Kristina Hill said being in the hardware business is all about finding new ways to use common objects.
That’s why Bloomington Hardware is selling water heater drip trays and concrete mixing tubs as makeshift sleds.
Hill is a fourth-generation manager of the store. She said it’s hard to keep sleds in stock – but ice melt and shovels are going fast, too. She said almost every other phone call is a customer asking about one of the three products.
“This year we just can’t keep it in stock and at this point our warehouses are running out too,” Hill said. “So, we’re ordering anything we can, we’re ordering more than we think we need.”
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Hill said some years the demand for ice melt is so low it winds up being stored through summer. She said the product is not popular with college students, but they always want sleds. And she said this year’s supply is abnormally low.
“However, sleds are a big deal. We just cannot get them at this point,” Hill said. “We were told early in the season that the manufacturers didn’t have enough ready, so we probably wouldn’t be able to get it late in the season.”
Of sleds, shovels and ice melt, shovels are the easiest to find. Black Lumber Company and Walmart had several in stock as of Monday afternoon, and Hill said Bloomington Hardware is expecting more shovels and ice melt on Tuesday.
