Del Suppo Pools wins best pool and spa retailer
Buster and Jennifer Suppo at the 2021 Best of the Best awards
Del Suppo Pools at at 26 McKean Ave. in Donora
Courtesy of Del Suppo Pools
Courtesy of Del Suppo Pools
Courtesy of Del Suppo Pools
Courtesy of Del Suppo Pools
Del (Buster) Suppo, Jr. said winning the 2022 first-place award for pool spa retailer at the Observer-Reporter’s Best of the Best awards is quite an honor. Moreover, it’s a double honor for the 46-year-old company he owns because Del Suppo also won first place last year. The company also took the top spot for best overall Mon Valley business.
“We had some great competition from what I consider great related businesses,” he said.
Something Suppo considers an asset to his pool enterprise is the fact that some of his employees have been with him for a long time. Tim Andrews, for instance, has been his pool cover installation foreman for seven years. Another employee, Tony Russell, who works in pool openings, closings and service, has been with the business for the same number of years.
“Lately, we’ve been impacted by the same labor shortage issues facing the nation, but we pay competitively, so we manage to keep our employees long-term,” he said.
Del Suppo, Sr, who once worked in the home improvement and remodeling field, and his wife, Judy, started the business in 1977 with a retail store in Donora. While still in high school in 1987, Jr. became store manager and soon joined his father in the grunt work of pool installation.
After the elder Suppos retired a couple of years ago, Suppo Jr. and his wife, Jennifer, bought the business and became owners.
In addition to swimming pools, Del Suppo also sells and installs automatic pool and spa covers, safety covers, replacement liners, saltwater systems, pool chemicals and accessories. They also sell retaining walls to complement a pool or spa purchase as an added component to an outdoor landscape.
Open year-round at the current retail location at 26 McKean Ave. in Donora, just a few blocks from the original site, Suppo said the winter is an excellent time to start planning a new pool installation.
“In the 1980s, we were able to start an installation four weeks out,” he said. “Now the business has grown so much, it’s more like 4 to 6 months out, so shopping around early is a good idea.”
People are invited to come into the store and look at the different pool design options available. The store, located just off routes 70, 51 and 43, makes it easy for prospective patrons to stop in for a visit. Del Suppo offers free estimates, and Suppo said he’s happy to go out to look over the space to try to get prepared as much as he can.
Typically, he’ll travel up to an hour and fifteen minutes from the store to install a pool, an area that spans Somerset County to Wheeling to Pittsburgh’s North Hills. To install an automatic pool cover, he’ll travel even farther.
Suppo said he works with local banks to assist in pool construction loans. Credit is also available through Lyon Financial, which provides loans for up to $75,000 with a 20-year payback plan. He also initiated a military program offering reduced rates to veterans and active duty military members.
Del Suppo operates with a fleet of trucks and bobcats, operated by as many as 14 or 15 employees in the summer. Currently, his son-in-law, Tyler Gminder, is employed as a pool coverage installer and his son, Jude, plans to start working at the business in January.
In the future, Suppo said he hopes to expand his in-ground pool installation and get them in the ground sooner.
For more information, phone 724-379-5066 or delsuppopools.com.