50 years of the Rengers Group

Geeste/Dalum, May 13, 2015 – From May 8 to 10, the Rengers Group of Companies from Dalum in the Emsland region celebrated its fifty-year company anniversary with an employee party on Friday, a consultation day on Saturday, and an open house day on Sunday. Founded in 1964 by Gisela and Josef Rengers, starting with plastic products for agriculture, the company has grown to become one of the leading manufacturers of swimming pools and whirlpools in Europe. 

Together with their approximately 200 employees from the Dalum and Slovakian locations, the Rengers family looked back on half a century of eventful corporate history. During the official ceremony on Friday evening, the company founders recalled the company's roots in agriculture. In 1964, Josef Rengers began manufacturing feeding troughs, milk can rinsing tubs, and ice-water cooling basins from what was then the relatively new material polyester. The advantage over conventional products: the plastic products did not rust. However, with the reduction of subsidies in agriculture, the business of the "Rengers Kunststoffe" founded in 1964 stagnated. 

1970: Entry into Swimming Pool Construction 

Gisela and Josef Rengers searched for alternative areas of application for the polyester material and in 1970 converted production to the manufacture of swimming pools. "There were brick and tiled pools on the market as well as some pools made of polyester. However, there were no polyester pools made from a single piece, and that's exactly where we started," Josef Rengers recalled. 

"Frost-resistant, seamlessly waterproof, and ready to install within a very short time" – with these product advantages, Josef Rengers launched the first one-piece polyester swimming pools onto the market. To meet the growing demand, the entrepreneur expanded the business premises in 1976 and founded RivieraPool GmbH, which from then on was responsible for the sales and marketing of all pools. In the same year, the company began importing American whirlpools. Once again, Rengers proved market intuition by choosing pools in acrylic glass quality. The improved quality contributed decisively to the success of whirlpools on the German market. In 1979, the company entered into the in-house production of whirlpools. 

Site Expansions 

In view of the oil crisis of 1973, Gisela and Josef Rengers looked for ways to diversify their business outside of Germany. From 1976 to 1983, RivieraPool maintained a production facility in the United Arab Emirates, which the Emsland native built up from scratch: On a site without electricity, road, or water connections, they built a thriving business within seven years, producing water tanks, sun canopies, and pools for the local markets. The proceeds from the sale were reinvested by the entrepreneurs into expanding production in Dalum. 

With the opening of Eastern European markets, Gisela and Josef Rengers decided to establish a production site in Slovakia. In the city of Trnava, about 100 kilometers from Vienna, they founded the "Reku Slovakia" plant in 1993, which today, with around 70 employees, produces for the Western and Eastern European markets. 

In 2003, the company invested in building a new exhibition center for swimming pools, sauna plunge pools, and whirlpools on Klöcknerstraße in Dalum. Covering 1,900 square meters indoors and a spacious outdoor area, RivieraPool displays pool landscapes of various styles. "Even today, there is no comparable exhibition center of this size and variety in Europe," emphasizes Guido Rengers, Managing Director of RivieraPool. "A pool alone does not make a pool landscape. By showing the interplay of color, light, and water, we inspire and support our customers in their decision-making process. With these and other measures, we want to further develop our parents' company to meet current market demands." 

During the open house day on Sunday, many people from the region took advantage of the excellent spring weather to visit the exhibition center. With flambée, prosecco, and musical accompaniment by the marching band, prospective pool buyers gathered information about the swimming pool highlights of 2015. 

Medium-Sized Family Business 

The medium-sized family business is now run in its second generation by the Rengers family. The group includes three companies:

- The production company "Rengers Kunststoffverarbeitungs GmbH & Co. KG" on Industriestraße in Geeste-Dalum; the Managing Director is Peter Rengers.

- "RivieraPool Fertigschwimmbad GmbH" based on Klöcknerstraße in Geeste-Dalum for sales and marketing of all products; the Managing Director is Guido Rengers, and the Head of Marketing Communication is Uwe Rengers. 

- The Slovakian production site "Reku Slovakia spol. s r.o.", which is managed by Josef Rengers and with increasing support from Peter Rengers. 

With 200 employees, the company produces swimming pools, sauna plunge pools, and whirlpools for private gardens and indoor pools, hotels, cruise ships, and municipal leisure pools. Around 50 percent of all pools are exported abroad. Today, RivieraPool is one of the leading suppliers of prefabricated swimming pools in Europe, and the company is the market leader in Germany. 

Dieter C. Rangol, Managing Director of the German Federal Association for Swimming Pools and Wellness (bsw), highlighted the company's key role in cooperating within the industry during the ceremony: "Whether it's about quality management issues or the development of marketing and PR measures for the sector: the Rengers family and their employees have also pushed central industry topics forward through their support." 

In his review of the economic development of Emsland over the past 50 years, Helmut Höke, Mayor of the municipality of Geeste, underlined: "Today, as the German market leader in the swimming pool industry, the Rengers Group of Companies is one of the flagship companies in our region and one of the most important local employers."

Publisher's note: 

Further information on the company history as well as photos for download are available in the online gallery at www.rengers.de/de/chronik.  If you are interested in the 140-page, bound company chronicle of "50 Years of the Rengers Group of Companies", please feel free to contact info@pools.de.