Sales of winter supplies up

Snow was falling more than two months before winter officially started. Since then, northwest Iowa has been dealt more than its fair share of snow and ice. It should come as no surprise, then, that mechanisms to deal with those menaces have been hot-selling items in local stores.

"This is the first time we've completely sold out of snow blowers," Scott Ohrt, manager of the Spencer Bomgaars, said. "We've been out since the first week in December."

Ohrt explained that his store started the season with 12 units and was able to get just six more from the central warehouse.

"We weren't able to buy any more because the manufacturer already switched over to making lawnmowers," he added.

Across town, Menards has seen snow blower sales ebb and flow, said First Assistant General Manager Mike Muhlbauer.

"People impulse buy. When you get two feet of snow, people come in and buy a snow blower right away," Muhlbauer said. "We might sell 10 snow blowers in three hours but then we may not sell one for three weeks."

Muhlbauer estimated that winter supply sales had doubled and that sales of roof rakes had tripled, with large amounts of snow settling on roofs in the area.

Wal-Mart Manager Scott Freeman acknowledged that his store has sold a larger quantity of snow blowers, shovels, ice melt, snow bibs and heaters this winter.

"I don't know if I'd say it's substantially up (but) it has increased," he said.

Freeman credited actual and forecasted storms for much of the increases.

"Just with the amount of storms we've had, we've seen a real increase in sales," he said. "As each storm comes up, it continues to drive the sales. Even at this late date, with the storm (forecasted) right now, we're seeing an increase."

Storms causing power outages have also bolstered generator sales, Muhlbauer said.

Overall his store has welcomed more visitors.

"I would say our guest traffic is higher but people are spending less," Muhlbauer analyzed. "People come in for a specific reason. Per transaction it's been lower but there have been more transactions."

Ohrt stated that sales were up in January, but have slowed down this month.

"You get everyone loaded up with their winter gear," he said. "Unless they break a snow shovel or tear out their winter bibs, they don't really need a replacement. It's hard to say what February is going to do."

Only time -- and the weather -- will tell.