Wet weather putting a damper on local pool business
'It has postponed the entire spring. We're back about three to five weeks on pool openings, we're indefinitely delayed on in-ground pool installations,' said Pete Rushford, owner of Crystal Clear Pools & Spas in Cicero.
A far cry compared to last year.
'We dug our first hole April 10 and we had three pools installed by Memorial Day last year,' said Rushford.
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So far this year, they're at zero.
'In the foreseeable future, I am not sure when we're going to be digging any holes to install. We've done some above ground. We have not been able to do anything below ground,' said Rushford.
Rushford says typically they open about 450 pools each year. But this season, they are far behind, with just 250 opened.
'Many customers have pushed back their openings. Usually, 90 percent of them are done by Memorial Day. We probably have another 100 to 150 left in June,' said Rushford.
Soaked yards have also made it difficult to replace in-ground pool liners.
'We had two dry days. We attempted to do a few liners, the problem is when you take all the water out of a pool, the groundwater fills it right back in,' said Rushford.
Putting them more than a month behind schedule.
'I'm not sure if we're going to be able to get through all of them before November. If we get an early fall,' said Rushford.
Rushford says working around the weather is always a challenge.
'We've only been in this business in retail and installations for six years, but I've never seen a spring this bad,' said Rushford.
As for now, they're taking it day by day, hoping the weather clears up soon.
'If we can get five days of 70 degrees with no rain, right now we can probably get three weeks' worth of work done, with five straight days of dry weather. Right now, we're picking and choosing what to do as the rain stops and filling those days like yesterday was a jam-packed 14-hour work day for everybody. Today, with the rain, it's pick and choose what we can do,' said Rushford.
The wet weather is also impacting store inventory. Rushford says sales are down about 30 percent compared to last year.
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