January 17, 2008
Slacking sales for sleds
Who bought a new sled today? Today's snow likely sent people heading for the area’s hills and slopes for some significant sleigh riding activity.
But demand for sleds has been lagging at area retailers. Some have pent-up supplies for these winter toys, because sleds weren’t in huge demand last year --or the year before. Winters in the Roanoke Valley have been mild for the past several years. Who wants to buy a new sled when we may only have four inches of the white stuff a year?
This mild weather also is impacting the quantity of cold weather supplies, such as shovels and salt, that retailers decide to stock on shelves each winter.
With less snow in various pockets of the country, “if there’s no need to ramp up the stock, than we don’t,” said Anibal Sepulveda, a spokesman for Home Depot, based in Atlanta. “I think basically there is a correlation between stock and weather conditions in this case.”
Read my story in tomorrow’s Roanoke Times about how milder winter temperatures in the last several years are impacting sales of sleds and other snowy equipment.
Speaking of stocking up, why do people rush to the grocery store for only bread and milk when snowstorms are looming? And who would have thought that another popular item around the time of a snowstorm is bagged ice? That's according to Kroger spokesman Carl York.
Comments
[January 18, 2008 6:23 PM]
mapuserWHAT? No toilet paper? Youse people could live really well in Baltimore if you do not need TP like all the rest do. Glad to see that others make a run on milk and bread... It's a long, long time running joke up here.
[January 20, 2008 1:55 PM]
Amy Hanek : →http://www.houseonthegladehill.blogspot.comI bought three sleds for my three little snow bunnies. Five dollars each at Dollar General. I thought the price would have gone down from before Christmas, but it was exactly the same.
I have found the self-heating coffee worth stocking up on with the forecast of an impending snowstorm. Who doesn't rely on a cup of coffee every morning and with the chance of lost power would pay anything for it? (I am raising my hand...)