Our Story
In July of 1987, Dave and Connie Kubiak officially started Pool Works, Inc.
HISTORY
In 1960, Dave Kubiak’s dad, Gerald, starts a pool business in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Through limited research, some trial and error, and a ton of determination he figures out how to build inground swimming pools. Along with his wife Betty and their five kids, they open up Kubiak Pools on Potts Avenue*. The kids – four boys and a girl – grow up in the family business.
Flash forward to spring of 1982. Gerald and Betty have retired and their four boys are running the business.
Dave and Connie, now married and in their mid-twenties with two young kids of their own, decide to step away from the family business. They pack up their home and move down to LaCrosse to start a pool business of their own, the LaCrosse Pool Center (later renamed Town & Country Pools).
They work tirelessly over the next four years trying to make a name for themselves in a new city. Their kids, Matt and Kim, grow up in the pool business just like their dad. Matt loves trucks and dirt – he learns how to drive a skidsteer as an 8-year-old! Kim is her mom’s sidekick in the retail store and helps stock shelves and test water.
In early spring of 1986, Dave’s brothers and parents convince them to move back to the Fox Valley area to run a new Kubiak Pools location in Appleton. They sell Town & Country Pools, pack up their unhappy tweenagers and move back.
The brothers decide to move to a larger location on Oneida Street in lieu of opening a second store in Appleton. The original Kubiak Pools site on Potts Avenue is repurposed as a business incubator for new start-ups.
Within a year, Dave and Connie once again decide to part ways with the family business. Ironically and brilliantly, they rent a space in the old Kubiak Pools building incubator on Potts Avenue.
They were once again starting from scratch. In order to compile a customer base, they go to local towns and villages and search through binders of building permits to make note of any taken out for pools. This becomes their original customer list.
In July of 1987, Pool Works, Inc. is open for business. As predicted, customers come into the store not knowing Kubiak Pools had moved. Many stay and are still loyal customers to this day. “Related not associated” becomes a commonly used phrase when asked about the Kubiak name.
Over time, Dave and Connie’s strong work ethic gives them an edge. Against all odds, they succeed. In 1992 they move out of the incubator into a new building in West De Pere. The location at that time was on the predominately undeveloped east frontage road along Interstate 41.
Their son Matt joins the construction team full-time in 1992. Their daughter Kim along with their new son-in-law Nate join in 2000.
Now the grandkids pitch in during the summers and help out at the annual customer appreciation sale in March.
Fun Fact: Today the site of the original Kubiak Pools – and Pool Works – is now the location of the Green Bay Distillery. The banquet and stage area structure is where both businesses had their warehouse and shop.