True Blue Pools — back in action
After Hurricane Ian took out most of True Blue Pools working gear, John Lambrecht decided not to let his father’s 40-plus years of hard work, and at one point, over 500 accounts, come to naught in Matlacha and Pine Island. He said he could not just sit by and let the business fade away, and found he had a deep desire to go out on his own and bring back the name his father had established through True Blue Pools.
“Hurricane Ian came through and decimated his business. It took all the trucks, equipment and chemicals. He couldn’t rebound from it,” Lambrecht said of his father.
While doing carpentry work in Naples, Lambrecht said he was contacted by another pool supply store and asked if he would like to try and recoup some of his and his father’s original customers. In an effort to move forward and leave the past behind, Lambrecht began working furiously to re-establish the celebrated business his father started many years ago. To his delight, he said, in working with this other pool supply store as well as a former employee who had come back, he was able to get over 300 accounts back.
“We cleaned up all the pools from Hurricane Ian and started a maintenance division. We started running trucks out of a business that had only sold chemicals,” Lambrecht said.
Making the decision to re-launch True Blue Pools and go it alone has produced one of the most gratifying business results Lambrecht could have expected. Now, he said he is able to deal directly with customers he’s known for his entire life and his hope is that word of his return will spread and continue to help him grow in his business.
“I’m just trying to bring back the legacy my dad built and poured his heart and soul into. I did not want the True Blue name to die out with the hurricane,” Lambrecht said.
Although coming back has taken longer than he said he would have expected, he claims he is back in action at the helm of his ship. On his journey back into the lives of his islander customers, Lambrecht finds that he is both happy and grateful to everyone who has waited this time out with him. He said he has continued to value the business of his customers.
“Thank you for your loyalty and I look forward to servicing the True Blue way,” Lambrecht said.
To contact True Blue Pools, call (239) 938-4225.
To reach PAULETTE LeBLANC / pleblanc@breezenewspapers.com, please email