Businesses catering to winter activities forced to scramble

Several Twin Ports businesses have had to become imaginative with their inventory due to the unusually warm weather.

This winter season has been nothing short of abnormal. The warm weather and lack of snow has caused many different problems for local businesses around the Duluth area.

One of the stores that has been affected greatly is Play It Again Sports in Duluth. The store is reliant mostly on their sales in the winter seasons. They specialize in hockey, cross country skis, and snowboards during these times.

It is not only certain businesses in Duluth, but some students at UMD are also facing the effects of the warmer winter. Gavin Skelton, a junior at UMD spoke on some of the disappointments he has seen.

“The weather has been difficult for sure. I haven’t been out to play pond hockey once,” Skelton said.

Skelton mentioned that in past years he tried to get out and skate at least once a week, but obviously, those opportunities have been cut short this year.

The unusual weather has caused the managers and employees at Play It Again Sports to see shifts in the typical patterns that they go through. There is less snow to be used for sports like skiing and snowboarding and less ice for recreational and competitive hockey or pond skating.

One of the managers of the store, Steven Holappa, said this winter has been something that he has never seen before.

“In 14 years, we have never had no ice and snow. We’ve had either or, but never no snow or ice at the same time,” Holappa said.

Due to this type of season they are experiencing, they have had to make certain adjustments to be able to reach sales and keep their store in a good place financially.

One idea that Holappa came up with was the 12 days of Christmas sale. This was a sale that started 12 days before Christmas and ended on Christmas Eve. It had many different discounts on products in hope to draw more customers into the store.

There has been a slight decrease in the payroll because of the lower amount of traffic but there does seem to be one constant that the store is able to provide.

“Payroll does slim slightly due to less traffic but because we are in the winter season, hockey sharpens no matter what,” Holappa said.

The sharpens that come in throughout the season is due to the many different high school teams around the Duluth area. This drew a crowd of high school and youth players into the store.

All of these problems that they are facing does bring out some light. With the store being smaller, they do not have the luxury of being able to keep all of their products on the floor year round. Therefore they have to switch the store around based on what season it is.

Due to this, the store is now able to start getting their spring sports out earlier and can allow for a different type of crowd to shop the store. That is a big advantage of having many different sports to sell at their store.

They also recently started their yearly canned food drive. This is a drive where they partner up with the Union Gospel Mission. They have discounts on different items around the store based on how many canned goods you bring in.

This is another way that they have been able to support the store. The canned food drive is a good way for the store to sell products, but also for the community to give back.

Overall, the season has been one to remember, but at the same time, businesses are hopeful it doesn’t repeat itself next season.