Welcome to MGK Pools
MGK Pools is a family run company that specializes in selling swimming pools. I (Michael Kern) handle the daily operations of order fulfillment, inventory management, accounting, shipping, customer service, and I love it.
I had been working on and off in the pool industry for over 30 years. I owned and operated an auto repair shop for a few years, and then an online marketing company, before beginning a pool-service business. MGK Pool Service was born in 2008.
Having built hundreds of in-ground and above-ground swimming pools over my career, I decided to add pool building to my list of pool-services. I started advertising my pool building service and found a huge demand for the work.
In my area, people were buying pools from a local big-box-store above ground pool chain. The pools were flimsy, the liners thin, and the circulation and filtration equipment sub-par, and before long, I didn’t want to build their pools.
I changed directions and took on various pool manufacturers like Doughboy Pools and Swim n’ Play (now gone), as well as some higher end Wibar pools available through local distribution. At this point, I stopped installing for people who did not buy a swimming pool from me. I had to concentrate on building pools for my customers.
Eventually, I ran into two guys at the Atlantic City Pool and Spa Show, A 70+-year-old spit-fire Bobby (now 85) and the great-grandson of the founder of Buster Crabbe Pools, Greg. Though Greg’s father and uncle still work in the factory, Greg is in charge of sales and distribution, daily operations, and a lot more.
I didn’t know what I didn’t know! Mainly that is, how inexpensive high-end pools genuinely cost. I had been getting ripped off for years/overpaying. I found out I could buy better pools for less money than I was selling to my friends and family.
The beautiful thing about Buster Crabbe Pools at the time was, that they had no distributors selling pools online. They had a few advertising them for local sales, but no one selling them across the county.
Not only could I buy pools for less, but I could also get all the equipment and pool-liners for less. I found a company that was not gouging the public like was commonplace in the industry.
The reason I flourished so well in this industry once I began in 2008, was because local pool stores were still enjoying crazy fat profit margins. Internet disruption had not moved their cheese yet, as described in the book “Who Moved My Cheese.”
Enter serial entrepreneur Michael G Kern (me) with advanced knowledge of SEO and online marketing, and the rest, as they say, is history. MGK Pools Inc was born in the perfect storm. A subsidiary of MGK Pool Service
Even better, what I only suspected at the time, was that I found much more than two honest guys at that tradeshow. I discovered invaluable resources, mentors, and treasured life-long friends.