Retailers Help Ahead of the Big Snow

Predictions of heavy snowfall in January sent customers scrambling to buy supplies from their local home improvement stores to prepare for ice, snow and potential power outages.

The expectation of nearly 30 inches of snow brought customers to Twins Ace Hardware, where they snapped up shovels, ice melt and sleds. And those were just the top-selling products.

All of the store’s snow blowers sold, and customers bought every single D battery, flashlight and lantern Twins Ace had, co-owner Craig Smith says. Shoppers also bought firewood, gloves and hats, windshield wash and generators.

The store is located in Fairfax, Virginia, and residents in the surrounding area had plenty of warning that heavy snowfall was coming Jan. 22, Smith says.

At the same time, residents in the Toms River, New Jersey, area were preparing for nearly 20 inches of snow, and they also turned to an independent hardware store for emergency supplies. Ken’s Hardware had the shovels, salt, flashlights and batteries, gas cans, tarps and rope they needed, says co-owner John Kenny.

“I can’t say that I heard anybody say they were scared, but they were buying like they were scared,” Kenny says. “The public doesn’t prepare ahead of time. They kind of wait till the last minute, and they expect you to have stuff.”

He ordered ahead, expecting his shovels and ice melt to sell well. He underestimated, though, and the Friday night of the storm he was very low on inventory, he says. Hurricane Sandy had hit the community hard in 2012, and he thinks people remembered the hurricane and panicked ahead of the snowstorm.

“At the beginning of the week, I had 150 shovels and about 10,000 pounds of ice melt. I sold every shovel and every bag of ice melt. In addition to that, I sold 10,000 pounds of (water softener) salt,” Kenny says.

On Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of that week, the 12,000-square-foot Twins Ace Hardware store was crammed with shoppers. At one point, the Twins Ace checkout line had more than 100 people standing in it, snaking up and down store aisles, Smith says.

“We had product when the big boxes ran out. We never ran out of ice melt,” he says. Smith got as many product deliveries to the store as he could. What he didn’t get through his primary distributor, he sent a store van to pick up elsewhere.

While no one wants to experience this type of weather, Smith says staying well stocked during these times is important.

“Obtain as much product as you can, and I think you need to be willing to hold it from season to season,” he says. “No one will forget it if you’re out. Not having it is just not acceptable.”