Winnipeg retailers low on parkas as gear flies off the shelves

WINNIPEG-It’s only the beginning of fall, but many are already bundling up for winter. Finding that right gear, in the right size, is getting difficult to find.

“All of our winter gear is flying off the shelves,” Cabela’s Noel Linsey explained. “We’ve got a huge assortment, but its hard to keep it in stock.”

Jackets, boots, hats, and mitts are all in high demand are being snatched up. First to go is kids clothing.

Mountain Equipment Co-op’s Ken Berg says, “people start shopping for that in August, then they get a reminder from the cold and they come in and grab more.”

At Village Street Wear on Corydon Avenue, keeping up with the demand isn’t easy either.

“It’s very difficult,” said owner Arie Kapla. “We were getting phone calls in July this year to see when we’d have it and when it was coming in.”

Shawna Ferris was shopping at Cabela’s on Monday for a new winter parka.

“I need a winter coat.” she said, “I want to do it before all the good selection is gone.”

Ferris thought the first week of October was plenty of time to get the winter wear she needed. But with supplies low, as demand grows. She thinks she may have to head to the web in order to get what she needs this winter.

“I’m going to have to order it online. I will try on the coats here, find the size I need, and if the style isn’t here, I’ll order online,” she said.

With last winter’s polar vortex and bitter cold, coupled with driving winds still fresh in the minds of most Winnipeggers, shoppers are stocking up, just in case.

“People’s memory from last year, they keep thinking how brutally cold it was, and they want to be prepared for this year,” Berg said.

“Nobody wants to be standing outside in -40  without being warm,” Linsey said Monday.

But not all stores are feeling the pinch. Many companies have ordered selected brands that can stand up against our bitter cold winter. At the Work Boot Factory Outlet on Regent Avenue West, last year’s lesson of being under-stocked won’t happen twice.

“We have one and a half times our orders in our store just in case,” Owner Morissa Granove said.