Ski and snowboard shops in southern Alberta are starting their markdowns early this year.
There’s still likely many weeks left for riders to enjoy the mountain snow, but unseasonal weather hasn’t made it easy on gear shops in recent months and they’re doing whatever they can to drive sales.
From record-breaking warm weather in December to extreme cold in January, the weather hasn’t been conducive for many winter sports. And that has things like winter clothing and outdoor gear on overstock at some sporting shops.
“Everything is like piling up,” said Ian Gauthier, owner of Boarderline Skate Shop, one of the longest-running skate shops in Western Canada. “We haven’t seen it like this before.”
Gauthier posted a plea on social media Tuesday, asking patrons for their support to “save the shop.”
“I just had to,” said Guathier. “We need the help… There was no other way.”
The problems started for the skate shop even before the winter season began, with construction taking over the downtown streets where Boarderline operates.
“That was a huge glitch: less traffic and stuff coming through the store and then after that was done, we were hoping for a good winter season and then it went basically into the worst winter season of all time all across North America,” said Gauthier.
Boarderline isn’t the only shop feeling the strain this winter.
“We knew we were going to have some challenges when we’re competing against golfing and biking in December,” said Steve Mundell, owner of Alpenland.
That store is also offering deep discounts in hopes of driving sales for those still looking to make the most of what’s left of the season.
“If you do embrace winter, there’s some huge deals out there.”
There’s hope that those discounts, combined with community support and a snowy spring, will help keep shops like Boarderline afloat for another season.
“We’re coming into our 35 anniversary and it’s not how we wanted to do it. But life gets real sometimes.” said Gauthier. “We’re just trying to do everything we can to keep it going.”
With files from Sarah Jones, Global News
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