Celebrating 50 Years Of Innovation WITH POLARIS

Polaris is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. The brand has been a pioneer in the pool cleaner industry since its inception. Over its 50 years of existence, Polaris has established itself as a household name, providing reliable and efficient cleaning solutions to pool owners worldwide.

To mark this milestone, we spoke with Greg Howard, the former CEO and President of Polaris Pool Systems (1986-2004), and Skye Svenningsen Director of Product Marketing for Fluidra North America. Both shared some insights about the brand’s history and discussed the key factors that have contributed to its success. During our discussion, we delved into the history behind Polaris and talked about some of the key milestones that have helped make Polaris a trusted name in pool cleaners.

Today, Greg Howard is the President of Carecraft, a leading buying group for the pool industry. He still has fond memories of his Polaris days and shared the origin of how the brand first got its start.

“There were two people who invented the original Polaris, Mel Henkin and Jordan Laby. One was a dentist and one was an anesthesiologist. For the initial prototype, the two of them took Coke cans and rubber bands and fashioned them into a little car that would walk around on the bottom of a pool and it had a bag on the top that kind of looked like a chef’s hat,” explained Howard.

BY JOE TRUSTY

Polaris made its first initial debut at the 1973 National Swimming Pool Convention in Anaheim, California. The product immediately captured the interest of the pool industry and would quickly find itself in competition with the Arneson Pool Sweep which had a predominant share of that nascent market at the time.

“The idea was that it was the first pool cleaner that could vacuum and sweep. The Arneson product was just hoses in a pool. It stirred up the water, and you still had to lift a basket out to empty the debris. Ours was the first product that actually vacuumed and swept, hence the name Polaris VacSweep. It took a team of engineers two years to take those Coke cans and turn it into a working pool cleaner,” said Howard.

Howard said he still remembers the days going head to head with the Arneson Pool Sweep who at the time had golf legend Arnold Palmer as their spokesman. Not to be undone, Polaris would recruit bathing beauty Suzanne Somers, star of the hit sitcom Three’s Company, as their spokesperson.

“She was on all of our packaging, and she was in our ads,” said Howard, “she also came on our incentive trips with us. She would sit by the pool and sign autographs and talk to the customers. Suzanne Somers was a big part of our marketing,” explained Howard.

Back in the 80’s, the Polaris 180 would become the defining product the brand would eventually become known for.

“For the first ten or 15 years of the company’s life, it was the only product that we had,” explained Howard.

“We literally built an entire company around a single product until there were additional ones brought on later,” said Howard.

Polaris, was acquired by Zodiac Pool Systems in 2005 which would later merge with Fluidra. “Currently the Polaris brand has dozens of pool cleaners in every category. They have suction cleaners, pressure cleaners, electric cleaners, and now cordless cleaners. They’ve really expanded the line. But yeah, we started with one product, and it took us quite a while to add a second, a third, and a fourth.”

Today, folks like Skye Svenningsen look at the Polaris brand with a mix of nostalgia and optimism for the future that lies ahead.

“There’s a whole lot behind us that has really led to Polaris as a brand being known in our industry the way that it is today,” said Svenningsen, “after 50 years, the spirit of our company, the innovation, passion, and drive to make something new and great for our users is still at the core of what we do every day.”

“It all started with the 180, which of course was the main product and then the Polaris 280 VacSweep, which remains as a product that people still rely on today. Technology and things may have changed, but we created a product that truly has stood the test of time. I’m really proud that some of the innovations that we made way back then still are relevant today. In 2017, we introduced the Polaris QUATTRO™ Sport into the industry, which was a new way to look at pressure cleaning with dual filtration canisters. We’re not sitting on our laurels around here waiting. We know that consumers are looking for the next big thing and we’re going to bring it,” said Svenningsen.

“Consumers today expect most of their new products to have an app and give them some information about their cleaner or their product,” explained Svenningsen,

“with the iAquaLink® control in some of our robotic products, you’re able to set a cleaning cycle, start it from work or while you’re on the road, and ensure that your pool is clean by the time that you get home. We’re able to do a lot of things that we weren’t able to do historically.” Today the Polaris brand is synonymous with the latest technological innovations in pool cleaners. “We’ve absolutely evolved and brought new products to the market, “said Svenningsen, “the ALPHA™ iQ platform and our EPIC™ platforms have been very successful for us. We have put a lot of engineering and marketing support behind these products.