State of the Industry

Q & A with Greg Howard, CEO of Carecraft

Q & A with Bill Weber, president and CEO of APSP

Q & A with Mike Farley, Claffey Pools, Texas

SOI Retail 2012: Though the housing market still stinks, too many people are out of work and consumer confidence is shaky, the Great Recession is over.

As we open the swimming season in 2012, the overall health of the service industry is good, and there is reason to hope it will get even better.

The swimming pool and spa construction industry made significant gains in 2011, which by all accounts are continuing in 2012.

One thing that stood out in our State of the Industry survey was the growing chorus of complaints about the unfair advantage online retailers have over their bricks-and-mortar brethren.

For many builders in the pool and spa industry, 2010 marked a turning point with numbers going up — though not by much.

In 2010 the service sector remained the strongest element of the pool and spa industry by several different measures.

Fifty-one percent of survey respondents saw sales increase in 2010, a big change over last year, when only 17 percent posted gains.

AQUA's spa and pool retailer survey painted a picture of a battered-but-notbeaten network of mostly small stores that sell products in relatively modest numbers.

The building industry was hit hard by the recession, thanks to a number of variables, most notably a battered and bruised housing market that brought new construction screeching to a halt. The numbers were frightening to look at as they underscore just how bad things really got this past year. But is the worst over?

Retailers say 2013 could be the strongest year since the recession.

As customers loosen their purse strings, builders see a boost in projects.

Service professionals continue to hold onto stable revenues.

Each year, we survey pool and spa retailers across the country to learn more about sales, in-store trends, hot products and more. Check out the results of the 2014 survey here!

As the recession came and went, the pool and spa industry saw the service sector not only weather the economic climate, but thrive. We surveyed service pros across the country about their businesses — and now, we reveal our findings.

In our ​SOI survey, we asked builders about their revenue, marketing practices, popular choices among customers and more.

According to Bil Kennedy, the president of P.K. Data, this year is critical to the future of the swimming pool and spa industry. Find out why.

APSP's Rich Gottwald explains why the millennial generation holds a lot of promise for the pool and spa industry.

To stay successful in this industry, pool and spa retailers need to do something drastic: embrace the Internet.

The top concern for pool service companies? Finding and keeping talented staff members. Here, Dan Lenz, vice president of All Seasons Pools & Spas in Orland Park, Ill., shares how his incentive system keeps his staff motivated and turnover low.

Of the issues impacting the pool and spa construction industry, underground labor remains at the top of the list. We take a close look at the fight against the underground economy and see what measures could potentially curb these unlawful practices.

Pkdata shares a by-the-numbers look at the market potential for our industry.

APSP partnered with Gallup to study attitudes about pool ownership. Here are just a few of their findings.

How do pool and spa retailers feel about the pool and spa industry? We share the results of our annual survey.

What are the biggest challenges pool and spa builders see today? How do they stay on top of education? How do they pitch to potential clients? We share the answers to those questions and more.

What portable spa models are most popular with customers? What features pique their interest? We answer these questions and more in our SOI hot tub report.

We polled service techs across the U.S. and Canada about their business outlook, their pain points, what they see on the job and more.

Recent studies reveal shade structures are set to take off among homeowners, millennials in particular.