Halfords & Homebase benefit from bad weather

Bicycle and car accessories retailer Halfords is trialling the sale of marine de-icing salt and has upped its stock of snow sledges, as Britain’s bad weather continues.

Customers at 55 of Halfords stores in Scotland and the north-east of England, will be able to buy 10 kg bags of salt in order to clear snow from roads and driveways from today.

A record 5,700 sledges have been sold by the retailer in the last three weeks and another 16,600 are now being shipped in from the US as the snow keeps falling.

Louise Robinson, Product Manager at Halfords, said: “The cold weather has hit the UK so early this year, and this has prompted a phenomenal demand for sledges.

“We’ve been working behind the scenes to ensure that sledges are ready on the shelves for anyone that wants them, so that people can get outside and have fun in the snow.”

Although north of the border many children are enjoying their third day off school in a row, it has not been fun and games for most with roads gridlocked and train services heavily disrupted, particularly in the northern parts of the UK.

Motorists in the worst affected areas are being told to travel only for necessity but for those venturing out on the roads buying salt may prove popular.

Mark Dolphin, Halfords Winter Motoring Expert, commented: “Motorists need to be prepared for sudden changes of weather and our new de-icing salt is a safe, convenient and cost effective way to keep paths and driveways clear.”

DIY and gardening retailer Homebase has also been benefitting from the adverse weather this week, with sales of snow shovels up 1,900 per cent year-on-year.

Sarah Silverwood, Trading Director for DIY at Homebase, remarked: “Sales of rock salt has also hit record levels at Homebase this week with the amount sold weighing in at 750,000 kg - enough to grit the pitch at Wembley 1,500 times over.”

Source : Retail Gazette