It's Saturday, May 9, 9:30 a.m.
It’s already warm outside, and it’s going to get hot, the first real summer weather we’ve had.
The line is already 20 deep and pushing toward the door. Some guy is having a conniption over the price of a skimmer basket.
The phone is ringing. Customers are getting louder. Kids are tearing into floats like it’s the ball cage at Chucky Cheese.
“Where’s the bathroom?” You smile and gesture toward the back.
“I need a manager.”
Yeah. You do.
Wait. That’s me…
I’m the manager.
WHAT THIS ACTUALLY LOOKS LIKE
Welcome to peak-season retail.
Today is any given Saturday in a high-volume retail pool supply store. It’s now 10:30 a.m., and the water test line is literally out the door. You’ve hired a kid on weekends whose only job is to restock shelves and bring bottles of cold water to the people waiting on the sidewalk.
You step aside to make way for a passing employee and it’s… your water tester who has left the counter to grab product!
We just shut down intake. You close your eyes because you already know what’s there, just on the other side of an end cap display:
The empty counter, the sagging shoulders of the customer who thought she was finally going to get her water tested, only to see the back of the tester disappear into the crowd. The entire line behind her shifts en masse slightly backward onto their heels in disgust, resignation and despair, one of them turning to the person behind and saying, quite loudly, almost as if to incite the mob, “They need to hire more people!”
FLEXIBLE MODE VS. FLOW MODE
Now, most of the time, you’re in what I’d call Flexible Mode.
Everyone is helping each other. They bounce between tasks. There’s give and take, and an easy familiarity among them.
Then you get a day like today, and a line as long and frantic as this one (because, you know, it feels like the first day of summer and everyone’s a little desperate to get back to the pool) — and now, that same flexibility?
Turns into a traffic jam.
The cashier has left the register to answer a question because the customer insisted.
The tester is frowning at the label of a box, confused.
The most seasoned person on the floor is now in three conversations she can’t finish, her hair swinging wildly as she turns from one to another.
And somehow… nothing is getting done.
That’s when you flip. That’s when you move into Flow Mode.
VOLUME DICTATES STRUCTURE
Flow Mode is where the truth shows up.
Roles don’t expand. They clamp down like a vise.
The tester stays put. Tests water. Hands off results. Next sample.
(Back in the day, we trained this with an egg timer. Three minutes — test and analysis done — then on to the next. And yes, that was a drop test, not a Spin Touch.)
Someone else pulls product.
The register keeps moving.
Nobody plays hero.
Nobody drops out to help the gal in short shorts who can’t decide which pool toy she likes.
Just a system that doesn’t stop. It only works because nobody tries to own the whole thing.
Once a customer’s needs are handled in one zone, they move on to the next.
THE MANAGER’S REAL JOB
Your job is flow.
You don’t wait for problems. You hunt them.
You skate the sales floor.
Start with the second person in line: “Did you find everything, so you don’t need to make a second trip?”
“We have the Magic Pill on sale right now — let me grab one for you.”
“Oh, wait, you’ll want the Shmutz Eliminator, too. It’s that time of year again.”
The fastest way to kill momentum is letting someone reach the front and say, “Oh, I forgot something.”
Fantastic. Now 20 people get to wait while we go on a scavenger hunt.
You intercept. You redirect.
Above the din, you hear a familiar young voice saying, “I’ll just help real quick.”
And you step in because “real quick” is retail code for: “I’m about to derail this entire operation in under 90 seconds.”
You watch for hesitation. You spot confusion before it becomes delay.
You raise your arms, and the orchestra plays. You are the Maestro.
THE BETTER QUESTION
When things go sideways, everyone asks: “Do we need more people?”
More likely, your system is fragile. It just breaks too easily.
Because if your system is prone to breaking, adding people just means you break it faster.
Does your system work under pressure?
Because if it doesn’t, that line will expose it. Every single time.
WHAT CUSTOMERS ACTUALLY CARE ABOUT
It all comes down to your customers, and today, they’re experiencing one thing: flow.
Is the line moving? Does someone see me? Does this place make sense?
If yes, you’re good to go. If no, you’re screwed.
UNBREAKABLE
Back in the day, we didn’t have dashboards.
But today, retail has better tools. Mobile checkout. Virtual queues. Selfcheckout lanes. Barcodes.
They can help the operation run smoother.
But they’re not the system itself. That’s you. That’s yours.
When the pressure hits, does your system tap out?
Incomplete transactions? Confused, pissed-off customers? Employees pulled in five directions at once?
Because on a day like today — the first real, hot Saturday of summer — if your system breaks, it will do it…
in front of everyone.
The tester tests.
The register rings.
The floor pulls product.
No side quests. No wandering.
It’s a good Saturday.
This article first appeared in the May 2026 issue of AQUA Magazine — the top resource for retailers, builders and service pros in the pool and spa industry. Subscriptions to the print magazine are free to all industry professionals. Click here to subscribe.
