hen it comes to high-end aboveground pools, the colder the place, the hotter the sales.

Smaller, less expensive pools make more sense in colder states, where the season is short and reinforcing pools to withstand freeze/thaw conditions costs plenty.

On the other hand, obtaining an inground costs less in the southern reaches of the United States — labor is cheaper and shells don’t need as much reinforcement — making them more accessible.

Although some retailers are able to sell higher-priced, accessory-laden pools, they sell more easily in the cold-weather states, retailers admit.

Dave McKibben, a manager at Patio Pools & Spas in Tucson, Ariz., says clients in his area aren’t willing to part with as much money for the product. Because inground pools cost less in areas such as his, they are accessible to more homeowners.

“I don’t think we’ve ever sold an aboveground pool for over $6,000,” he says, because for a few thousand more, they could get an inground and spread the payments out for a longer period of time with a second mortgage, leaving them, in some cases, with a smaller monthly payment.

He also says his customers seldom ask him to build hardscape or add softscaping to the pools.

Pat Walsh, president of The Above Ground Pool & Spa Co. in San Antonio, has a thriving high-end aboveground-pool business. But the road is tougher than if he were in his native Chicago. “We’re fighting a battle,” Walsh says. “For years here, people didn’t even know what [abovegrounds] were.

“There’s no brand-name recognition here at all. So what we are trying to talk people into here is buying an aboveground pool. What they might be trying in the Northeast is talking them into a [particular brand].”

But regardless of where they are, some people will never be aboveground-pool buyers, retailers admit.

While some clients will choose a feature-loaded aboveground over a basic inground, many retailers believe that once clients reach a certain income, they will change markets.

In the Wichita, Kan., area, most homes costing more than $150,000 will have an inground pool, says Rita Rowlen, co-owner of Ultra Modern Pool & Patio in Wichita.

That’s fine with aboveground-pool retailers. They may want to offer their clients as much of the aesthetic appeal of ingrounds as possible, but that doesn’t mean they expect to take business away from that segment.

“I don’t believe you can push people who can afford an inground pool toward an aboveground pool,” says Ron Fronheiser, president of Fronheiser Pools in Bally, Pa. “It’s [appropriate for] a certain market that’s out there.”

So for the most part, these professionals say, neither the main draws nor the primary demographic for aboveground pools have really changed. The product still appeals mostly to young families who can’t yet afford an inground pool, or who want to give pool ownership a test run before digging that hole in the backyard. “So they can try and decide how it fits their lifestyle before making the plunge into an inground pool,” Rowlen says.