Flavourful tomatoes are a perennial favourite among home gardeners. (Alison Sandstrom/paNOW Staff)

By Josh Ryan

Supplies needed

Stores working to meet summer consumer demands

May 27, 2021 | 5:10 PM

A year after the start of the pandemic, retailers in Saskatchewan are still scrambling to meet the needs of consumers for outdoor items.

Despite more time to prepare for surges in spending, supply chains and more changes in items of interest have kept the process more difficult.

Gloria Dyck, Hardware Manager at the Meadow Lake Co-op Service Centre, said recent business has been crazy, consumers expanding from camping equipment and lawn care to things like gardening and seeding.

“Potting oils, seeds, potatoes, onions; a lot of first time gardeners that are trying it,” she said.

Dyck said last year most people were trying to find things to do while staying home or buying gear that could support them getting out of the city. Items like lawn mowers, generators and furniture are still selling, but there’s a lot more interest in gardening because of people trying to stay outside as much as possible given travel is still limited.

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“It was just phenomenal to see so many new people that have never even thought of doing these things before that were looking for new things to do,” Dyck said.

During the previous spring, Dyck said they were underprepared for how much they would have to sell of their inventory, but this year, they tired as much as possible to get orders in over the winter. Despite that, they still have heavy demand and are expecting another busy summer.

“We’re not in quite as bad shape, but we’re already having to sell a lot,” Dyck said. “Whether it’s kayaks, lawn chairs, barbecues or camping [gear].”

“We’re just taking it slowly and getting as prepared as we possibly can.”

Certain suppliers have told them there’s some product that will be harder to get in on time. Dyck said they’ve particularly struggled to bring in children’s bicycles.

“However, I just read this morning that we’re going to receive them, so some good news!”

Supply chains affected

Some stores in the region, however, are not reporting that mad dash at the door, but a lack of being able to stockpile product due to events outside of their control. Cameron Gartner, General Manager of Home Hardware Building Centre in North Battleford, said their issue has been supply shortages. A recent example was having four new paddle boats selling within two days and being unable to get new ones.

“I don’t think things are selling more quickly than normal, I just think the supply is not there, so it makes it seem like the demand is higher,” he said. “There’s nothing we’re selling more of, but getting the product in to sell it is the challenge,

The pandemic has provided a number of challenges for retailers over the past year, but events like the wide scale frost in Texas in February have been particularly impactful, with a couple of chemical plants suffering fires as a result and putting the production of many materials on standby.

“It’s amazing to find out how many products are based on things that happen in specific parts of the world,” Gartner said. “It just puts the supply of other materials on hold.”

Gartner said customers are buying in somewhat similar patterns to last year in terms of a greater interest in outdoor projects and lawn furniture. Whether or not the situation improves in the near future isn’t certain, but Gartner said they are still getting shipments in sporadically.

“We’re not getting our big shipment like we normally have, but there is stuff coming in week to week.”

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josh.ryan@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @JoshRyanSports