Snowstorm Boosts Snow Thrower Sales at Home Depot and Lowe's
The Wall Street Journalreports that sales of expensive snow throwers climbed because of the December snowstorm in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. Home Depot Inc. (HD) spokeswoman Jean Niemi told the WSJ that they had a big weekend and some stores are out of snow throwers. Lowe's also reported sales in snow moving equipment.
Niemi wouldn't disclose sales specifics, but she confirmed reports by a few retail analysts that Home Depot stores in affected areas were selling out of snow throwers, which can top $1,000, as quickly as they could assemble them.
"There are some stores that are out of inventory, but currently there is inventory on the way to the stores," and customers can still order products online, she said. "Shipments will be filtering into stores up until Christmas. Our vendors are actually working through Christmas to make sure they can keep up and that we can continue to load up" on inventory.
Lowe's Cos. (LOW), the second-largest U.S. home-improvement retailer by sales after Home Depot, also said popular products included snow throwers, ice melt, rock sale, heaters, propane and de-icer.
Lowe's compared its traffic to hurricane preparation. A Lowe's spokesperson told the Wall Street Journal, "store activity and customer preparation were comparable to a Category 4 hurricane."
The December sale could also motivate consumers to buy more snow-related equipment and winter apparel. The storm came early and we still have January, February and March to go.
The Wall Street Journal 
