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10-The Canadian Champion, Tuesday, June 26.2001 i h r. i After 25 years, Halton Pools and Spas still making a major splash with local residents By RICHARD VIVIAN The Champion T ith 25 years of experience under their belt, Halton Pools and Spas is well equipped to meet the summer rush. The store celebrates a quarter-century of busi- ness this summer. "You get a sense of satisfaction that you've tumed a back yard into something nice," owner Mike Accettura said of installing pools. "We transform this plain back yard with just grass in it to a nice little oasis or resort that peo- ple can enjoy without having to travel the high- way to cottages or lakes." Halton Pools and Spas offers a wide range in product sales and instillation, servicing, and computerized water analysis. Entering the pool business was an incident of chance for Mr. Accettura. It was through a sum- mer pool instillation job as a student that he real- ization his appreciation for the industry. "Being a student, the outside work was defi- nitely nice to get in shape. But it was the chal- lenge of putting in a pool and making the back yard look really nice for people to enjoy (that drew my attention). I still get a kick out of that," he said. When Halton Pools and Spas first started in 19.76, it was an in-home operation. Mr. Accettura's base was a series of sub-contract work installing pools throughout the Milton area. A strong demand for his craftsmanship lead the entrepreneur to open up his own shop on Thompson Road four years later. It wasn't long (about six years) belore that location became too restrictive and operations moved were to their current Main Street location - offering about three times the size of the pre- vious storefront. "Because the business had grown, we needed a bigger show-room to display our products prop- erly and warehousing we didn't have in our other location." Though the business has gone through some changes in recent years - mainly revolving around a shift from instillation to servicing - the industry itself has not. Pool and spa technol- ogy hasn't seen any significant advancement in recent memory, Mr. Accettura said. Photo by GRAHAM PAINE Halton Pools and Spas owner Mike Accettura enjoys turning people's plain back yards into summer resorts that they can enjoy right at home. "At the pool end, nothing has really changed. Our industry is pretty stagnant - nothing changes a lot. The only thing we've noticed is that people like to have their pools serviced more now than they ever have in the past. "Today people's lifestyles are so busy that they require pool service, pool opening and closing. We find our service business has gotten busier because of that fact," he said. In the early days of the business, Halton Pools and Spas installed an average of 40 pools each summer. That number has dropped to around 10. "Since we've put a lot of pools in the area, we have to open up a larger service department to service all the people that have their pools," Mr. Accettura said. "That's what I always wanted to do - build less pools and do more servicing." FREE GARAGE SALE1KITs Place your garage sale ad & pick-up your FREE KIT. Each kit contains large garage sale signs you can post, change apron, and lots of tips to make your sale a success. Call today & book your ad 878-2341 r- 1144