STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Carlo Saccheri said he remembers when a big part of his long-time, family-run Grant City business, now called Hylan Supply, was selling toboggans and sleds.
That happened every winter.
“When I was about 16 and 17, we used to sell sleds and toboggans like you wouldn’t believe,” he recalled.
And in recent years, much of January and February sales involved ice choppers, shovels, thermostats and other winter weather items.
However, this year’s mild winter weather has caused virtually no demand for these products.
“No one buys these items in the summer and spring. ...These items will now sit here and have to carry over until next year,” said Saccheri. “The way the weather has been lately, you can’t prepare for the seasons anymore.”
He is one of many Staten Island business owners who say the recent mild weather is adversely impacting sales.
“Businesses that rely on winter weather this time of year will have a hard time, but businesses that thrive in warmer weather might see an upswing, such as dining and entertainment,” said Abraham Unger, who holds a doctorate degree and is an associate professor and director of urban programs in the Department of Government Politics at Wagner College.
“A hardware store is a business [that would be] negatively affected, since they aren’t selling items such as salt and shovels as they normally would this time of year,” added Unger, who also is research director at the Hugh L. Carey Institute for Government Reform at Wagner College.
Unger said one way to survive a dip in sales is for a business to vary its product offerings.
“If a seasonally driven business has the flexibility and capital on hand to alter its purchases for a few weeks as a test to see what moves in warmer weather this time of year, even though it’s a bit speculative, it might be worth the investment,” said Unger, who also is a visiting research scholar at Fordham University and senior research fellow at NYU Marron Institute of Urban Management, Manhattan.
SNOW PLOW BUSINESSES SUFFERING
The lack of the white stuff this season has also greatly impacted anyone with a snow plow business.
“The weather has caused a tremendous strain on the business,” said Steve Margarella, who owns 980Plow Corp., an Elm Park-based snow removal service. “Statistically, we get about 29 inches of snow per year and we haven’t even gotten one 2-inch snowfall.”
But his paving and asphalt business is busier than usual for this time of year, he said.
“Because the weather is warm, people want asphalt work done. So we have to go 40 miles away to get asphalt. It’s very weird and unsettling," said Margarella, who owns Margarella Asphalt and Concrete.
But he said he really can’t recoup the snow plow service losses.
“You just do the best you can and try to get by,” he said.
EARLY SPRING?
And any hopes of a late winter might be useless if Chuck -- Staten Island’s resident groundhog -- weather forecasters and the Farmer’s Almanac are right. They all say spring is coming early this year.
“Winter temperatures will be much above normal, on average, with the coldest periods in mid- and late January and early and late February. Precipitation will be above normal, with below-normal snowfall. The snowiest periods will occur in mid- and late January and early February,” says the Farmer’s Almanac. “April and May will be warmer than normal, with precipitation near normal in the north and above normal in the south.”
POSITIVE AFFECTS OF WEATHER
However, some businesses are doing better because of the warm weather.
David Fazio, owner of the Elm Park-based Deville Auto Body, said the lack of bad road conditions has led to people driving more. And because of that, his auto repair business has remained steady.
“In the bad weather you don’t have people driving as much. Typically, when there’s snow, there’s less people on the road,” he said, noting his family has owned the company for more than 55 years.
He said people are generally happier when the weather is warm and there are more cars on the road, making for good business this time of year.
Home sales are also often higher when the weather is warm.
“There are always the critical economic indicators that drive the housing market," said James Prendamano, CEO of Casandra Properties Inc., “...Seasonality also plays a role in the heartbeat of the market. Typically, in the winter there’s a bit of a drop in active homebuyers. Weather, the holidays, children’s school year all contribute to that seasonal shift we see during this time. Overall, however, the market is as strong as it has been in quite some time.”
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