In The News: June 24, 2010

Profitable Education

There was a time, not so long ago, when a retailer could unload a flatbed trailerful of spas in a parking lot, put up a tent, hang some banners and sell every one of those tubs in a single Saturday.

Read more about hot tub education in our July article, "Profitable Education."

Hot Tub Denied

City officials in Hainsville, Ill., recently paid a visit to a local homeowner, issuing a warning citation and ordering him to remove his hot tub from the front driveway.

Mayor Linda Soto told the Chicago Daily Herald, "It's a health and safety violation. Driveways are not meant to be storage areas."

The complaint came from a former trustee who told the village board the driveway tub was a nuisance and an impediment to selling her house.

Because the lot sizes are so small, many homeowners have taken to bringing the backyard to the front, putting up patio furniture and the like.

"I've always had more challenges with the homeowners because of [small lots]," Soto told the Daily Herald.

The Floating Pool Lady

New York's Floating Pool Lady is at it again, recently coming out of hibernation to dock off Barretto Point Park in the Bronx. The retired barge was remade into an 82-foot city parks department pool nearly four years ago.

The crew aboard the Kathleen, the tugboat towing the barge pool into place, was pretty surprised about its task.

"Everyone needs a pool to swim in, and this gets it done," deckhand Nick Rilee told The New York Times. "A little unconventional though."

In order to get the pool up and running, gang-planks need to be set up, electrical and sewer lines connected, it needs to be cleaned out from top to bottom and filled with fresh water. According to The Times, the pool holds 100,000 gallons of water and weighs a whopping 4,040,960 pounds when filled.

Additional reading: Float Like a Swimming Pool.

Service Competition

By a factor of 4 to 1, service pros said that competition in their area was increasing rather than decreasing over the last year. Slightly more than half said it had remained the same.

Read more about builder projections in our State of the Industry issue.