POOL
#On the remodel/rep<UNK>ce side, we began seeing that recovery in 2011.
That continues to date and we are not back to normal behavior yet, but we are certainly on our way there.
In terms of new pool construction, that is <UNK>gging and I think that we are beginning to see a term that was used in the financial community about five years ago, four or five years ago, green shoots.
So we are beginning to see green shoots both on the psychology of homeowners to invest in their homes.
Obviously that took a hard hit back in 2008-2009, so that is beginning to happen now in the form of home improvements.
And, second, we are beginning to see several financial institutions going back in and providing lending based on home equity, whether that's redoing a first or second or a home equity loan.
We are beginning to see that.
So I am not expecting a big pickup there in 2015, but I expect that as we move through the ba<UNK>nce of this decade we're going to get progressively more traction there.
Sure, two things.
Texas did not have a particu<UNK>rly strong first quarter, but when you look underneath that it wasn't so much because of energy or the economic environment in Texas.
It was driven primarily because the weather was not particu<UNK>rly good in Texas.
And when you look at the activity that we are seeing in April, we are seeing more normalized levels of activity.
So net-net is ---+ we haven't seen any headwinds, noteworthy headwinds because of energy.
Again, most of the business that we do, whether it's Texas or anywhere else, is basic pool maintenance and repair and then associated remodeling and rep<UNK>cement activities on existing pools.
So that, other than weather moving it up a month or two or back a month or two in the year-round markets, is not a big deal in terms of having any macro impact.
And new pool construction, I looked at the permits through the end of March <UNK>st week and in all of the markets in Texas ---+ Dal<UNK>s, Houston, San Antonio, and Austin ---+ where I looked at permit information on a monthly basis, in all those cases it was either f<UNK>t or better than <UNK>st year.
Consistent with the guidance in terms of what I just spoke about a minute ago and in terms of the second quarter and then going on through ---+ well, second-quarter guidance that I gave earlier.
Thank you, Maureen, and thank you all for joining us on the call.
We are now totally engaged in the biggest sales and profit quarter of the year with our sales increasing almost every day.
Our team is making it happen and we look forward to reporting our results to you on our next earnings call on Thursday, July 23.
Have a great day.
