January 21, 2012

►    Customer Feedback:  Hede stated her general shopping experience with us was Excellent.  “Dennis, Patrick, the younger     team members – love coming to the store.  Always get great help and service, whether buying a new pool or getting a gadget.”  Sales help, operations, communication, and products were all rated Excellent. What do we do really well?   “Service, attention and help.” 

►    Web advertising, The Best of the Best continues until January 28. 

►    On January 29, web advertising and weekly specials become:  “Entertain at Home”.

        That includes a Sports Collectible sale, and a new Hot Tub and Game Table sale.  The Above Ground sale continues for another week.  

►    Mia is working on updating reports from our water lab for the last few years.  I’ll report more when they are all done.  Here is something interesting she just found:  looking at all the people who did more than six tests in 2010:  1) As we know, it is a very small amount of our total water lab customers.  2) Almost every one of them did fewer tests this year – most dropping to below 7.  3) Even the guy who did 12 tests in 2009, and 19 by August 1, 2010, and told me he would take his business elsewhere when I asked him to cut back or pay; came back and did 9 tests this year.  So that problem is pretty much solved. 

►    Jeanne and I will be accompanying her brother to Disney World January 21 to January 29. 

►    Redneck Chronicles:

        Roy, 60, John, 53, and Douglas, 55, were arrested inMichigan, in July and charged with stealing a 14-foot-long stuffed alligator from a barn, dragging it away with their truck, and using it to surf in the mud (“mudbogging”).  When the gator’s owner tracked down the three nearby, they denied the theft and insisted that theirs is an altogether-different 14-foot-long stuffed alligator.  (Ward’s blood-alcohol reading was 0.40.) 

►    Submitted by Anne-Marie:

        I just got off the phone with a friend living inNorth Dakotanear the Canadian border.  He said that since early this morning the snow has been nearly waist high and is still falling.  The temperature is dropping way below zero and the north wind is increasing to near gale force.  His wife has done nothing but look through the kitchen window and just stare.  He says that if it gets much worse, he may have to let her in.