Ultra Modern Pool & Patio

You could say Rita Rowlen grew up in the hot tub industry.

When Rowlen’s father, Cecil Schniepp, started his swimming pool construction and retail business in 1954, he had high hopes his seven kids would work in the family business.

“We lived behind the store, and when we got to high school, we were solicited to work after school and on Saturdays,” she says.

In 1988, she and her sisters bought the business — Ultra Modern Pool & Patio in Wichita, Kansas —  from their father. Now, it’s run by Rowlen and her daughter, Kara Weed.

As they celebrate 70 years in business, Rowlen is preparing for Weed to take the reins. Eventually, Weed plans to buy her mother out just as Rowlen did from her father years ago.

“They are iconic,” says longtime friend Brian Quint, former owner of Aqua Quip in Seattle, Washington.

“It’s a dream come true for anybody like Rita, like me, who has run these larger family enterprises,” says Quint of the long-running generational stronghold on the business.

Quint adds that not every family is “willing to make sacrifices of running a closely held business” like the Rowlens. He notes that it’s not always right for every family business to keep it in the family, but it worked out well for Rowlen and Weed and makes for an even more unique backstory.

“It’s a happy ending to a family business fairy tale,” Quint says. “That’s cool. It means that it can be done.”

As the company has grown, so has its offerings. From hot tubs to patio furniture and above-ground pools to saunas, Ultra Modern Pool & Patio staff have been open to trying anything. At one point, they even had a Christmas store inside the mall, a seasonal opportunity for them, Weed says.

“They’re willing to think outside the box,” Quint says.

Over the years, Rowlen wasn’t scared to put herself out there in a male-dominated industry. She dressed for respect and held her own in industry organizations; Rowlen served on the regional Kansas National Swimming Pool Institute board for 20 years as well as on the national board.

She also was in a peer group of several other pool and spa retailers from across the country called “Pool Pros” who connected to share best practices. That’s where she and Quint formed their friendship. Over the years, their families traveled and did business together.

“I like to share best practices and things that would help other businesses,” Rowlen says. “I was all about helping our industry grow and have a good reputation.”

When her sister and business partner became ill, Quint says the Pool Pros rallied around to support and mentor Rowlen. By way of connection, Weed came under the group’s wings and learned a lot about the industry over the years, Quint says.

“She got to grow up around a bunch of pool and hot tub people that were pretty pumped up about their business,” says Quint of Weed.

“And now [Rowlen’s] my sounding board and where I get advice when I need it,” Weed says.

As Rowlen inches closer to retirement, she and Weed are focusing on smoothing out business processes. Weed also has five-year goals she’s working on, including the potential for opening more stores and growing the company’s construction department. It’s the willingness to evolve that Quint says he’s admired for so long about the mother-daughter team. Even as it has evolved over the years, Quint says one thing is certain: “It’s a Wichita institution.”