WOODFORD COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18) — A Woodford County hardware store is finally restocking its shelves after experiencing unprecedented demand during January's ice storm that left winter supplies completely sold out for nearly two weeks.
Main Street Hardware Company saw nearly five times its normal foot traffic during the storm, leaving manager Chris Jones scrambling to meet customer demand.
"We have been covered up the last few weeks," Jones said.
The store was without ice melt, shovels, and heaters for 12 days. Salt became particularly scarce across the region.
"The day of the storm we had absolutely no salt left. The warehouse was out. Anywhere else that we were looking to get some we couldn't find salt," Jones said.
The Kentucky Retail Federation says this type of shortage happens when demand spikes faster than suppliers can respond.
"Demand goes up faster than your supply at that time, then you're going to have a shortage of that," a Kentucky Retail Federation representative said.
Propane presented another major challenge for the store. The hardware store burned through an entire month's supply in just two days. The situation worsened when delivery trucks couldn't navigate icy roads to transport the flammable gas.
"In the last couple of weeks, we've had about at least a dozen or so instances of that," the Kentucky Retail Federation representative said.
"We can't get it if they can't get it to us," Jones said.
The constant stream of customers seeking unavailable products created additional stress for staff.
"Telling people no has been the biggest stressful thing," Jones said.
Jones compared the experience to holiday shopping and urged customers to show patience during weather emergencies.
"It's like Christmas. Don't go out Christmas shopping if you don't have patience. Whenever a winter weather event happens, have some patience with the stores and the people who are trying to help you," Jones said.
Now that shelves are restocked, Jones recommends buying winter supplies during calm weather periods when demand is low.
"If we're needing it anybody else in our region is also gonna be needing it so if we can't get it stock reserved, then we're out of luck," Jones said.
Jones advises customers to purchase salt and shovels when no one else is looking for them, noting that even if the supplies aren't needed this winter, they'll likely be necessary the next one.
