The same could be said of Aquascape's phenomenal rate of innovation. In the first six months of this year, the company introduced, among other things, a "pondless" waterfall, a new line of pumps, a kit to help contractors empty ponds for cleanouts, a bulk fish-food dispenser, a customer rewards program, seven new videos, and two new books, including The Pond Guy on Marketing, in which Wittstock reveals his marketing secrets. "Aquascape innovates so fast that other guys can't keep up," says Tom Smith, the distributor. "I sent in a memo at the beginning of March about a contractor who wasn't comfortable putting a one- or two-ton boulder on a pond liner. He worried about making a hole. I said, 'What about coming up with a rock pad for people like him?' [Four months later] I asked Ed Beaulieu, 'What's happening with the rock pad?' He said, 'We're testing it on Monday. It will be ready in a couple of weeks.' What other company can move so fast?"
With each innovation comes information about new ideas and products and techniques for Aquascape's customers. But to get the information, people have to stay in the loop. That means taking advantage of Aquascape's educational offerings, yet another factor. The centerpiece is the traveling training program, which swings into high gear every year about this time. Backing it up is an entire publishing and video division, which generates a flood of training and marketing materials.
And beyond education, there's one final factor that has to do with the ponds themselves. "You know," says Smith, "ponds aren't just a business--they're a lifestyle. After 9/11, I must have gotten six, eight calls from people who wanted to thank me for the relief their ponds gave them from the flood of bad news. We get that all the time. You build a pond for $10,000, and people hug you. You turn on the water, and they cry."
Every professional pond-builder can tell stories about customers who develop deep, emotional attachments to their ponds. "People give names to their fish," says Tonja Andreattia, of Andreattia Waterscapes in Medford, Oreg. "The women tell me, 'My husband would never go out in the yard before, and now I can't stop him.' Everybody is so appreciative. They say the pond changed their lives." Contractors, too, have a passion for ponds that borders on religious fervor, and it rubs off on Aquascape. "I earn a good living with ponds," says Kenny Floyd, who overcame various alcohol and drug addictions before starting Aquatic Construction in Metairie, La. "More important, I get up every morning and do what I would do anyway for free. I can tell you, Greg Wittstock re-creates lives. He did mine."
He's been called a hypocrite, but Wittstock says he bought Water Creations to solve a strategic problem: an inability to penetrate the do-it-yourself market.
Back in Batavia, Aquascape's headquarters is getting a little crowded these days. There's still room for the indoor pond filled with koi that eat out of your hand, not to mention the 15 aquariums and terrariums housing all manner of fish and reptiles, from freshwater stingrays to a bearded dragon lizard named Rex. There's still room as well for the fitness center, the indoor basketball-soccer-tennis court, and the two pool tables. Workspace, however, has become tight as the number of employees has exploded from 71 to 130 people, thanks to Aquascape's purchase of a major competitor, Water Creations, in January.
That acquisition raised eyebrows throughout the industry. For years, after all, Aquascape people had been heaping scorn on Water Creations and its products. There was the additional irony that Aquascape--so often accused of being cultlike--had bought a company founded by members of a real religious cult, the Plymouth Brethren, a fundamentalist Christian sect that traces its origins to 19th-century England. Steve Stroupe, for one, couldn't resist poking fun at the merger, putting out a bogus press release with the headline "Cult Leaders Bury the Hatchet" and writing a satirical analysis of the deal entitled "The Church and the Bordello."
Wittstock told people that he'd bought Water Creations, now called Nursery Pro, because it solved his company's major strategic problem, namely, its inability to penetrate the huge market of do-it-yourselfers who find Aquascape ponds to be out of their price range. He pledged that he would eliminate the most objectionable features of the Water Creations products and use them to get people started in ponds. The goal, however, would be to move retail customers up to professional ponds over time. How? By education, of course.
Eventually most of his followers came around, although there are still some doubters. Kenny Floyd, the Louisiana contractor, remains uncomfortable with the acquisition. "I felt it was hypocritical," he says. "Water Creations sold a lot of gadgetry that we thought wasn't good. I have confidence that Greg can improve the products, but it's a big change. I'm really going on my faith in Greg."
Greg is also going on his faith in Greg, which has never been in short supply. He believes that the industry is poised to explode, and that Aquascape/Nursery Pro is now positioned to take advantage of the explosion. He points to a study by a market research firm showing that ponds and water gardens are the fastest-growing segment of the $46 billion lawn and garden industry. Then there's the survey from USA Today indicating that more homeowners (16%) would choose to enhance their homes with a water feature than would go for any other home improvement except decks (also 16%). With Nursery Pro, Wittstock now has access to the entire market. "Before I could only reach the people who could afford the big ponds," he says. "Now I can get to anybody, and I can bring them up." The average pond owner, he notes, buys three ponds in a lifetime.
Within a couple of years, Wittstock expects to outgrow his present, 103,000-square-foot facility, but he has a plan to deal with that, too. It's called Aqua Land, and it will be a 5.7-acre, wedge-shaped, ecofriendly building with grass on the roof. That's where he plans to put the soccer field for the guys in the warehouse. In addition, there will be a swimming pool, at least one koi pond, a daycare center, a state-of-the-art fitness center, a spa, a tennis court, and two racquetball courts. The building is supposed to be finished by December 2005. It will cost at least $15 million.
