Retailers: most retailers in the South stick to selling chemicals and water toys rather than larger-ticket items, such as aboveground pools and portable spas. Read on to find more statistics about the region

If you're selling pool and spa supplies in the South, you're more than three times as likely to be paid a base salary than straight commission. Compared with other regions, the South beats all in the percentage of employees working on commission alone.

Annual base salaries
for salespeople

Straight Commission   18%

less than-$10000       5%

$ll,000-$20,000       16%

$21,000-$30,000       18%

more than $30,000     20%

Note: Table made from bar graph.

Companies in the South offering medical benefits to full-time employees

56%

Bruce Esquinaldo Owner/Vice President, Challenger Pools, Houston

How much of your gross sales do you spend on advertising? 7 percent.

I stick primarily with print: newspapers and seasonal circulars. I spend based on what I spent the previous year. Houston is a highly competitive market and has some of the highest advertising rates in the country.

Dirk Owen Sales Manager, Coral Swimming Pool Supply, Tulsa, Okla.

What is your primary form of advertising7 Direct mailing and print.

We mail out fliers for select items we want to focus on for 30 to 60 days, either new or big-ticket items. We've compiled a list of old customers, but we also use a real estate list of sold homes that have pools. It includes a list of every pool permit that's been pulled for people building new pools.

Rush to Reap

Much like the Midwest, retailers in the South see nuggets of gold being mined online. More than 30 percent of respondents have set up virtual shops.

Proportion of
sales that are
e-commerce

none       61%

1%-10%     31%

11%-50%     2%

51%-100%    0%

Note: Table made from bar graph.

A Sure Thing

Flat commission is the most popular form of payment in the South and more commonly paid there than anywhere else in the country. On the other end of the spectrum, sliding scale commissions are rarely used in the South by survey respondents.

Type of commission
retailers pay to
salespeople

sliding scale                 7%

flat commission              33%

flat commission plus bonus   18%

don't pay commission         23%

Note: Table made from bar graph.

Retail companies in the South owned by the same family for two generations or more

25%

Frank Fotia CEO/President, Caldwell Pools Inc., Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Has your company been owned by the same family for two generations or more? Yes.

I have two sons in the business and they're operating the Hilton Head [office] that we have. They're a little more extensive in that they are selling spas, which we don't do. They've been doing this for 20 years."

Elaine Haynes Owner, The Pool Store, Batesville, Ark.

What items do you sell besides pools and spas? Backyard furniture, barbecues, billiard tables, fireplaces and saunas.

We need to carry [these items] or people will just drive to Little Rock and get them. You have to have something different to draw them in. We started out with just pools, and then spas; then people started coming in and asking for this and that.

Show Me the Money

Retailers nationwide
who offer their
salespeople an annual
base salary of more
than $30,000

Northeast   22%

South       20%

West        15%

Midwest     12%

Note: Table made from bar graph.

Retailers in the South with point-of-sale systems

30%

A Few Good Spas

Portable spa sales are low in volume per store in the South, compared with all other regions. Only 3 percent of retailers said they sell up to 400 spas annually. In addition, only 7 percent said they sell 50 to 100 spas.

Average number of
portable spas sold annually

Less than 50    30%

50-100           7%

more than 100    3%

Note: Table made from bar graph.

Lana Carr General Manager, Cart Pool & Spas, Broken Arrow, Okla.

How many aboveground pools do you sell each year, on average? 30.

We don't hard-sell. We explain our products and what we have to offer, along with the pricing, and let the customer go from there. We want to sell the pool and give them good service after the sale.

Bud Davidson President, Atlantic Pool Maintenance Inc., Lantana, Fla.

Do you have a point-of-sale system (POS)? Yes.

I can't imagine doing business successfully without one. Everything is bar-coded and [the POS] tells us what we sold and how much we made every day.

A Fair Deal

Retailers throughout the South are about evenly spread when it comes to revenue. Though 16 percent made more than $2 million last year, 15 percent made less than $250,000.

Gross revenue from
pool/spa retailing in 2002

less than $250,000        15%

$250,000-$499,000          6%

$500,000-$999,999         18%

$1 million-$1.5 million   13%

$1.6 million-$2 million    3%

more than $2 million       6%

Note: Table made from bar graph.

Retailers in the South selling backyard furniture

28%

High and Dry

Aboveground pools are scarce in the South, but not impossible to find. While 23 percent of retailers said they sell less than 25 pools per year, a smaller percentage is doing just fine, averaging more than 50 pools annually.

Average number of
aboveground pools
sold annually

Less than 25    23%

25-50            7%

51-99            3%

more than 100    2%

Note: Table made from bar graph.