Pinch A Penny

Recognized for turning pool ownership into an ongoing local-service relationship built around expertise, testing, retail, maintenance, franchising, and a 50-year understanding of what homeowners need after the pool is installed.

Pinch A Penny has been selected as a 2026 Industry Icon in Home, Design & Smart Living by The 2026 List, brought to you by Industry & Influence, recognizing the brand’s longevity, franchise scale, pool-care expertise, and continued modernization of one of homeownership’s most specialized service categories.

Owning a pool is very different from buying one.

After installation comes water chemistry, equipment maintenance, cleaning, repairs, seasonal changes, pumps, filters, heaters, sanitizers, stains, and dozens of small decisions that determine whether the pool remains easy to enjoy.

Pinch A Penny built its business around everything that happens next.

A Retailer Built Around Expertise

Pool care is a specialty category.

A homeowner can buy chlorine almost anywhere, but solving cloudy water, balancing chemistry, identifying an equipment problem, or understanding why a pool keeps developing the same issue requires more than a shelf of products.

Pinch A Penny combines retail with service and technical expertise.

Its stores offer pool chemicals, equipment, cleaners, accessories, free water testing, and professional services that vary by market.

The company also emphasizes trained pool-care experts and Certified Pool Operators.

That creates a different relationship from a conventional home-improvement transaction.

Customers can return repeatedly with new questions, water samples, repair needs, and maintenance challenges.

More Than 260 Stores and Five Decades of Experience

Pinch A Penny says it operates more than 260 stores and has more than 45 years of experience serving pool owners.

In 2026, the company also celebrated a 50-year history and entered a new leadership chapter with the appointment of John Mansfield as president.

The company said Mansfield would focus on franchise-owner support, store-level performance, modernization, customer experience, and thoughtful expansion.

That timing is significant.

A 50-year-old franchise system has already proven that the underlying customer need is durable.

The next challenge is modernizing how that need is served.

Connecting the Store to the Smartphone

Pool care has historically been a highly local and physical business.

Customers visit a nearby store, bring in a water sample, purchase chemicals, or schedule a technician.

Pinch A Penny is increasingly connecting those interactions digitally.

Its mobile app allows customers to manage elements of pool care, review water-test history, shop, receive service notifications, and contact their local store.

Customer accounts can also store information about pool equipment and purchase history.

That creates a useful digital layer around a business that still depends heavily on local expertise.

The goal is not to replace the neighborhood store.

It is to make the relationship with that store easier to manage.

A Home-Service Franchise With Recurring Demand

Pool care has one characteristic that makes it especially attractive as a franchise category: the work repeats.

Water chemistry changes. Filters require attention. Equipment ages. Pools need cleaning. Owners travel. Weather creates new problems.

That recurring need creates opportunities across retail and service.

Pinch A Penny’s model combines product sales with professional services, giving individual franchise locations multiple ways to serve the same household.

The business also benefits from geographic density.

Pool ownership is concentrated in markets where climate, housing, and lifestyle create consistent demand.

That allows local operators to build deep expertise within communities where pools are part of everyday homeownership.

Modernizing Without Losing the Local Expert

The most important asset in a specialty retail business is trust.

Pool owners often return to the same store because the staff understands their equipment, water history, and recurring issues.

Modernization therefore has to be handled carefully.

A better app, stronger operating systems, e-commerce, or new franchise tools can improve convenience, but the brand’s value still depends on people who know what they are doing.

Pinch A Penny’s next chapter appears focused on combining both.

The company can modernize customer experience while protecting the expertise that differentiates it from general retail.