Hot Springs deal may not be the last for Burton Pools & Spas

Fort Smith-based Burton Pools & Spas has acquired Mid South Pools and Spas in Hot Springs, and company co-owner Caleb Burton said they may not be finished acquiring other operators in the pool construction and services industry.

Terms of the Hot Springs acquisition were not disclosed, but the deal added 8 employees, which brings the non-seasonal total to 147, according to Burton. With the Hot Springs deal, Burton Pools and Spas claims to provide pool and spa services to more Arkansans than any other dealer in the state.

Burton Pools & Spas was founded in 1978 by brothers Dan and David Burton. In 1981 they added a retail location in Fort Smith, and in 1993 opened a second retail store in Springdale. The company opened a third store in Greenland – south of Fayetteville – in 2024.

Caleb, who is the son of David, said the business saw revenue growth of around 60% during and immediately after the COVID-19 pandemic as part of the trend by millions of Americans to improve their residential surroundings. He estimated that about 60% of the company’s total revenue, which includes pool construction, spa installation, and services and maintenance for pools and spas, comes from Northwest Arkansas, with 40% from a Fort Smith market that includes a large swath of eastern Oklahoma and the central part of western Arkansas.

The post-COVID growth has slowed in recent months, but Caleb said they are working to maintain revenue trends.

“It’s been really, really good, but right now it’s been the toughest point that we’ve had since we hit a bottom in 2010 during that recession,” Caleb said. “I think people are sitting still just a little bit because of that (tariff-induced economic uncertainty).”

But Burton as a company is not sitting still. Caleb, along with partners Steven Leonard and Dustin Moore, plan to buy out the retiring David Burton in a deal set to close in June. Caleb said his dad and uncle “created a really good thing for us” and built relationships nationwide in the pool industry upon which they plan to build.

Hot Springs may be the first of more deals that Burton pursues in a growth-through-acquisition strategy.

“We’ll see where that (Hot Springs deal) takes us, but yes, that’s our goal,” Caleb said. “You have a lot of people in the pool industry that are getting close to retirement age and some don’t have that (family) to keep it going, so some are getting out.”

The growth strategy will likely remain regional, with acquisitions and expansion focused in Arkansas, Missouri and Oklahoma, Caleb said.

Caleb said the company also will continue to donate a portion of proceeds to a program that builds water wells in Africa. Burton Pools began the donations in 2017, and has since helped fund “about 53 wells,” Caleb said.