Experiencing activity that one professional depicted as “flat-out nutty,” the pool, spa and hot-tub industry is trying to juggle the need to plan with the daily grind of performing record amounts of work on a backdrop of unprecedented uncertainty.
Across all segments, companies continue to report record sales, with some builders already booked a year or more in advance.
Despite delays caused by supply-chain issues and the need to quarantine sick or exposed employees and subcontractors, company owners are making it work. This comes thanks in part to brand flexibility on the part of dealers, and understanding customers who mostly accept the delays.
Industry observers report that, while many businesses are making needed hires (if they can find qualified help) they are reluctant to make capital investments.
Despite having approximately 18 months’ worth of work on the books, Phoenix-area builder Rick Chafey wonders if demand will evaporate should the economy fail to pick up soon. “It’s a very odd feeling for all of us right now as to where this is going to end up,” said the co-owner of Red Rock Pools & Spas in Mesa, Ariz.
It’s hard not to think about those stranded by the Great Recession more than a decade ago. “Everybody needs to go very cautiously — grow where you can grow comfortably so you don’t get in a pickle,” Chafey said. “Because it could easily get you in trouble if you’re not capable of adapting quickly, especially for a new start-up company.”
Looking to autumn and knowing at least some children will not go back to school in-person, professionals see that impacting business differently.
In the cold-weather states, where the swim season is well-defined, Dan Lenz suspects his company will have to close pools in half the time it normally does. Families may want to swim longer with the kids home, but when November hits, it’s time to close. “We may find that it becomes more hectic as people push it off,” said the vice president of All Seasons Pools & Spas in Orland Park, Ill. “If we close from Labor Day to Halloween, it gets done over the course of a couple months. If everybody decides to keep open until the end of September, then I have a month.”
Sean Meyers, co-owner of DS Pool Service in Limerick, Pa., sees it differently. He hopes it will help his retail division make up for the lost weeks when the physical store was closed. “I think it’s going to help our retail store gain extra ground,” he said.
But the question of whether or not children go back to school could have a more concerning impact, Chafey suggested.
“Somehow consumers have had great confidence during COVID,” he said. “But it’s wearing on them. If kids can’t go to school and their parents can’t go back to work, I think that’s going to have a big impact on the economy.”
