Over the past several months my house has been invaded by stinkbugs – or to be scientifically (politically?) correct - Halyomorpha halys.  I thought I had done something wrong to warrant this intrusion into my otherwise peaceful South Jersey bliss from these really weird looking bugs.  Come to find out that these little critters hopped aboard some outgoing freight from Asia in the early 1990′s and have been spreading their stink from South Jersey through Pennsylvania and all the way to the great Pacific Northwest ever since.  And by the way, if you have ever squished one, you know where they got their name from – Phewwww!!!!

Now if you have either been plagued with these little stinkers or have customers who may be dealing with them I have some good news.  Turns out that the only known way to fight them is to keep them out of your house.  And the only way to keep them out of your house is to spread diatumaceous earth (DE) around the entry points to the house.  Which by the way, is what DE and stinkbugs have in common. 

When I read that, I not only became glad that there was something I could do to stop these little buggers from just showing up, and that is exactly what they do – weird! – but what a good idea for our members to boost their sales to their customers and perhaps new customers as well.  What a great service that would be to let your customers know that if they have been dealing with the great stinkbug invasion of 2010 you can help – sell them some DE.

I read an article on the internet a few days ago about the slump in sales of RVs.  For 2008 sales were off 33% and in 2009 the number could be even higher than 60%.  Dealers across the US are closing their doors and two of the RV manufacturers have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.  Hmmm?  Does this sound familiar? 

The bad news of course is that our industry has also taken a huge hit in the current economic climate.  We hear of pool dealers in the Sun Belt going out of business, sales off more than 50%, etc.  The good news is that there are a few things that make our industry different from the RV industry and why I don’t think we are going the same way. 

First, in 2008, the RV industry was hit by gas prices of over $4.00 per gallon – just the thing that helped drive whatever business we did last year, for people to build pools so they didn’t have to contend with transportation costs – think Staycation!   Second, even though the real estate market took a huge dive in the past year, the savvy home owner knows that having a pool in her backyard actually increases the value of her home by 8% (NRA statistical report 2004). The last I checked, having a $100,000 RV in the driveway didn’t increase the value of anybody’s home.  Not to mention that the value of an RV quickly depreciates in a few years, whereas a well-maintained pool does not.  Third, as the economy recovers and more people are back to work, there will be more traffic on the roads blocking the path for all those beautiful but expensive RVs from getting where they want to go.  Meantime, the pool owner sits back in his lounge chair by the pool, listens to the ball game while his kids play, and smirks at the traffic reports on the backups on I-95 in CT, or the Garden State Parkway in NJ.

Welcome to NESPA’s blog! This site is intended to be an informational resource covering topics pertaining to the Pool and Spa Industry.  

For more information about our association, please visit our website at www.nespapool.org