January 7, 2017
► We finished the year ahead of last year, by .0788% (yes, less than 1/10 of 1%). But that still makes it our best year ever! Increases were in Patio Furniture, Bar Furniture, Billiards, Grills, and Awnings. Down was everything else – though spas were down by less than the big spa sale in November of 2015, so profits on spas were very likely actually up. That takes more research than I can do right now. So great job!
► Customer Feedback: A Service & Repair Report Card was received from customer Kap S. from Dunstable, MA. He rated us Excellent on all points. “Paul is a delightful gentleman who know his stuff!”
► Advertising, promotions, and specials continue from last week: “Family Fun Savings”
► Have a great time at the Wrap Party Saturday night. If we have to cancel for weather, we will change my voicemail. So call the office or the store, dial extension 2428 and you will get the message.
► This weekend we will have cake in the Coffee Shop for our January Anniversary & Birthday honorees: Ann A. (10 yrs.), Tod, Anne-Marie, Thomas, and Paul.
► All new Legacy, Heritage, and Urban special order prices just came out. Third set in less than a year. I will have to revise all other Legacy stock prices, and the program pages; but I have way too much to do in order to do it right now.
► SCP dropped every single pool that we bought from them, so we switched to Bay State as a supplier. The new pools are also made by Wilbar, but under the Atlantic and Aqua Leader brands. Sharkline pools went up about 5%. The Escalade STR52 went down in price, and I put it with a cheaper liner so it looks a lot cheaper. Other changes:
- Replaced the Reprieve STR52 with a similar pool at a lower price: Espirit II STR52.
- New pool models have logical price points, and are less expensive than the new pools from SCP would have been.
- Expected key pools: Patriot Hybrid RTR52, at a great price, resin top rails. Chesapeake STR54, similar to the Cayman, but two inches taller, and a more expensive liner.
- New concepts: Influence RTR52, a full-radius, all-resin, snap-together pool for $2,000 less than the Matrix Vista ATR52, an all-aluminum pool, for $400 less than the Navigator. Includes a special bead track though, so it needs a beaded liner.► So, read the label on your current 2016 price list. There will be a 2017 price list as soon as it is mostly ready. I suspect that we won’t have all samples, literature, and details for a month. So people should BUY NOW before the new list is out, and prices are higher.
► From Anne-Marie: The 2015 Seasonal Reward$ and Sense files have been removed from the store. They expired on 12/31/16. Rose and I will be working on sending out the 2016 Rewards$/Sense by the end of this month. The rewards for 2016 will continue to be accumulated for this reward until I roll the files at that time. If you have any questions, please let me know.
► All In A Day’s Work by Reader’s Digest:
During his evening prayers, my five-year-old kept his unemployed uncle in his thoughts. “Please help Uncle Steve find a job that he’s good at,” he said, “like owning a cat.”