Mild Winter Leaves Area Sports Retailers With Lots of Merchandise
By Hadas Kuznits
KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa. (CBS) -- Those who deal in cold weather clothing and gear are being affected by the mild winter in our area.
Brad Buckman, owner of Buckman's Ski and Snow Shops, says retail sales at his stores this year do not compare to previous years.
"The past two season were record-breakers for sure," Buckman tells KYW Newsradio. "I mean, if you remember two seasons ago, we had record snowfall. And then last year was another great year -- it got cold early in December, which is key."
And this year?
"This year has just been horrendous -- I mean, one of the worst that we can remember."
He says sales have lagged by about 14 percent behind last season.
"I think it's a mental thing, really," Buckman says. "It's just not cold, so people aren't thinking, 'Oh, I need a new hat' or, 'I need gloves,' or 'I want to go skiing or snowboarding.' "
In order to entice customers, he adds, they're rolling out the sales.
"We did take our clearance department -- that's usually 30 percent off -- and moved that to 50 percent off on our web site."
