As the pandemic continues, people are more inclined to find a swimming pool they can use individually. For many, that means putting one in their backyard.
At Valley Pools & Spas in Burnsville, sales for in-ground pool installations have doubled compared to last year, says president Larry Berczyk.
“Weather is also a factor, and it got warm pretty early this year. But I think about 90% of the sales increase is because of the pandemic,” Berczyk said.
Above-ground pools have also been popular among customers, their sales tripling compared to last year, Berczyk said. By early May, Valley Pools & Spas was already sold out of all its above-ground pool inventory for the year.
In-ground pool installations cost about $35,000 on average, and above-ground pools average $2,800, according to Home Guide.
Rental properties with pools are in high demand this summer. Pools were the top searched amenity for vacation rentals in the United States for the Fourth of July weekend, according to AirBnB. And some people have been renting out their swimming pool using the online pool rental service Swimply.
The Swimply website lets pool owners rent their facility by the hour. The renters can use the pool without interacting with the host or entering the hosts’ house, a feature that is especially important as pool users navigate the pandemic.
“The entire success of Swimply is very related to the coronavirus. We are offering one of the only contactless pool experiences,” said Asher Weinberger, co-founder of Swimply.
The pool rental service was already growing before the coronavirus, with 1,300 pools registered across the nation. Starting in early March, the number of pool rentals on Swimply spiked to 4,200, including five pools in Minnesota.
Sales for in-ground pool installations are booming during the coronavirus. At Valley Pools & Spas in Burnsville, for instance, president Larry Berczyk says installations have doubled compared to last year.
Most summers, Toni Mowbray-Donahue and her family spend almost every day at the Town and Country Club pool. But this year, the country club in St. Paul is limiting pool capacity and requiring swimmers to make reservations.
Mowbray-Donahue and her family still go to the club pool for her daughters’ swim team practices. Although she’s glad the pool area is more controlled to decrease health risks, using it isn’t nearly as relaxing as before, she says.
In June, her family used Swimply to rent a pool in Burnsville for a few hours of family time. Although it initially felt odd to use a stranger’s private property, being at the pool alone allowed her family to relax, Mowbray-Donahue said.
“For those three hours, we didn’t have to worry about COVID-19,” she said.
Since then, Mowbray-Donahue has used the pool rental service a few more times, and recommended the site to her friends as a safe swimming alternative for the summer.
With the end of the pandemic still uncertain, Weinberger anticipates that people will become more inclined to rent other private facilities, such as home gyms, or tennis and basketball courts.
“Because of the pandemic, people are learning a new consumer habit,” Weinberger said. “They want to move from public domains to private domains.”