Outdoor Recreation & Sports

The first business I visited was a swimming pool store. They had gone bankrupt and were in the process of reorganizing. It seemed odd to be slogging trough the snow to get to a store that was featuring things for summer. Everything was covered with snow: the pools, the patio furniture. It just looked strange. And it reminded me that it would be a long, long time before warmer weather. The couple who ran the store had been in business at the same location for over 30 years. It was a family run business. The husband's parents had started the business when there was nothing out here but corn fields. This was where his parent's lived and worked. At one time there was a house on the grounds, but it was torn down about 20 years ago. We sat down at a table in the back and started talking. My questions were more about future plans. In this case it was easier to ask questions because this business was reorganizing. There was going to be a future. They had not had to lay any people off, but had had to cut back hours. But now that they were gearing up for their busy season with pools and outdoor living, they anticipated hiring some of those cut employees back.