Published Thursday, Jan. 14, 1999
As snow continued to fall Wednesday, local retailers scrambled to meet the demand for winter supplies.
"Salt, snowshovels, scrapers, anything having to do with snow and ice has been selling like crazy," said Wal-Mart assistant store manager Terry Kellar.
The store, he said, hasn't had much trouble in getting supplies, but stockers have had to hustle to keep store shelves full, he said.
"We went through a tractor-trailer load (of salt) in two days," Kellar added.
David Blakley, manager of the Grove City Trader Horn store, was waiting with his coat on Wednesday morning for yet another shipment.
"We've been selling salt like there's no tomorrow,'' he said.
A week ago, the store received 300 bags of salt and sold it all in a day. Another 600 bags that arrived Friday sold by Sunday afternoon.
Trader Horn sold this year's order of shovels as well as some from last year and received 300 more.
"We've been fortunate,'' in getting supplies, he said, except for heat tape to wrap around exposed pipes.
Manufacturers cut back on production because of mild winters, he said, "and when the East Coast gets hit, by the time it's made, it's 50 (degrees) and you don't need it."
Lowe's of Hermitage was to get another truck load -- 15 tons -- of salt Wednesday, store manager Kevin Devine said.
"We got two loads in on Saturday and sold out by Monday," he said. "We've had a problem getting the salt in but it's not a shortage problem but transportation because of the weather."
On a smaller scale, the Ames department store in Pine Township sold about 50 bags of salt in one week, assistant manager Andy Stoops said.
"Our salt supply is zero,'' he said.
Ditto for snow shovels.
"Every day we have calls for salt and shovels,'' he said. "We've been selling right along but on Monday we sold all our shovels, about 30.''
There are a few snow boards left on the shelves, but Stoops doesn't expect any more sleds. "We're getting low on ice scrapers and brushes.''
Stoops said he expects to hear before the end of the week about getting more winter supplies.
"Last year we boxed stuff up. Nobody in the business told us to look for a bad winter.''
Warehouse Sales, Sharon, has a large supply of many winter goods in stock, and more are coming in, said owner Paul Greenberger.
The store has an "unlimited supply of salt," he said. "We received a semi-tractor-trailer shipment the other day. We have another scheduled for the end of the week."
Warehouse Sales also has 50-pound bags of calcium chloride, which melts ice at lower temperatures than salt, he said.
The store also has good stock of winter car supplies.
Warehouse Sales is low on snow shovels -- only about 90 left as of Wednesday morning -- and received a shipment of ice scrapers Tuesday. "They are going fairly rapidly but we are promised another shipment on Thursday," Greenberger said.
He added that the stock of sleds is low, but more are expected.
Greenberger said the store maintains good stocks of winter items through advance planning and reliable suppliers.
"We have a large quantity on hand," he said. "We have a lot of commercial customers so we're obligated to have supplies available."
Last year's mild winter hindered the stock at Quality Farm and Fleet in Greenville.
"Our inventory is based on last year's sales and last year was mild, so they didn't really expect this," said an employee. "We ran out of salt, shovels, and snow blowers at the beginning of last week and we've been out since. We've called and asked for it, but nobody seems to be able to get it."
Other stores that ordered shipments did not receive them as expected.
"We were supposed to have a shipment of salt in this morning, but we didn't get any," Marvin Miller, employee at Sereday's True Value in West Middlesex, said Wednesday. "We're just playing it by ear."
Parts America, Hermitage, still has plenty of salt and antifreeze, but it sold out of windshield de-icer and has very few wiper blades left, said employee Keith Gibson.
"Our lock de-icer was gone, but we just got a new shipment," he said. "We should be getting wiper blades and hopefully more windshield de-icer within the next two days."
