Winter sports equipment in high demand in Sudbury

At The Outside Store in Sudbury, manager Annie Shawanda has been seeing a lot of new customers recently — people eager to find ways to stay active outdoors in the winter months.

Shawanda says sales of winter sports equipment like skis and snowshoes typically starts in November, but this year, there were customers looking for equipment as early as July. 

"There was a shortage of sports equipment through the summer, so I think people are a little bit freaked out, so they're shopping really early," Shawanda said. 

Shawanda says sales of winter sports equipment have at least doubled compared with this time last year.

"It's been a lot busier than we expected."

Mirrors surge in summer sales

The Outside Store is not alone in seeing an increased interest in winter sports equipment. A number of Sudbury retailers say demand is greater than ever this year — and they say it's not entirely unexpected. 

"Specifically because there was such a high demand for bikes throughout the summer, we figured as long as things were the same as far as COVID,  that there would be a demand for outdoor activities, considering a lot of sports are cancelled or are modified," said Melissa Anderson, who works at Adventure 365.

Similarly at Ramakko's Source for Adventure, a busy summer of selling camping and fishing equipment has continued "right through fall, and now right through winter," says owner Brian Ramakko. 

Many of those customers, he says, are people who are taking up new activities for the first time. 

"Lots of snowbirds coming in saying 'I'm not going to Florida, so I might as well do something," Ramakko said. 

"People aren't travelling, people aren't going anywhere. And we're blessed with Sudbury, with northeastern Ontario. We've got it all, we've got lots of things going for us."  

While stores anticipated the demand and ordered extra stock, some items are already in short supply — before winter even arrives. 

"Right now it's OK. I think by Christmas there's not going to be a whole heck of a lot left," said Shawanda at The Outside Store.