Spotlight is a monthly feature in AQUA magazine that takes a brief look at an innovative product, project or whatever catches our eye. This month, we see take a look at Genco Pools & Spa's philanthropic efforts.
For the team at Genco Pools & Spas, the people who come into their store are more than just patrons, and their hometown is more than just a customer base. The list of local events the company enthusiastically supports and celebrates is impressive, and ranges from charities to holiday festivals to sporting events to public service.
Genco’s commitment to the community is clearly more than just a management program to brighten the company’s image and help sell pools (although it can’t possibly hurt). Rather, the company exemplifies the decency and warmth that particularly marks the pool and spa industry to those who know it well.
Recently the crew turned out en masse for the local Relay For Life. “We’ve all had people in our lives affected by cancer, so that event was particularly close to our hearts,” says Lauren Ball Khelif, director of business development. “We’ve had customers that are dealing with cancer, and one in particular — we have followed his battle pretty closely. So when the chance came to participate in this event came, we were all for it. We were all in.”
The Genco team took pledges for the Relay and raised money in the store with $10 donations for luminaria, which employees decorated at home before the event. The store matched every donation, dollar-for-dollar.
“Events like the Relay are fun, too, because everybody gets to participate, and you see your friends from the community there, so it’s like a social gathering in some ways, but everybody feels really good about it because it’s for a good cause,” Khelif says.
“And I actually think it helps us in business, too,” she adds, “because when a customer comes into the store looking for something, they’re looking for a reason to buy here versus somewhere else (there are always other places to buy things), and when I talk to a new customer I always tell them a little bit about the company. I always tell them who we are, and I always say, ‘Were you at this or that event? You might have seen us there.’
“People want to identify with their pool store.”
