From pool construction to Mad Men: A summertime story-idea sampler

By Flickr user Paul Sapiano

This is an idea blog, and as you know, story ideas range from full-bodied and meaty to fleeting and fluffy.  We try to serve up mostly meat, but some of the other fare is just too tasty to be ignored.

So here’s a round-up of weighty and not-so-weighty summertime ideas, all worth a second look:

Auto dealerships: How galling to be a defunct dealer these days, especially after a federal watchdog concluded that the Treasury department acted in error by forcing manufacturers to yank hundreds of dealer franchises; see this Detroit News report for more background.

Story possibilities here are myriad:  As this USA Today piece notes, final reinstatement decisions are due soon. And the Detroit Free Press offers some interesting numbers about auto dealership employment and how the recession may have hit harder than the industry bankruptcies.  It might be interesting to track down numbers from current and defunct dealers and do a local analysis of auto dealer employment trends since the start of the recession.  Keep in mind July sales figures are due out August 2, making a handy news peg.

The re-purposing of shuttered showrooms is fascinating; I was shocked the other night to see that a household-name dealer in Metro Detroit has stocked his facility with lawn furniture and is trying to make a go of that business in his otherwise useless retail space.  I’m sure the profit margin on Adirondack chairs is quite a comedown from the markup on SUVs.  What uses are dealerships being put to in your neck of the woods?

Vending machines. This just-out market report gives some interesting factoids, as does this fascinating Washington Post piece that notes we pump about $30 billion a year into junk food dispensers.  That’s a lot of Fritos!  Note the industry fragmentation – that’s good news for you because it means a substantial player likely is in your region and worthy of a business profile.

Aside from being a common experience for your audience, vending machine stories are fun because of the goofy technology and branding attempts the automated devices serve up.

The other angle: Machines that sell non-food products, from iPods to batteries to cell-phone chargers.  This article suggests that cosmetics from a machine are on the way, and

I was thrilled when my nearest Coke machine started taking debit cards – no more scrounging for quarters or dollar bills.  But that’s cave woman stuff compared to this Japanese model that vends Smart Cars for $20,000 in pocket change.  OK, so that’s merely a concept – but it’s a cool way to dispense marketing literature and not that far off from some of the production machines in use today.

And behind the scenes, as this trade article points out, vending machines are becoming more efficient, Energy Star compliant and monitored remotely for problems. That’s a novel “green business” angle for you.

This sales site for vending machines screams that they are “absolute cash cows!” and features a good overview of what’s standard.  As to finding local operators – just mosey over to a few machines and copy the contact info that’s usually on a sticker near the coin return.

Other interesting info available at from the trade group, the National Automated Merchandising Association.

Pools and spas. This Bloomberg article caught my eye a few weeks ago; apparently residential swimming pool construction has plunged since 2005 from around $7 billion to less than $2 billion.  That’s an astounding drop, recession notwithstanding, and as the article points out many dealers are surviving on service and maintenance.

This small but visible sector might make for a good niche business-survival story in your region.  What are the trends in sales: Are aging Americans opting for sit-in-place hot tubs instead of large play pools?  Are greener chemical options selling well?  What do these companies do in the off season?  One near me transforms itself, oddly, into a holiday wonderland selling artificial Christmas trees, ornaments, lawn tableaus and ceramic Dickens-style villages.

This would make for good personal finance fodder, too.  Seems like a buyer’s market for anyone who’s always dreamed of a backyard oasis.  And look hard into warranty issues, too:  My 90-year-old neighbor was dismayed last month to find that the much-touted 20-year warranty on her six-year-old pool was so convoluted that – despite a catastrophic failure of the steel frame – she’d get less than 20 percent of the full-retail replacement cost defrayed by filing a claim. In fact, since pools are selling at greater than 20 percent discounts around here, her warranty is pretty much worthless. I called around and some candid dealers told me that her plight was par for the course but something eager buyers often overlook.

Mad Men. The year is 1964, the martinis are cold and the Beatles are hot.  I can’t resist noting that with the Season Four debut last night of the AMC “Mad Men” TV series, you’ve got a good peg for a variety of financial feature stories ranging from retro clothing & furniture shops to liquor sales trends and stats (your state’s alcohol control commission can tell you which ZIP codes favor gin over bourbon, for example), smoking stores, classic car restorers, collectibles and online sales, vintage music shops and, of course, the advertising business.