Aubuchon Hardware beats old man winter

Winter storm Juno clobbered Massachusetts. But thanks to some aggressive preparation, Westminster, Massachusetts-based Aubuchon Hardware had some strong sales numbers to report

In preparation for Winter Storm Juno, some Aubuchon Hardware managers spent the night in their stores. And distribution center employees worked through Sunday.

The result: a 311% sales gain on Jan. 26, the day before the storm hit, according to Bernard Aubuchon, senior VP of purchasing for the New England retailer with about 120 hardware stores. “We call this ‘misery retailing,’” he said.

“Our stores stayed open later than usual on Monday because they were so busy with people picking up items after work to prepare for the blizzard,” Aubuchon told HBSDealer.

The forecasts for the storm prompted extra work in the company’s Westminster distribution center on Sunday night.

“Our drivers then delivered three truckloads on Sunday night and four truckloads on Monday morning to our large stores in eastern Massachusetts,” he said. “ The trucks were loaded with the usual winter storm items such as snow shovels, roof rakes, ice melter, generators, gas cans, flashlights, batteries, and lamp oil.”

Tuesday was a day of State-of-Emergency store closings. But Wednesday picked up.

“With many schools closed on Wednesday, the day after the blizzard, we also had a nice sales increase in sleds,” Aubuchon said.