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Hot News

Industry Remembers Pioneer Jules Field
Former Pool & Spa News owner, publisher and industry pioneer Jules Field died Feb. 9 of pneumonia in Orange County, Calif. He was 92. more...

PoolCorp Acquires National Pool Tile
The world’s largest distributor of pool and spa products just got bigger. Covington, La.-based PoolCorp has acquired National Pool Tile, a division of Pentair Inc., in a move announced Feb. 21. more...

Top 50 Buzz

Ronald Yates
President
Aquatic Pools Inc. (No. 49)
Rio Rancho, N.M.

What new initiative are you working on?
We’re trying to speed up our turnaround time on construction — to get in and out a lot faster so we can increase our profitability and leave a wow impression with our customers. We cover all of New Mexico and some outlying states, too. With all the traveling, it’s more efficient to finish the jobs quickly.

How does it work?
I’ve created larger crews by merging smaller ones together. Then we do some stages simultaneously. On a recent job, we began to build manifolds, pour the equipment slab and build everything up over the equipment slab while we dug the pool. I had guys pre-glue in-floor cleaning modules and install the solar system on the roof while other stages were going on. During gunite, we were grading and staging for the rock work. At one point, I had 14 trucks and 35 men on the job. We had it gunited in two weeks. Two years ago, this project would have gone on for six or seven months. We would have had four to five guys working every day, and the customers would be content because they’d see forward progress. But now the pool just magically appears in front of their eyes.

Service Tip

When cleaning calcium off of pool tile, some service techs prefer the process of blasting, which uses an abrasive media to remove unwanted deposits. However, blasting can take apart soft tile in a matter of moments, essentially erasing its color. It’s important to find out if the tile is durable enough to withstand the procedure.

To test the tile, start shooting in the skimmer throat, where the tile is practically hidden. If this tile is unaffected, you’ll have the green light to work on the rest of the pool.

Source: Nelson Silveria, owner, Blue Island Pool Service, Mesa, Ariz.

Market Watch

New-home sales dipped again in December, dropping 4.7 percent to a seasonally adjusted figure of 604,000 units. The pace of new-home sales is now moving at its slowest annual rate since February 2005. Year to year, these sales are down 40.7 percent from December 2006 and 51.3 percent from December 2005.

Meanwhile, sales of existing homes also slipped in December after a modest November gain. Existing home sales fell 2.2 percent in December to 4.89 million units, marking the slowest annualized sales pace since August 1998.

Interest rates, though, remain historically low a month after the Federal Reserve Bank slashed rates by 1.25 basis points. The national average of a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage rate stood at 5.95 percent in late February.

Source: Hanley Wood Market Intelligence and Bankrate.com

Retail Raves

Ruth Garavalia
Co-Owner
Monarch Pool Care
Stafford, Va.

What she likes: Water Dancers from Virginia Beach, Va.-based Swimways Corp.

What it does: These 8-inch, battery-operated dolls spin around in the water and come with a seashell comb and ribbon streamer. The product line is available in three colorful models.

Why she likes it: The little dolls are an attractive feature to our toy offering. They are so colorful and nicely packaged that we display them in our front window. The children love them, and I say children, because the boys like them too — for target practice (or so I’ve been told). We sell these for under $24 so they are very affordable.

Trade Show News

International Pool | Spa | Patio Expo Moves to Mandalay Bay
With the 2008 Expo returning to the city of glitz and glamour, it will not be business as usual as the International Pool | Spa | Patio Expo moves to the south end of the renowned Las Vegas Strip — the Mandalay Bay Convention Center, the fifth-largest convention center in the United States. Here, attendees and exhibitors will have access to modern facilities and expanded meeting areas, as well as superior lodging and dining choices.

2008 International Pool | Spa | Patio Expo
Exhibits: Nov. 18-20, 2008
Conference: Nov. 15-20, 2008
Mandalay Bay Convention Center | Shoreline & Bayside Halls
Las Vegas, Nevada USA

Online registration will open in late June.
For more information, visit www.PoolSpaPatio.com.