| Family pool firm still afloat after 75 years | |
| ______________________________ | ______________________________ |
| March
11-17, 1991
Barry Pulliam is the kind of guy who receives Christmas cards featuring photos of sparkling swimming pools. No doubt this tickles him aqua since he is heir to a swimming pool dynasty started by his grandfather Theo, an expert concrete cattle dipping vat builder back in the '20s. |
Pulliam, president of Fort Worth's Pulliam Pools, says the big news this year is the company's 75th anniversary. This month, Garey Gilley of the Fort Worth City Council (and a Pulliam customer) presented a proclamation to Pulliam and his loyal band of pool building folk, including sister Donna Banard, dad, Doren, wife, Lizz, and a number of other loyal, longtime employees. |
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| The company
also is looking to maintain its market share this year, which Pulliam says
has increased each of the last five years. But he's not counting on a dramatic
increase this year because of recent developments.
"If it weren't for the General Dynamics' layoffs, we would experience a slight growth," he says. "I'm generally an optimist, but I don't think there will be growth this year. So we'll concentrate on service and repair." Pulliam, who will be 42 this month (and says he's looking forward to all those good things he's heard about midlife), will be talking up some new products and services in swimming pool maintenance and safety this year. He is a member of Aquatech, a select group of about 40 pool manufacturers who meet annually to discuss new developments in the industry. Pulliam says his membership in the group lets him stay on the cutting edge of technology. For the last four months, for instance, Pulliam has offered a chlorine generator for pool maintenance, an innovative alternative to traditional methods, which require large amounts of chemicals. |
The new system,
which he says he tested on his own backyard pool for over a year, costs
more initially but will pay for itself over four years in reduced cleaning
chemical costs.
"Chlorine generators show promise," he says. "They take ordinary household salt [sodium chloride] and extract chlorine from it by means of a small electric current. This is more convenient, it's automatic, there's little monitoring, and done correctly, it can be cheaper." The resulting pool water has a slightly salty taste and is comfortable to the eyes, Pulliam says. The Aquatech group also is researching safety systems such as alarms, and interior coatings that ultimately may replace the white cement and crushed marble substance currently in use. And for those readers thinking about having a new pool featured on their Christmas card this year, you have until around Thanksgiving to decide. These days it only takes about three weeks from first dig to first dive. |
