At The Shop

  • Moving Up

    Rick Woemmel left his computer-science job and got into the pool business because he didn’t want to sit behind a computer and a desk all day. “Now I sit behind a computer and a desk all day,” Woemmel says, which shows just how much the world and the industry have changed since he opened Bi-State…

  • Don’t Fence Her In

    Photography by Rodrigo mendez What is Mari Lange’s worst nightmare? Being strapped to a desk at a nine to five. “I’m just not one of those people who can sit and do nothing,” Lange, owner of Algae Eaters Pool Service, says. “I’m not a clock-watcher, I have to move all the time.” And she certainly…

  • A Man and His Truck

    Photography by Rodrigo mendez In 1994, a 27-year-old Todd Starner and his younger brother Jeff sat across the kitchen table from their father, Richard, asking for money. Eyeing a motorcycle? A vacation? Debt relief? Hardly. The brothers wanted to become entrepreneurs and needed $10,000 to buy a 50-pool service route from their retiring boss, Donnie…

  • Chain of Command

    Colley’s Pool & Spas It’s a good problem to have. “We’re gaining work every year,” says Christian Robichaud, service manager at Colley’s Pool & Spas. “We’re putting in a lot of pools. We’re closing and opening a lot of pools. We would love to have more help if we could.” Robichaud and Bill Fischer, retail…