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Hot News

First Federal Pool Mandates Issued
The Consumer Product Safety Commission has released its much-awaited preliminary interpretation of the federal Pool and Spa Safety Act’s requirements for commercial pools. more...

Title 20 Sparks Confusion Among Techs
Many California pool professionals are still unsure of exactly what Title 20 means for their businesses. more...

Service Tip

When a pump starts going alternately in and out of prime, unpleasant noises and unhappy customers are sure to follow. Open the skimmer lid to see if water is being sucked down only to fill right back up. If there isn’t anything lodged in the skimmer throat, the weir is most likely the culprit. A broken weir will obviously have to be replaced, but if the equipment appears to be in good condition, you may consider trimming a small amount of plastic off the sides to prevent the weir from sticking. After making your alterations, reinstall the weir and insure that it’s moving without resistance.

Top 50 Buzz

Mike Geremia
President
Geremia Pools (No. 36)
Sacramento, Calif.

What new initiative are you working on? I created what I call a Designer Series of pools that are priced better than our standard custom pricing. That way I’m able to be competitive and continue our place in the market here. It’s having a good effect — we’ve sold a number of those projects.

How does it work? The Designer Series pools are template designs. We allow a certain number of options on them — such as solar, upgraded interior finishes and spas. It still allows them to do things that they have available with the custom program, but the limitations are on the shapes and sizes. We have 10 shapes that are each available in three sizes. They’re simple pools, so we can get in and out of them pretty easily. We’re still providing the same quality of construction that we do on our custom project. It’s just at a more moderate price.

Retail Raves

Matt Cruck
Sales Associate
Adcock Pool, Spa & Billiards
Hattiesburg, Miss.

What he likes: Wind Spinners by Iron Stop Inc. based in Denton, Texas.

What it does: It’s a custom powder-coated metal ornament that spins in the wind. It’s an alternative to wind chimes.

Why he likes it: In our area, the weather is generally nice and people will spend more time outside than inside. The Wind Spinners are a good complement to the pool and spa area. Plus, they are great to put by the front counter. When our customers come in for water testing, they usually have to wait 10- to 15 minutes for their analyses. During that time, they’ll walk around the store and usually an appealing product such as this makes them stop.

Market Watch

New-home sales fell 1.8 percent in February to a seasonally adjusted level of 590,000 units. The pace of these sales has remained at its lowest annual rate since February 1995 for the second consecutive month. Year to year, new-home sales are down 29.8 percent from February 2007 and 45.6 percent from February 2006. These figures, however, represent a slight improvement from the year-to-year new-home sales rates from January.

Yet there is happier news on the existing-home sales front. That category increased 2.9 percent from January’s existing home sales level, to come in at 5.03 million units in February. This marks the fastest annualized sales pace since October, and the first time since July that existing home sales have posted an monthly increase.

Interest rates, meanwhile, remain at historically low levels. The rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage in the third week of April was 5.87 percent, up just 0.25 percentage points from the same week in March.

Sources: Hanley Wood Market Intelligence and Bankrate.com

Trade Show News

Educational Conference Preview
The International Pool | Spa | Patio Expo’s high-energy educational conference program will be unveiled in June with new tracks designed especially for:
• Retail Owners / Managers
• Landscape Architects / Designers
• Service Management / Technicians
• Residential Builders / Contractors
• Commercial Builders / Contractors

In addition, the conference program will also feature:
• NEW! Executive Academy [designed for CEOs]
• NEW! Green / Eco-friendly seminars
• APSP Advanced Pool Builder Program
• APSP Advanced Retailer Program
• APSP Advanced Service Program
• Genesis 3 Design School

Online registration will open June 19. Seminar descriptions, times, dates, speaker info, course level and credits can be found at www.PoolSpaPatio.com beginning in late June.

Mark your calendar:
Exhibits: Nov. 18-20, 2008
Conference: Nov. 15-20, 2008
Mandalay Bay Convention Center | Shoreline & Bayside Halls
Las Vegas, Nevada USA