Economy drowns online pool guy

Chris Smith, founder of a once high-flying, Internet-based Gulf Coast pool supply business, is drowning in debt caused by an admitted massive miscalculation in the economy.

So much debt that the company Smith founded, Port Charlotte-based Aqua Superstore, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in U.S. federal court in Fort Myers late last year. The company has $1.995 million in total liabilities compared to $65,615 in assets, court documents show.

The liabilities are mostly comprised of separate loans worth at least $150,000, including one with the Port Charlotte branch of M&I Bank. Assets, according to court documents, are mostly made up of a 2007 company-owned Maserati, worth about $60,000.