Kansas City-area hardware stores staying busy during arctic blast
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — People in the Kansas City area are gearing up for the freezing temperatures ahead by stocking up at stores across the metro.
“It’s pretty brutal out there, we’ve been staying inside quite a bit,” shopper Patrick Cohen said. “We’ve been getting out a little bit with the kids but not a ton.”
As people prepare to be at the house this weekend, Westlake Ace Hardware told FOX4 that they’ve seen a 90% increase in sales over the past two days and customer traffic has increased by 60%.
Protecting your pipes, keeping house warm, safe during extreme cold temperatures
Euston Hardware in Prairie Village has seen the same crowds, selling out of sleds earlier in the week.
“We had a whole bunch in the beginning and I was actually really concerned and then we sold them all in a day,” store manager Jillian Madsen said. “Just kidding, we needed way more sleds.”
She said that the items that are most popular are what you’d expect. Products like shovels, salt, handwarmers and batteries were most seen at checkout counters.
Faucet covers have also been a popular item.
“Everybody needs to be dripping faucets to make sure pipes don’t freeze. We’ll be here if they do, we’ll help you out, but nobody wants to go there,” Madsen said.
Shoppers also made sure to hit local grocery stores. Hy-Vee in Gladstone said that they watched the forecast to stock up ahead of time.
“We had a pretty good heads up on this one so we were able to fill up and take care of people,” store manager Dan Quinn said.
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As for the popular items there, he said it wasn’t a big surprise.
“Just the usuals, bread, milk, eggs, the staples,” he said.
Neither store has seen a disruption in their supply chain either. Euston Hardware had to put in a new order for sleds and they arrived without issue.
HyVee said they have been getting their deliveries regularly.
“Maybe coming in a little later but we have been getting all of our trucks as we need them,” Quinn said.
