With what's expected to be the first major snowstorm of the season for most of New England, people are getting ready.
At Rocky's True Value in Walpole, Massachusetts, that means getting the snowblowers out of the box and onto the sales floor. They've had some snow in the area already, but not much.
The store saw an uptick in sales with the last snowfall.
"People are getting prepared, especially since we had such a light winter last year," said Bill Sinclair at Rocky's Ace Hardware. "I think a lot of people, especially with everything else going on right now, they want to be extra prepared."
More on the snowstorm
The store put together snow shovels and doubled up on the ice melt. Snowblowers are selling, too. Paul Chiofar of Wrentham bought one last year, but that didn't work out well.
"First time I used it, up and down the driveway one time, it broke. Cable snapped. Brand new snowblower," said Chiofar. "So I returned it, got my money back and didn't need it the rest of the year."
He's thinking he'll need one soon, though.
"I didn't want to wait and buy a snowblower after I missed the biggest storm of the year," Chiofar said.
For some, snowblowing isn't simply a chore.
"It's an art form," said David Pendergast of Walpole.
Pendergast takes his snowblowing to another level. His canvas, if you will, is a lot of driveway.
"How do I get it from the center off to the sides efficiently? And I have a chicken coop. I've got to get out to the chicken coop. I got a lot of bird feeders. Got to get out to the bird feeders," he explained.
For Pendergast, snow is an opportunity to create. For Jeff Draper of Westwood, it's and opportunity to make money. He's in snow removal.
"Make sure the loaders start. Make sure everything's got fuel. Make sure your employees know they're coming in, what time they start," he said. "It's just a big war."
