pools in 2009. Not surprisingly, most are expecting sales to slide in 2009, as widespread bad economic news begins to affect even the affluent.
There was a bit of a silver lining for some builders, who sold fewer pools but had luck attracting bigger-ticket pools and/or getting into the commercial market.
ABOVE-GROUND POOLSYou can’t judge above-ground pool sales without considering the weather, and some survey respondents did blame Mother Nature for part of their woes in 2008, but the overwhelming majority focused the blame squarely on the economy.
Another factor that’s been hurting the above-ground segment is the inexpensive (read: cheap) inflatable pools available at giant retailers like Wal-Mart and Target. Those types of pools might actually gain even more market share from traditional, steel-walled above-grounds given the difficulty customers are having securing financing at pool stores. It’s predicted to be a tough year, but above-ground manufacturers and retailers continue to hold out hope that the downward trend will turn, or at least flatten out a bit.
AQUA 100 winners that answered our survey sold 1,614 above-ground pools, and expect to sell around that same number in 2009. And if that happens, most industry insiders would look at the year as an unqualified success.
CHEMICALSRetailers and builders may have reported poor sales almost across the board (pools, spas, casual furniture, hearth products, et. al.), but chemical sales were the notable exception. Sure, some told us customers had cut back on chemical purchases, but for the vast majority of homeowners, keeping pool and spa water clean remained a priority.
Sales stayed the same or increased for 60 percent of the AQUA 100 companies that answered our survey, and all but a small handful are expecting sales to at least remain steady in 2009.
A decline in new pool and spa customers did hurt sales a bit last year, and many AQUA 100 executives pointed to that as a reason sales fell short of their expectations. Those same respondents said that factor would again put a damper on growth in chemical sales in 2009.
High Anxiety
We’ve been compiling lists of what’s been worrying industry insiders for years now, but never have so many agreed about the biggest problem we’re facing. I’m talking about the deep and wide recession that’s gripped the globe, of course.
Some respondents found other things to worry about, too. Maybe they’re just tired of complaining about the economy.
Anyway, here’s a sampling of concerns voiced by AQUA 100 member companies:
“The state of the economy. It’s in total lock-down right now.”
“The fight for disposable income. There is less of it now.”
“Lending restrictions.”
“Inability for pool and spa dealers to obtain financing for their customers.”
“The biggest challenge we see in the industry pertains to poor image due to lack of professionalism. This is reflected in both poor customer service and neglecting to participate in continuing education programs.”
“Adjusting overhead to meet lower demand for products.”
“Affordability. We put too much emphasis on high-end, high-tech, ‘wow’ factor.”
“Hanging on until we recover.”
“Unrealistic price cutting by competition, which drags down the industry.”
“Unemployment for customers.”
“The inability to make our products a ‘must have.’ They are too expensive in customers’ eyes.”
“Lack of education as to the benefits of owning a spa.”
“The media keeps drumming into our heads how bad things are. Even those people who have not been impacted with the loss of a job are fearful of spending money.”
“Dealers spend too much time dealing with vendor and product issues and not enough time with consumers.”
