After over 30 years operating as The Pool Place, the large warehouse on Perimeter Drive will don a new name starting Feb. 18.
Now operating as The Great Backyard Place, the business will continue to offer the same products that made it a top pool, spa, and furniture retailer, but with a wider offering of backyard living products, said officials.
“We want our customers to know that we are the same family that’s been serving the Chattanooga area for three generations” said Frank May, CEO of the family-owned business. “The Great Backyard Place is not a divorce from our past, but rather it’s the natural evolution of our business.”
The business began in 1953 as an East Ridge filling station known as A&M and was run by Mr. May’s grandfather, Frank G. May. Transitioning from a pet shop to toys and hobbies, the business finally moved to Lee Highway where it focused on backyard living by selling pools as The Pool Place in 1979.
Three generations and four additional locations later, the business continues to grow and evolve as The Great Backyard Place moves into an expanded market to better provide customers with all of their backyard living needs in one place. Still offering their swimming products, Great Backyard goes beyond pools and offers everything from outdoor kitchens and grills to backyard fire-pits.
“We want to make creating the ideal outdoor living area as painless and hassle-free as possible by combining the casual furniture store with the grill shop and the pool store,” said Mr. May. “The name The Pool Place just didn’t fit that vision anymore.”
Problem-solving changes like this aren’t uncommon for the company. Over the years the May family has created other companies to ensure customers receive the best products for the best possible value, said officials. This started when May’s father Tom created Artesian Spas in the 90s and was followed by Mr. May’s creation of Poolblue in 2012 and The Hanging Bed Company this year.
After the Chattanooga reveal, Great Backyard will celebrate reveals at its Cleveland, Knoxville, and Maryville locations throughout the month of February and into early March. This includes the opening of a brand new store in Asheville, N.C., Friday and a new central distribution warehouse in Knoxville.