Page 19 - BusinessWest March 3, 2021

Backyard Experience
Outdoor-improvement Business Looking Strong for 2021
OBy Mark Morris
n a Thursday in February while snow fell on the region, Bob Schwein was answer- ing a steady stream of phone calls at Drewnowski Pools.
Sure, some calls were from people who use their spas year-round, but many more inquiries
were to schedule swimming-pool openings. “Swimming-pool owners know that if they want to
schedule a pool opening for Memorial Day, when thou- sands of other people want to open their pools, they need to schedule now,” said Schwein, sales manager for Drewnowski.
Early spring is typically when he receives calls to replace vinyl pool liners and to repair or renovate pools made from gunite, a concrete product used for many inground pools. “Repairs to gunite pools can take weeks, and people don’t want to interrupt the middle of their
swimming season, so we usually schedule these early in the year.”
With his business growing over the last five years, Schwein said backyard pools are not what they used to be, particularly inground pools (see photo above).
“It used to be a rectangle with a three-foot concrete walk around the pool and a fence surrounding it by itself in the yard,” he noted. “Now, the pool is part of an entire backyard experience.”
That trend — toward creating an experience right outside the back door — is one that many different types of outdoor-improvement contractors can attest to, particularly during the era of COVID-19. BusinessWest spoke with several who said people are spending more money on their homes simply because they are spend- ing more time at home.
The oft-heard story is that people were encouraged to only go out when necessary, and those who were for- tunate enough to work from home during this time have
Home Improvement
HOME IMPROVEMENT
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